Tag Archives: Submissions block

Elizabeth Berg’s ESCAPING INTO THE OPEN–A Great Beginner’s Guide to Writing

Posted on March 19, 2009 | Comments Off

Take a moment and try to remember how it felt when you decided you wanted to try writing fiction by yourself for the first time.   You don’t know anything about point-of-view, story and character arcs, acts and beats, query letters and synopses, etcetera.   You had no experience with conferences or critique groups.  Everything about fiction writing was new and strange.

Elizabeth Berg’s ESCAPING INTO THE OPEN: The Art of Writing True (ISBN 978-0-06-092929-9) is a great book for those making their first tottering steps on the road of writing.   It’s the book I recommend to people who’ve expressed an interest in doing fiction writing, but have no clue where to start.

What I love most about the book are the chapters on voice (Ch. 3 ), writing exercises (Ch. 4 ), and writing with passion (ch. 5).   The book gets the reader writing on a regular basis–which is half the battle right there, since writers must write in order to get better at their craft.  I’ve seen new writers get distracted in reading too many books and sitting in too many lectures, and not doing enough writing.  I’ve been guilty of getting distracted myself, and this book got me back on track.

If you’re a more experienced fiction writer, most of the book will be “old news” to you.  However, I think Ch. 3 & 4 & 5 still have advice and guidance useful to the semi-pro (which is probably why they’re my favorites).  Struggles with voice never go away.   Here’s a favorite quote from Ch. 3 In Your Own Words:

I believe that one of your most important jobs as a writer is to be true to yourself, to honor your own notions of what you believe is important to your life and to that of others….I’m sure you’ve heard, countless times, “Write what you know.”  I would change that to “Write what you love.”  The knowledge can be learned; the passion can’t be–it’s either there or it isn’t.

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Posted in Business of writing, Craft of writing, Editors, Markets, Psychology of writing, Publishers, Submissions block, Voice, Writer's block

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Julia Cameron’s THE ARTIST’S WAY-Recovering from severe creative block

Posted on March 2, 2009 | Comments Off

I just finished doing the whole 12-week program in Julia Cameron’s THE ARTIST’S WAY (ISBN 0-87477-694-5). I’m always interested in finding a good book that can help people with writer’s block, so when I heard about hers I knew I’d have to try it out so I could blog about it.

Her book is specifically geared towards helping all artists, not just writers. Also, she tackles dealing with the worst creative blocks–the kind where the artist is the equivalent of a blasted building. Many of the exercises are ways to clear out the rubble and figure out what is to be built on the foundation that is discovered.

What this means is that if you are further along in the journey (you know what kind of art you want to do, you do it regularly, you’ve taken classes, you’ve read other books on blocks such as BREAK WRITER’S BLOCK NOW), you may find yourself getting restless at times. There were a few times when I felt like the book was dragging. But other chapters helped me to clarify attitudes and behaviors that were holding me back (such as Week 6: Recovering a Sense of Abundance, where I had to deal with my feelings about money ). The twelve weeks were all worth doing despite my restlessness.

The book divides itself into twelve chapters, one chapter for each week. Each chapter tackles a different issue that can block an artist, as well as providing exercises to help readers figure out what they might like to try, explore their past, and act on insights.

One is required to write morning pages each day to help get in touch with one’s feelings. Mine tended to yo-yo between insights and utter tedium. The weekly Artist’s date was fun to arrange, but the requirement to do it alone was frustrating at times.

Overall, this is a great book to give to someone suffering from a massive creative block, or anyone who wants to explore their inner artist. I’d encourage the reader with a severe block to do the book, if possible, with an Artist’s Way group instead of alone.

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Posted in Psychology of writing, Submissions block, Writer's block

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One CAN recover from a horrible bout of writer’s block

Posted on January 31, 2009 | Comments Off

I had a severe case of writer’s block that lasted for about eleven years. Though a more accurate term in my case might have been “writer’s anorexia” since my specific problem was that I wouldn’t let myself write.

