At the height of my writing prowess, I was able to write whole chapters in one session, often more than 1,000 words. Last spring I wrote a 10,000-word children's novel in 15 days, once I realized it wanted to be a novel. A few months later I wrote a 20,000-word, 21-chapter children's novel in 24 days (I would have written it in 21 days, if not for unforeseen health issues). Several months later, after overcoming writer's block (and a broken heart), I penned a script for a picture book in three days, and an emotionally-autobiographical short story. It depends on the length of the project, but every day I sat down and wrote roughly 1,000 words, which is about half as much as Stephen King can write in a day, but still rather respectable.
A year later I could barely manage to string 250 words together—hell, I was lucky if I could write 100 words. Some days—no more than 50, and that was if I even bothered to start up my computer, or grab a pen and some paper. Many days I couldn't even accomplish that.
I'd started a new novella at the beginning of this year and had written a third of it before my schoolwork took up too much time and energy. I completed a chapter here and there, but only in spurts.
This difficulty didn't stop at my fiction and poetry. It often extended to Odyssey. Many times over the last few weeks I've submitted essays and stories I'd already written for classes or hadn't sent anywhere else and tailored the pieces to fit Odyssey's standards. It's a lot easier than writing new ones.
My last new piece, "How I (Almost) Committed Fraud," took four days to write, and I had to write it a week ahead of time. Afterward I stalled again.
As you may know from reading my stuff, I can be a versatile writer. At times I can be serious with no pretense of melodrama, others I can be humorous and self-deprecating. Personally, no matter the assignment, I have to formulate much, if not all, of my day's writing in my head before I ever sit down and put it into words. At the very least I have to come up with a banger of a first line, something that will stop you in your tracks and compel you to continue reading. This is important in crafting both fiction and non-fiction. Additionally, I prefer to have the tone and general rhythm of the piece. And in the case of humorous pieces, I like having a number of gags or jokes all laid down in my mind. Now, despite having all those elements established in my head, when I sat down I would write two or three words before I felt that I'd already lost it. Within a matter of moments I was gnawing at my fingernails and pounding my head. I took a bathroom break and—voila!—it returned. So back to my desk I went and—poof!—it was gone again.
What was I to do?
I've found that writer's block is often a subconscious admission that the piece I'm hacking at is simply no good. My novella? Normally when I take up a writing assignment I obsess over it, think about it every second I'm awake. I fear that something (death, injury, etc.) will prevent me from completing it. I do anything to finish it. I need to. But with the novella I never felt that. I never thought of it and I found any excuse to avoid working on it. In the meantime I thought of future works, including a fantasy/noir trilogy.
So what did I do?
I killed it.
The second I moved it to an obscure folder on my computer (I can't delete any of my writings) I felt a surge of endorphins. My brain said, Finally. Like I'd ended an unsatisfying relationship, a relationship that had no opportunity for growth.
Removing that albatross from my neck, I've been able to move on and my worldview has brightened. I'm currently outlining a certain trilogy. It's quickly become an obsession...
