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I got lost in my character charts today. And I don’t mean enthralled in the creative process. I mean lost; I couldn’t find my way through them; I felt a bit of despair. I give up on writing.

A lot of writers I’ve known have done this when they faced a block. They gave up on writing for the moment and went shopping. But on the side of the shoppers I have to say there are some essentials you need to put words on the page: Paper, pen. A Pencil. Some coloured pencils even. A pencil case. And coffee. Very essential. An eraser. A spare pen. 5x2 index cards. Post-it® Notes...

I had the idea for this post when I reviewed my story outline and saw that these writing essentials weren’t a lot of help. My character sheets had floated all over desks, chairs, and floor. My scenes were indexed well, but the stack of cards had grown so high it would’ve been hard for a Las Vegas croupier to deal with them. And there was this A2 sized sheet that all the stickie notes had fallen off.

I had to scratch my head. It seemed I’d gotten myself lost in spite of technique. And the writing essentials were making my productivity worse. I had been unstuck by stickies. Was out for ten courtesy of 5x2 cards. Been given the shivers by Final Draft.

Seems technique has its downside. Take my A2 sheet. I was applying a technique I learned from McKee’s Story Seminar to summarize character dimensions. The method is a great way of solidifying what makes your character interesting. You find a character dimension – something contradictory about them that is intriguing. Macbeth is a ruthless murderer but feels guilty afterwards. He is a contradiction unto to himself. Ruthless but remorseful. That is his dimension. He is singular about what he does in one context but all conflicted elsewhere.

The idea is to craft multi-dimensional characters. You can then chart out where a character’s traits are played out. So a court stenographer submits to a bullying judge in court. That is one half of the picture. But the same stenographer is an autocrat at home. The dimension can be revealed in this way. If you do this for every character in the story though, you can end up with an A2 sheet that all the stickies have fallen off.

It may be time to sound the last post for post-it notes. I don’t know. But the epiphany is this. I have to write and not waste time. Techniques can only be useful in so far as they focus you on the writing. And the tools must only be there to inspire us to write.

Simon Maxwell found out in researching this post that the Post-it® Note was invented by a guy looking for a better way to bookmark his church hymnal. He wanted something that wouldn't fall out but wouldn't damage the hymnal either. A colleague at 3M had developed an adhesive that didn’t stick very strongly. The two came together and a stickie hymnal marker was born. 3M who own the brand, also have it on their site that there is an artist that folds Post-it® Notes to make complex and beautiful wall panel art. Inspiring stuff.

Comments

[one billion daleks]

Simon - a few thoughts about technique. From the perspective of dalek psychology, your emerging writer's block is due to the increasing dominance of your feminine mindpole, reflected in your propensity to describe things more than analyse them (a function of your masculine pole). This circumstance was most floridly demonstrated in your (now deleted) TMA post about paying for a parking spot, that described a sequence of actions in truly immense detail!

Such description of data is a function of your open-minded (holistic) feminine pole, and there are bountiful examples of this f-pole function to hand via the careful observation of reality. In contrast, your narrow-minded (focused) masculine pole organises and analyses data to produce information (speculations). The two poles then work together (entanglement) to test the veracity of that information, and if validated, it becomes permanently acquired as knowledge (insight).

Now from here, your writing is very high on description (f-pole), but rather low on analysis (m-pole), plainly indicating that your poles are somewhat out-of-balance. As a result, there's often little 'meat' in your writing ... and I imagine you might have an inkling of this. So, I'd suggest that you maybe try balancing your poles ...

A method that I employ for polar balancing is to publish online reviews of music and movies. I listen to a CD, or watch a movie - I then think about why I like / dislike it, and set about articulating my thoughts in prose. This activity engages both poles ... you describe what you're evaluating (f-pole - the plot of a movie for example), then you formulate your opinion (m-pole analysis). Lastly, you justify your opinion with a supporting rationale (polar entanglement). Through such contemplative study you acquire insight, not only about the subject under scrutiny, but also about your Self - what 'presses your buttons', and why.

I've found this approach to writing to be most enjoyable and enlightening - and, as a happy side-effect - even of some worth to others (I've had one-liners from my favourable reviews published as those 'testimonials' you see on movie posters and the like, and was recently flattered to receive an email from BBC Scotland asking permission to use one of my reviews in a program they were making about Scottish music).

But the greatest benefit is that your urge to write will start flowing again, and you'll find that the block will crumble. Then you can return invigorated to your core writing project ... like you say "Techniques can only be useful in so far as they focus you on the writing". Focusing on something you care about (like that Joni Mitchell CD you mentioned a while back) is a most effective technique for stimulating your writing, for the simple reason that the subject is something you already find to be inspirational in some way.

OK then,
All The Best!