Rira said:
yah, i guess id better put down the books for awhile. i spent a bit locked in my room today, writing.....with verious music; (everything from celtic to Korn) and silence, and managed to come up with a pathetic beggining to a chapter ive been fighting with.....anyway, when i became stumped beyond belife, i picked up WoT and read (just for a few minutes, i said.....) for the next five hours or so......needless to say, ive finnished that book.......but its a terrible addiction....
I've had this happen before. I wound up reading Lemony Snicket's A Bad Begining. Good book. Not great, but good. Took me about 45 minutes to read and I wanted to read some more. What did I do? I knew if I read anything bigger, I'd be reading all day, so I posted here. Don't recall off hand what I posted, but I like to post here to get the 'juices flowing'. Once I've posted a hefty post here --I wonder if I can keep this one short?-- I write anything that comes to mind. Last time I came up with the cat story for exercise 6. Well, my wife thought it was funny. Politically incorrect, but funny. Then I wrote balloons (another funny story).
I guess what I'm saying is reading is ok, but don't let yourself get too distracted. Find out what it is about what you're reading that is sucking you into the world and figure out how to incorporate those pieces into your own work. This isn't as easy as it sounds.
With the scene you're stuck on, try to figure out why you're stuck. Do you not like the setting? Do you not like one of the characters? Are you forcing the situation to happen when you should just let it flow?
Try what Funky Deb posted, but you'll be doing this without reading what you wrote. Stand up, close your eyes, and act out the scene. This sounds goofy, but your own voice will sometimes guide you through a scene. I suggest doing this alone as people will look at you funny if you start talking in a differnt voice.
When you do this, try to imagine the room and its furnishings. How are the characters holding themselves? How do they say their words (muttering, shouting, laughing). Get into your characters and get into the scene. You should be able to (now) stand next to the characters and watch what they're doing.
Open your eyes and start typing what happened. Doesn't matter if it's good or not. Doesn't matter if you're going to keep it, edit it out, or chop it to pieces. Write the scene. If nothing else, you'll gain a deeper understanding of your characters. You will be able to associate with them better and the better you can do that, the better you'll be able to write them.
I was going to keep this one short, wasn't I? Harumph. Guess I'll go write something now. It's July 1st and Alien Skin Mag is open for submissions once again.
