How To Overcome Writer's Block

Writer's block... Happens to everyone, right? WRONG! It happens to everyone who doesn't know how to deal with it!
 If you're like I used to be, when you get writer's block you either don't write or you move on to a new story. And trust me, unless you write flash fiction, you're not going to finish anything before a bout of writer's block sets in, and no, you won't get back to it like you tell yourself you will.
 I don't do that anymore, however. I've found a few handy ways to get through that funk and on to writing again!

1. Movie Time

  You know when you're watching a movie and then you have to pause it in the middle of an action scene? I don't know about you, but my mind just starts playing out endless possibilities on how that might end... So you know what I did? Can you see this coming?

  When I'm writing a scene and I get stuck partway through, I pretend it's a movie that got paused. I close my eyes, and replayed the scene I just wrote in my head, and even if it doesn't happen on the first try, after a while my mind improvises and gives me something! Sometimes it's really wacky, but even if I have to change it it's better than nothing. 

  I've found this works especially well when I'm trying to sleep and don't have the option of writing it down right then. 

2. What Comes Next? 

  What comes after what you've already got? Did you just finish the fight between siblings, soon followed by a tragic death of one of them? If you can smoothly move right into the death scene, do so! If not, what needs to happen in order for that to happen? Does one need to storm out and drive away? How can you make that happen? 

  If you don't know what's next, you might want to consider making an outline. These can be vague or extremely detailed, but they should give you the basic outline of the story and tell you what comes next after each scene. 

  Anyway, knowing what's next can help give you that insight of where things should be going and how to finish out this impossibly awkward conversation... 

3. Write Something Else

  Does this sound really contrary to something I previously said? Good job if you picked that up! When I say write something else, I don't mean a totally different project. I mean something else in the same project. Like if you're writing chapter 4 but you're really excited for chapter 10, then go ahead and write chapter 10! You're begrudging chapter 4 isn't going to be as good as if you wait until you want to, and you'll want to at some point... 

  So stay in the same project, and be sure to mark where in the story each scene takes place if you're skipping around a lot! But yeah, write what you're excited about, and even if you end up with a bunch of disjointed scenes you can do some editing to make them flow a bit better. As long as you're writing and not getting distracted by other projects/activities, you're good! 

4. Watch Some Videos

  This is a pretty controversial topic from what I've heard... But it works for me! I like to watch videos about writing; the process, editing, tips, funny videos, extremely opinionated videos... As long as they relate to writing! 

  I personally get inspired by just hearing about writing and proceed to want to just do it... Although, from what I've heard, some people hear tips and think about all that they were previously doing wrong, and either don't feel motivated or want to edit instead of write new words. So whichever category you think you fall into, do what's best for you! 

5. Common Sense

  Use some common sense with all this... You're only human. Have you been writing for hours on end? Under a lot of stress? Not sleeping enough? 

  If this is the case... Take a break. Go do something fun, unwind, relax! Nobody writes well when they're tired and stressed, so unless you have literally no choice, take a break sometimes. Live life. It's been proven to help your writing a lot to go out and do stuff! I mean, can you accurately write a kiss if you've never kissed someone? Especially if you're like me and think, ew gross? (Don't just go out and experience stuff because you're book characters are! It won't feel as real that way, unless you're skydiving! Plus, you have a life outside of writing... Live it.) 

  Also, just as with any other thing, you do need a break. Even a small one. You'll love writing more if you don't force yourself to write constantly. And you write because you love it, right? So don't make yourself hate it by overworking! 

  (Don't use this as an excuse or you'll never get anything done. Common sense, not excuses.)

There are my tips for avoiding writer's block! I hope you find them helpful! 

5 Ways To Know Your Characters Inside and Out

Characters are probably one of the most important parts of your story... I mean, have you ever read a book without characters? (Don't even tell me you have, I don't want to hear it! So what if nonfiction books exist?!) Yeah, they matter a lot, and weak characters can trash that awesome plot and the world you created...
  To be clear, by weak I don't mean that they don't lift weights, or that they're couch potatoes, I mean that they aren't developed! If all your characters kind of sound the same, and act the same, and are the same people with different names and looks, then you need character development! Or also if they change too often in the story (Considering they don't have multiple personality disorder!), then that's you not knowing them enough... So here are 5 ways to get to know you're characters inside and out, as well as make sure they aren't a cardboard cutout!

