Yes…and no.
There are days when I’m not productive – usually after a night of too much wine. There are other days when I can’t find much to say. Now, there are some writers who argue that if you’ve got nothing to say then your plot is weak or you, well, just haven’t got anything to say…
I’ve got plenty to say, but yesterday was hard work. I woke at 6 this morning and wrote 1000 words before breakfast. A better day. Last week I had a couple of days when I wrote 3,000 words. OK, they might be crap (I don’t think so), but then you have to believe that your stuff is OK (yes, improvable).
I read a blog yesterday – I think it was an old article from The Guardian – ten rules for writers, written by ten successful writers. What hit me was that good authors think that they write crap and vice versa. No hope for me then – but time will tell.
Now, there are times when I get blocked, and it’s because I don’t know what’s going to happen next in the story I’m inventing. I have a basic theme for a book and then let the story develop itself. I got stuck for four days on how to resolve a plot complexity. I went walking, I worked on other threads of the story, and then I found the solution. So, I learned to be patient and let my brain figure it out with enough time. There are people who can complete crosswords in ten minutes (I’m talking Times cryptic now). I can complete them – but the Times xword might take me a couple of weeks – but I get there. So it is with blockage and plot development for me.
I’m pretty new to all this stuff – started the current novel in 2004 – but stumbled across this site – very useful, and one of the better ones I’ve seen and now refer to. And no, I have no commercial arrangement whatever with him, but I think he deserves a plug Mr Edit some great tips there.
