Chateau Lloyd

A lot of time spent “writing” is actually building the plot.  In fact, I’d argue that “writer’s block” is better described as “plotter’s block.”

Writing is fairly easy once you know where you want to go and (mostly) how to get there.  The hard part is coming up with those things.

I am never happier than when I have the plot all worked out, know how the scenes fit together and am simply putting in the effort to flesh everything out.  At that point, my productivity goes off the charts.

The week I started writing “A Man of Destiny” I put down 20,000 words – not bad for only having nights and weekends open to write.  The thing was, I knew the story and so I raced through it as fast as my fingers could type.

Because my keyboard time is limited, I try to do plotting in the interim.  Basically I have two modes:  when I sit down to write, I write.  If I don’t have the plot worked out, I go for a walk or do something else until I do.

I suppose that would be a problem if I had a deadline, but all of mine are self-imposed, which means I can blow through them as needed.  I still like to set goals (for example, last weekend I hoped to generate 6,000 words – and came up 4,000 words short), but that’s all they are:  something I aspire to without needed to get there.

In a working environment, things are different.  Deadlines are real and have to be kept.  However, in those situations I’m writing non-fiction, which is much easier.  Yes, it takes organization to generate a column, news story or press release, but nothing like the creative energy required to compose fiction.

Plotting is difficult because one can’t really force it.  If the plot goes south, the best writing in the world can’t save it. 

I have a few tools I use to solve plotting problems.

The first (and most effective) is time away.  Taking a break and letting the thing stew for a day or two usually helps.  Research is indicating that like computers, our brains can continue to work on a problem even though it’s not currently “on screen” as the center of our attention.  In fact, the old advice to ‘sleep on it’ is pretty good.

Another thing I do is to get some exercise.  This is usually when I’m trying to flesh out a scene rather than a larger plot, but sometimes a walk around the block is just what is needed.  Exercise forces fresh blood into the brain and that can spur better use of the gray cells.

If those two things don’t work, I might watch or read something to see if it gives me ideas.   Usually it does.

Because I'm not a full-time writer, I try to take advantage of the days when I can't write and use them for plotting.  That way, when I do get some time to sit down and type, I can make the most of it.

There are times when I have the time to write, but am not sure where to go.  When that happens, I write a speculative summary of where I might go.  I learned a few years ago that J.R.R. Tolkien did this - "thinking out loud on the page."  Much of Tolkien's writings were basically layered revisions of plot summaries that got more and more detailed.  I've been doing that and I'm happy with the results.  Hopefully you will be as well.