I have a problem, ladies and gentlemen. A problem that has come between me and my beloved characters, me and my beloved writing.
There are too many stories in my head.
This isn’t writer’s block, I’m sure. Writer’s block is what you can’t think of anything to write. That’s not my problem. There are a billion characters and plots in my head clamouring for attention--
Actually, that’s not true. There are a billion flat characters and beginnings of plots in my head, but I can’t seem to FINISH ANY STORIES!!!!!!
Ugh! Sorry about that. But this problem is getting to be chronic. I haven’t finished anything since NaNoWriMo--November 2010.
Dear goodness. It sounds even worse when I say it like that.
I haven’t been totally lacking for good ideas. There was one--a retelling of Cinderella--where I had actually mapped out an entire plot--but couldn’t manage the voice of my characters. The first two chapters of my Harry Potter fanfiction are already published, but I haven’t written anything since the middle of July. My epic, five-book series is stuck one chapter into the third book. This blog is a disaster.
Worst of all, writing seems to have lost its charm. I can’t enjoy it right now! It feels like work rather than joy.
But you know what? This happens sometimes. Sometimes our creativity flows out, and everything we put on paper seems a masterpiece. Sometimes our characters are fantastic and our plots genius and we love every minute of it.
But more often, it sucks. More often, our characters start out two-dimensional and stereotyped, and our plots cliched and flat, and our sentences long and clunky. More often, it’s hard to write. This happens to everyone, eventually. This is why most people stop.
But we’re different from everyone else. And we’re different because we keep on writing. We don’t give up, even when our writing is terrible. We just keep putting it on paper and writing and writing and writing for the sheer sake of it, for the love of it. And eventually, it comes back. The fire comes back, the joy comes back. And the stories follow.
So if you’re stuck like I am, just keep banging on that keyboard, like I’m doing. And just trust that your words will come back, because you are a writer. Come on, say it with me. I. AM. A. WRITER. I. AM. A. WRITER.
Now, go and write!
~Hannah
