The infamous blue screen of death is an error screen displayed on a Windows computer system after a fatal system error.
Writers, on the other hand, have to worry about something we like to call the White Screen of Death. It looks something like this...
To stare at that screen, not even a single word passing between your ears, your mind just as white and innocent as the screen itself...
If you've always wondered if there are some strategic and tactical ways to improve your odds of writing a good book, consider this tutorial to be your ultimate guide.
Introduction
Odds are that your case of writer’s block is unique — this virus is constantly mutating depending on its host. Writer’s block, defined as those times when a writer feels that they simply can’t write anymore, regardless of how much time they spend staring at a computer screen, is one of the biggest frights in this line of work.
To understand writer’s block you have to realize that it’s all coming from inside. It’s your brain telling you to take it easy. You know, trying to help.
Or perhaps your brain is letting you know that you’re forcing yourself to work on a piece that’s, quite frankly, uninspiring, and that you should be working on something else.
There are many types of writer’s block. First, there’s the most common, when you don’t feel like writing anything. Your mind is just blank, empty, naked.
Then there’s the second type of writer’s block, the one I’m faced with frequently. I have too many ideas.
Then, I suppose, is another type of writer’s block, one I’ve heard of but never experienced. You finish the next Great American Novel, and there’s nothing left. No ideas, nothing. I think that happens on rare occasions.
If you keep your eyes open, you’ll find stories. More than you can handle, actually. Because everywhere we look there’s something worth writing about. Whether in our own actions or the actions of those around us the last thing a writer should fear is the lack of influence an environment can have over him.
So keep this in mind. Whenever you don’t feel like writing, don’t panic. Don’t go into the first bar and get drunk. Don’t shoot yourself in the hand.
Writing is a simple process. It's writers who make it seem so terrifying.
After all, we stare at a blank page long enough that we feel this inexplicable urge to transform it, and we do so through sheer power of will.
But what if the will isn't strong enough? What if we get lost along the way? What if we somehow succumb to the critic within, or worse, to friendly advice, and we're tempted to give it all up?
The following frameworks will be more than enough to help you punch those damn keys and never worry about going creatively bankrupt.