I wanted to write fiction, and I would force myself not to. I had come to the conviction that writing fiction was a selfish and wasteful act on my part (however, fiction writing was to be admired when done by others), and that I had no right to be doing it. So I told myself it was forbidden to me.

So what followed was eleven years of me denying the urge for months on end (usually around five or six), until I couldn’t take it anymore, and then I’d grab a pen and paper and write for a page or two. And then I’d make myself drop the pen and shove the paper away–and that was that until the pain got too great again. I’d tell myself 1) that I was being selfish and it was time to get back to work on more important things, and 2) the last thing this suffering world needed was another fiction writer.

I was finally brought face-to-face with my own self-punishment after I began a theology program for laypeople (Education for Ministry, run by the University of the South). We had to do personal autobiographies and essays, study Scripture in depth, and learn how to do theological reflection under the guidance of a mentor.

It takes time to undo a block; the worse the block, the more effort required to break it. The kind of virulent block I describe above typically takes therapy, a support group, or a program like ARTIST’S WAY to get out of. (Note: I am reading and doing ARTIST’S WAY right now to see how it is, and will blog on it when done. So far, there are parallels between the book and the theology program I was in.)

Healing does not happen overnight. In my case, it took years to undo the damage, but with time my block went from being the “anorexic” kind to the more traditional “I want to write but can’t” kind to the “I’m scared to death to show my work to other human beings” kind.

There are great books out there for the latter two types of blocks that I’ve blogged about already. Make sure to explore 1) Ralph Keyes, THE COURAGE TO WRITE and THE WRITER’S BOOK OF HOPE, 2) Jerrold Mundis, BREAK WRITER’S BLOCK NOW, and 3) Dorothea Brande, BECOMING A WRITER. I made sure to categorize and tag them under “psychology of writing”.

I’ve found that a block can come back, but if you keep aware of the warning signs and take action to treat it, it can be shortened to a few days.

Right now I’m in the very last stages of dealing with submissions block. One of the reasons I started blogging was to deal with it on a regular basis. Doing the thing you fear most in small manageable steps tends to drain the terror away with the passage of time. When I started this blog, I was so nervous I thought I’d pass out. And I did get a bout of blogger’s block and had to learn to work past it.

Anyways, if anyone suffering from writer’s block finds this blog post, here’s a message for you:
Don’t give up, it can be treated.
Be gentle with yourself.
There are teachers and therapists you can turn to for help if the block is nasty and has lasted for years.

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Posted in L. M. May, Psychology of writing, Submissions block, Writer's block

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Dorothea Brande’s BECOMING A WRITER–helping writers overcome behavioral problems

Posted on September 19, 2008 | Comments Off

I found out about Dorothea Brande’s BECOMING A WRITER (ISBN 0-87477-164-1, published 1934, reprinted in 1981) the same way I did Ueland’s IF YOU WANT TO WRITE, by looking in the bibliography of Cameron’s THE ARTIST’S WAY.  And I’m so glad I did, for this book tackles several core behavioral problems that can plague writers.

The 1981 reprint also includes a forward by novelist and creative writing teacher John Gardner as a bonus. Here’s what he has to say about Brande’s book:

It’s an astonishing thing that Dorothea Brande’s Becoming A Writer should ever have fallen out of print, and a lucky thing it is now back in the light where it belongs.  The root problems of the writer, whether the writer is young or old, just starting out or much published, are no different today than in 1934….

Brande’s book is mostly about the psychology of writing, not the craft (except for finding one’s voice as a writer) or business side.  Her focus is to help the writer improve in productivity and originality.  To do that, she has the writer do numerous exercises, write morning pages, and practice meditation techniques.

Here’s a quote from Chapter Two, What Writers Are Like:

After you have begun to see what it is to be a writer, after you learn how the artist functions and also learn to act in the same way, after you have arranged your affairs and your relations so that they help you instead of hinder you on your way toward the goal you have chosen, those books on your shelves on the technique of fiction, or those others which set up models of prose style and story structure for emulation, will look quite different to you, and be infinitely more helpful.

