Cabin Fever - A Writing Process

 Don't you just hate staring at an empty page? It's like all the blank space is taunting you, and telling you that you don't know what you're doing. Everyone has a different way of getting out of that 'writers block' head-space, and they are all worth a try if you are constantly finding yourself with your fingers poised half a centimeter from the keys, yet nary a twitch or inkling of what to write about.

Look around where you usually write. Is it your desk? Or maybe it's your bed, your couch, or your kitchen table. Now I want you to pack up your laptop or your pad and pen and leave. I don't want you to go to your usual coffee shop or park. I want you to go somewhere new, somewhere uncomfortable. I want you to nestle yourself safely in an alleyway, squeeze yourself under your friends desk, or go to a new restaurant with food that you can't pronounce. What we need is a change of scenery, and along with it often comes a change in perspective. Spending too much time in the same space can drive you up the wall, ever heard of Cabin Fever?

Okay, are we all uncomfortable and ready to get the pen to the paper? If you are a prose writer it is often best to start with a character. A writer should know their character inside and out, almost like another personality living inside of you. Start with the basics. What is their gender (if they have one)? Their name? What do they look like? Write down at least five adjectives that express their personality. Now let that character loose. Let them drive the story. We don't want hollow vessels that carry out our plot we want believable people getting through their lives. Just write, don't stop. Let the character find the trouble, let the climax come naturally. Don't force your character into something they wouldn't do just because you think it would be a cool part in the story. If your characters and what they are doing aren't believable then your entire narrative falls apart.

If you are a poet just let your mind run rampant. Lay down a stream of conciousness and see where it takes you. Poetry doesn't have to be structured as you write it. The structure will come through when you edit later.

My final piece of advice to you is to avoid your editorial instincts, suppress the editor within. If you begin to edit your work as you write it you will get discouraged and end up with it unfini-