The following was a speech I gave at a Sydney Authors Inked event in 2023.
Hello, my name is Anna Ceguerra. I am the self-published author of two quick, quiet and quirky sci fi novellas, Cupid’s Kiss, and Get Off My Lawn. I also own A Whim Away, a self-publishing company that also provides consulting services to authors and organisations.
For the past two years, I have experienced writer’s block.
This is what writer’s block feels like:
(silent 10 seconds)
Hands up who felt uncomfortable? Who wondered when it was going to end? Who was Disappointed? Frustrated? Whose expectation was not met?
These are all valid feelings to have when you’re faced with a blank page.
There are several types of writer’s block, which you can search for. Some of them include
From WritingBeginners.com, you can have (1) No ideas, (2) Too many ideas, (3) Character Confusion, (4) What Happens Next, (5) Emotional Blockage, and (6) Pain Point.
Another website, writingcooperative.com, talks about how to conquer five types of blocks: (1) Procedural, (2) Psychological, (3) Creativity, (4) Procrastination, and (5) Distraction.
As you can see, there are even different types of lists of writers block causes.
You can identify any one of these as the type of writer’s block as the source of your own, and try to search for ways to address them.
You can have writer’s block in general, or on a specific piece of work. For example, I’ve had writer’s block on a novella for 2 years, and counting. Sebastian’s Sabotage is a sci-fi rom com about a time traveller who gets hired to ruin his client’s wife’s dates in the past. The first part was free flowing, and I knew how I wanted it to end, but I didn’t know how to get from where I left it in the middle, to the end that I wanted. I couldn’t relate to the part that I knew I needed to write to get to the end. I just kept getting stuck in tangents, starting sci-fi arcs that was really only back story.
I tried various things. Taking a break. Editing. Trying to continue on from where I left off. Trying to change the story. Trying to plan what will happen next. Writing unrelated short stories with a first line prompt or an image prompt. Writing in a journal for 5 minutes every day, to get into the habit of writing.
I started to hate writing. I didn’t want to write anything at all. Not even on social media. I didn’t want to “just write” as many authors suggest you do, at the expense of my instincts and my mental health. My instincts are the seed of my voice in writing, they affect how I say what I want to say. If I was angry, it would come out on the page, even if it was a happy scene.
So I shelved Sebastian’s Sabotage, indefinitely. It gave me some relief from the pressure of finishing the story. I did other things, like art, music and voice acting. I worked with my writing coach, Adam, on discussing different authors’ tips on writing. We talked about why I agreed or disagreed with a particular opinion. Slowly, I got the feeling that I wanted to write again.
We did writing exercises. Adam would select a first line prompt, or an image, and I would write a story based on that. Some had good endings, others had terrible rushed endings. I’ll give you an example of a story from an image, with a rushed ending that came out of nowhere.
The trio of couples arrived at the house, laughing at a joke Dave said. They dumped all their stuff in their respective rooms, eager to start their holiday.
“I’ll go check out the garage,” Steph said, and exited the house.
The others unpacked their swimmers and beach towels, chatting happily.
“What are we going to do for dinner?” Owen asked the group. Then a bloodcurdling scream wafted through the windows.
“Steph!” Adam screamed, and they all rushed out to the garage.
“Steph, where are you?” Alana shouted, when she wasn’t there. No answer.
The scream came again, weaker, and further away.
They spread out outside the garage, calling Steph’s name.
Tilly found her. Steph was in foetal position near the pond, rocking back and forth.
She whispered, “Death was here, he came in the boat. I drowned him.”
The End.
You can see how the last line had nothing to do with the rest of the story.
I’ll give you another example, this time with an ending I’m happy with.
Freedom
The couch was dumped by my housemate in the park across the street. It was just a normal fabric couch and was still serviceable, only it needed a deep clean from life’s dirt.
After sitting there 3 weeks later, the council still hadn’t picked it up. With no rain in the past 3 weeks, I wonder if the two were connected?
One night, as I was looking across at it from my balcony, a group of teenagers were sitting on and around it. They were making lots of noise, having a generally good time.
A homeless woman approached them, and shooed them away. She inspected the couch, then looked in her shopping trolley full of bags and took out a sleeping bag, settling herself for the evening.
The teenagers came back, and tried to push her off, but they couldn’t. She had physically turned into a bronze statue, as had the couch she was sleeping on. The youths muttered amongst themselves before leaving.
The next morning, she turned back into a human. She rummaged through her trolley again, found a small, crumpled bag which must have been stretchy because it was big enough to wrap the couch into. She poked the bagged couch, and the couch sprang up into the air and shrank. She caught it in one hand, and put it into one of her bags in the trolley.
I dropped my yoghurt on the floor. “I guess that’s one way to get rid of that couch”, I muttered.
The End.
An exercise that stuck out in my mind was several short stories with only 3 sentences each, with one line blanked out for you to fill in. I found that I was strong when the beginning and middle needed to be filled in, but my endings were quite weak.
Based on that information, we used ChatGPT to create last line prompts. We generated 10, and I selected the one I felt drawn to. Adam gave me 10 minutes to write a short story with that last line prompt. Unlike my stories with the first-line prompts, which sometimes had a terrible ending, the last-line prompts were easier for me. Here is an example.
Branch
The old lady sat in her rocking chair, looking out at her corn fields. She held the key tightly in her hand. It was the last thing her doctor gave to her earlier.
“I know you will do the right thing,” he told her, gravely.
Miriam thought about this moment for a long time. While she had no regrets about a childless life, having won a Nobel Prize in her youth, one thing irked her. She was the last of her family, living on this Earth. No-one would carry on her genes, they would end with her.
Her doctor gave her the key to change all that. She ruminated on the possible outcomes for a long time. There didn’t seem to be a firm answer either way, with the options swirling into one another, until they began to converge.
As the sun set, Miriam made up her mind. She asked her house to make a phone call to her support worker, to go into the city.
***
The next day, she sat in the sterile waiting room. She told her support worker that she didn’t need him for the rest of the day. He quizzically looked at her, but didn’t say anything, and left.
“Miriam Friedtke” the receptionist called out softly. Miriam stood and walked to the other door, politely nodding to the receptionist along the way. Her key fit perfectly into the lock.
As she looked at the giant machine in front of her, she thought of all the opportunities a son or daughter would bring to the world.
With a smile, she activated the time machine, knowing that the past held the key to the future.
The End.
I was happy enough with some stories that I submitted one to Spill the Beans, and another to a competition up in Newcastle.
It seems like a cliché, but everyone has a different experience of writer’s block, and so how you get out of it is different for everyone. I had the luxury of time, but not everyone has that. The advice I would give to someone, is to try different things to get out of writer’s block. If that fails, do things that you enjoy. While you do these other things, it’s ok to take an extended break from writing, or not write as much, to reset your mindset. Listen to your instincts, which affect your voice in writing. Most importantly, be kind to yourself, and you will get back your satisfaction of the crafting a story.
This concludes my talk on my journey with writers block. If you want more quick, quiet, and quirky stories, check out by books, cupids kiss and GOML. I also have more short stories on my website. Thank you for your time today.