This book, combined with Mundis’ BREAK WRITER’S BLOCK NOW, helped me this past spring to come up with a specific plan to conquer my submissions block problem once and for all.  Neither book mentions submissions block by name, but their techniques work for any sort of behavioral problem a writer is facing.

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Posted in Craft of writing, Psychology of writing, Submissions block, Voice, Writer's block

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Jerrold Mundis’ BREAK WRITER’S BLOCK NOW

Posted on September 15, 2008 | Comments Off

Writer’s block is one of the hazards of the writing profession.  If you don’t write, you don’t sell.  So keeping the words flowing is crucial to being able to pay the bills.

Jerrold Mundis goes straight to the point in his 88-page book BREAK WRITER’S BLOCK NOW (ISBN 0312053940, April 1991, out of print).  He deliberately wrote the book to be read and the exercises done in one afternoon sitting.  Let me repeat that–not months, not days, one afternoon.

Mundis makes his living as a writer, but also does one-on-one counseling with writers who have writer’s block.  The way the book is structured makes it clear that he bases the steps on his counseling sessions, which last one afternoon.

I got hold of a copy of the book through Inter-library loan about four months ago, and completed it in one afternoon as recommended.

The reader alternates between doing exercises to figure out what is going on in his or her head, and reading about foundation skills and techniques used to break writer’s block (labeled soft, firm, hard, and nuclear–the worse the block, the more intense the techniques used).

Mundis cuts to the heart of the matter when he says that the three destroyers of productivity are:  1) Perfectionism, 2) Fear, and 3) Baggage Train (i.e. worries about money, cravings for fame, determination to show “them”, etc.).  He also points out that when looked at closely, baggage train feelings are often rooted in perfectionism or fear.

It’s a shame this book is out of print, for I’d buy a copy right now for my reference shelf.  There are used hardback editions available, but they are quite pricey (average cost about $50).  However, if for some reason I had trouble with writer’s block in the future, ordering a used copy would be the first thing I did.

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Posted in Psychology of writing, Submissions block, Writer's block

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Submissions block (the cousin of writer’s block) and two books by Ralph Keyes that can help

Posted on August 22, 2008 | Comments Off

Earlier today I went to Wikipedia, and typed in “writer’s block”. As expected, I found an entry. Then I typed in “submissions block” and as expected there was no entry. Writers talk a lot about writer’s block (the inability to write), but there isn’t as much talk about submissions block (the inability to submit one’s work).

But submissions block can ruin a writing career as badly as writer’s block can. I should know, I had it for four years.

Submissions block can be fueled by different emotions: 1) a sense of futility – i.e. there’s so many books in the universe already, why bother?, 2) guilt – i.e. why am I wasting my time on this when it won’t make money when I could be doing something else to help support my family, 3) pain of rejection – i.e. if I don’t send it out, I won’t get rejection letters, and 4) the fear of getting attacked if people notice you – i.e. if I don’t send anything out, I don’t have to worry about pissing people off and having them come after me.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

It turned out in my case #4 (fear of being attacked) was the big fueler of the submissions block. I had to come up with a detailed game plan with specific goals to get past this fear. I’ve broken the block and have begun submitting my work, and to deepen the desensitization process I’ll be blogging (probably a lot). I don’t recommend blogging to people dealing with #4 until they’ve reached the point they know they can deal with any personal attacks that might happen.

There are two books by Ralph Keyes that I pull off the reference shelf at least 3-4 times each month whenever I sense the submissions block is coming back. The names of the books (which do a great job telling you exactly what they are about) are The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear ( ISBN 0-8050-7467-8 ) and The Writer’s Book of Hope: Getting From Frustration To Publication (ISBN 0-8050-7235-7). Both books talk in great depth about the emotions involved in being a writer, and have inspiring stories of how other writers have overcome writer’s block, submissions block, or other challenges. You can read excerpts from each book at the website of Ralph Keyes.

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Posted in Psychology of writing, Submissions block, Writer's block

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