 1. Interviews! 

I like to interview my characters, almost as if they're movie stars starring their own role in a movie about them. (I have some examples here!) Ask them about the big stuff (So Bree! How did it feel when your mom abandoned you in a vampire feeder prison?) and the small stuff (Hey Jamie, how old are you?) and whatever else in between you might have to ask.
  And not only do you get to know important details about them, but you get to write their tone and way of speaking too! (Sabrina: Um, I dunno, BETRAYED?! Yeah, the obvious, and also kind of angry and hopeless. VS Jamie: Um, let me think... About 355, I think? Kinda hard to keep track once the numbers are bigger! According to Sabrina, I'm extremely immature, but I think she doesn't mind. With so few people this old there really aren't many standards to live up to.)
  These can also be great teasers for your book, as you get to give away some great tidbits of the story while warming your readers up to your characters!

 2. Use Real People 

A great way you can do this is to use someone in your life. Instead of starting from scratch, all you need to do is think, "What would N do in this situation?"
  You just need to be careful with this, because what if N reads the story? Don't make it too obvious that you're copying someone in real life, especially if they happen to play the villain/an annoying character/ex of main character/etc.
  Just because they double as a fictional character doesn't mean that you might not have real-life broken hearts and bones!

3. Character Sheet

 Making a character sheet is similar to an interview, except you aren't talking to someone who isn't there... You write down a list of everything that could possibly be useful (Looks, personality, family relationship, favorite food, allergies, pets, etc.) and write down all your answers!
 Then, also make sure they add up... Is your character allergic to wool clothing and yet their favorite food is mutton? Yeah, different parts of a sheep, but still kinda in the same boat... Or body... Now demolished corpse... Yeah.
 This is great for if you want to know everything, but don't exactly have the time to write questions and responses that your character might say.

4. Find Unique Character Traits 

I think the book Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson is an amazing example of this... One character is always making up silly, weird metaphors, and another has both an Irish (I think) and southern accent at the same time (That's amazing, I know, you have to read the book to understand!)
  Those kinds of things not only make your character more interesting, make it clearer who's speaking, and make them more unique, but there are endless possibilities! They can be speech, unique looks, a talent, a way of thinking, a phrase they say a lot, something they wear or carry, anything! These traits should reflect a lot on the character too, so look at their background or personality and see what you can do (Like in The Hunger Games, Katniss had to take care of her family and hunt, therefore she is great at shooting a bow and arrow, which is one of her biggest identifying traits! Not to mention that the method of shooting from a hidden spot and avoiding direct conflict as much as possible is her preferred way of going about things... I could go on!)
  Anyway, your character's traits don't need to be the most perfect, symbolic thing ever for them... But that's kind of the goal, so no pressure!

 5. Connect Them To The Plot 

If you already have a plot down and just need characters to suffer and potentially die to make it happen, just take a look at what your plot needs. Does it need a brave hero to embark on a quest? Yeah? Then you don't want a wimp of a main character, or a stay at home mom with toddlers. Will your main character fall in love with someone really hard to get noticed by? Then they best be determined, or if you're looking for some roadblocks for them, make them afraid of looking stupid because taking chances is going to be the only way for them to stand out!
  If your character doesn't connect to the plot, then either the plot is going to crumble (I want it if it happens to crumble like a cookie; I love cookies.) or your character is going to undergo some major changes which may or may not look good in the story...
  If they need to change for the first few chapters to go smoothly into the danger zone, then you should change them before you write them. If you're getting to the climax, and they haven't needed to change too much until then, you might want to make the beginning of the story a bit more challenging... If you're up at the climax and your character is different from the beginning of the story and is ready to face the challenge (even if they're terrified and doubting themselves) then you just had some good character development!
 (It's natural and ideal for them to change positively from the beginning to end; gaining confidence, skill, or a sense of adventure is great and necessary!)

So those are my tips for knowing and developing good characters! I hope they were helpful to you!

How To Get Ideas For A Book (And Recognize The Bad Ideas)

  Have you ever been unable to come up with an idea to write about? Or every idea you have sounds like a knockoff of the last book you read? Well, here are some ways you can get some more creative, exciting ideas, and then sort through them...

1. Music! 

  This is my personal favorite way to get ideas... Listen to music. Turn it on, then let your mind go wild! I don't know the exact science, or any science of this really, but I've found that I have more ideas, creativity goes off the charts, and I feel super motivated to go write after/during listening to music. 

  Whether you're thinking from the lyrics, the emotion you can feel in the beats, or even memories that come from the song, you'll most likely get something to work with... And that's not even the best part! 

  When you use music for an idea, then later about half-way through your book when you're ready to trash the whole thing, listening to that song can help you get back into the book and ready to go.

