So this week has been full-on!, and NaNoWriMo is taking all my writing energy (!!!! 😀 ), so this post will be super short – cheers! But today’s “tip link” is something I know you’ll enjoy and find useful:
TIPS FOR BREAKING THROUGH the writer’s block wall.
Tamora Pierce
Image source: NNMW
In this great post in ‘NaNoWriMo pep talks’, Tamora Pierce talks about trying two super simple things to get your character moving again.
As for Tamora’s credentials, she is one of my favourite authors, and her writing is legitimately incredible! Her characters are believable and her plots are fantastic examples of medieval fantasy written for a younger audience that doesn’t dumb it down. I discovered her when I was ten and I’ve read almost every book she’s ever penned – which is a LOOOOOT of books.
Her idea #1 is my favourite:
Trip them up.
On the sidewalk. In a forest. Getting out of a swimming pool.
Tripping, no matter when or where it happens, is by nature an unexpected event. Depending on how tired they are, how many resources they have left, it’s something that can make your character overreact completely, do something crazy and uncharacteristic, or make them realise their newfound strength and rise to the challenge.
e.g. Whoops, my character broke their leg. Now they can either react by punching in the face the person who tripped them over, or my character can react by using the time off to do something they’ve always wanted to, accomplish a dream. Like painting a beautiful sunset. Or watching a Firefly marathon interrupted.
‘The slip horse falling off a cliff’ by Sidney Nolan
This horse (painted by the odd-but-amazing Sidney Nolan) fell off a cliff, poor fellow. Now that’s a bad day!
What’s a memorable time you tripped? Can you work it into your story somehow?
This post was written by TJ Withers-Ryan © 2014. Reblogging is highly encouraged as long as you credit me as the author.
TJ Withers 
Thanks. A great idea just from eeading this. 🙂
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That’s great to hear, Gregory! Quick, write it down before it’s lost forever! Ideas are tricksy that way…
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Yep. I gone to the manuscript and changed it. The best thing is that I now have to work out a way for my character to get out of this unexpected predicament that has happened just at the wrong time. Actually gets me quite excited because it’s my second draft and I was feeling a bit ho hum about this section of the novel
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Yep. I gone to the manuscript and changed it. The best thing is that I now have to work out a way for my character to get out of this unexpected predicament that has happened just at the wrong time. Actually gets me quite excited because it’s my second draft and I was feeling a bit ho hum about this section of the novel
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Good work! Phew – so good to get through that wall of feeling uninspired for a particular section. 🙂
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Ps. Meant reading
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