2. People

  I don't usually condone stalking... But if you're low on ideas, then low-key stalking is totally fine. As in, go somewhere public, ideally where you don't know anyone, like Walmart. Then choose a person, and take in as many details about them as you can. Clothing, emotions, what they're buying, how they interact with people, and then make up a story about them. 

  For example, if I see a man dressed in nice yet slightly wrinkled clothes, looking frazzled and rushed, buying ipecac (a medicine that makes you puke) and some Twizzlers, here's the story I might make up... While he was at home, maybe he found his young son freaking out because he swallowed some dental floss, some still hanging out his mouth but a lot swallowed. After trying for a long time to get it out, he and his wife decided to try different tactics... Like getting him to throw it up. So he rushed off to the store to get ipecac, and in case his son didn't want to take it, some Twizzlers to either bribe him with or douse with the medicine in secret. And from there, I might get the great idea of a book about a kid who's always in some sort of trouble, or some sibling of a kid like that who somehow has a deep, unresolvable issue based on that kid's behavior... But you get the idea. 

Fun Fact! Did you think "Wow, how do you think of some wacky story like that?!" I'd think that too... If that kid wasn't my brother, who did exactly that. 

3. Writing Prompts

  Even if I'm not looking for book ideas, I have a lot of fun looking at these... You can Google them, look up writing prompt generators, or check social media (There are some accounts dedicated to making these!) 

  They give you a vague outline of an idea, but allow plenty of room for adding your own details! Here are some of my favorite prompts... 

Humans are the weakest, most underdeveloped beings in the galaxy. Humans should be a huge pushover, but for some reason, whenever an alien sees a human they scream and run in terror. No one knows why. 

You discover that you can alter historical events by simply changing words in your high school textbook. This discovery leads you on a journey to literally rewrite history books. You've almost figured out world peace until one day, you alter one minor detail, and your city crumbled around you. Worse than that, your book is gone. 

  You can see the devil and angel on peoples' shoulders, as well as which one they listen to more. You meet a guy online and start dating, and on your first real date, you're shocked to see he listens to his devil 100%. 

4. Read

  Now, don't go around stealing everyone's ideas... Nobody ever remembers the copycat books anyway. But read them with the goal in mind being to pick out which part really attracts you to the story. Is it the forbidden romance? Do you like the creepy feeling you get when you read a certain scene? Do you just love the unique way the author wrote the character? Find your favorite parts of each book, and see which you can use without copying someone's idea. If you're basically writing The Hunger Games except the main character is a boy and there are only 7 districts, which you've renamed them sectors... Then you aren't gonna get too far. If you're using the main-character-leading-rebellion-against-their-wishes-and-ultimately-succeeds plot, and it's based fifty years in the past, and their main hurdle is that nobody listens to them... Then you're getting somewhere. Take one detail, make the rest your own! 

5. Live Life

  As awesome as writing is, go live your life too. That actually really helps come up with stories and gives you a deeper understanding of things that can translate to your characters. If you sit in your room all day, you won't have as much knowledge of the world which will make your characters come across as fake since you'll be writing about things you really don't know that much about. 

  You can use your own experiences as story-starters too; just had a car crash? Write about a car crash victim, you'll be able to make the story very vivid! Just had a failed relationship? People love to read about those, and the relationship that follows! 

  No matter what happens in your life, you can make a story out of it... You hate your mundane job? There's a guy who hates his mundane job and so he takes a risk and it changes everything! For the worse >:) 

How To Tell The Good From The Bad

  If you've got some ideas, how do you tell if they're good or not! So here's a checklist of what makes a good idea:

• Has it been overdone? Meaning, it's been used so many times it's a cliche and some people don't even want to see a cover that suggests the idea anymore? 
• Do you love the idea? Would you be willing to spend months writing about this? 
• Will it go somewhere? Can you make a plot that will last the entirety of a book without becoming boring, old, or stupidly simple to solve? 
• Would you read a book about this? Even better, would you spend money on a book about this? 
• Do you have the knowledge to write this? If you're writing about a brain surgery, you best know what's happening or your readers are going to know... Be sure you either know about or will be willing to put a lot of research into your topics! 

If you answered yes (and no to the first one) to most or all of these, then it sounds like you've got a good story! If not... There are still things you can do to fix the issues. Add more problems, research, make some subplots, add a twist that makes the cliche idea more out of the box! Just don't give up, unless you're not really wanting to go through all that work, that means you don't like the idea enough. Find a new one, or don't give up! 

Anyway, there are my tips for getting inspiration and making sure your idea will work... I hope you find them helpful! Thanks for reading!