Writer's Block is what happens when you don't deal with real life effectively.  I've come to this conclusion after having to drive my son three hours away so that he could leave for Egypt with his grandfather (husband's father.)

I didn't want my son to go to Egypt.  I knew that stopping him would have been a mistake because it's a once in a lifetime experience and my son LOVES Egypt.  So I couldn't let my fears get in the way of his life.   Well, on the way up, I believe I had a panic attack.  And I could not drive.  We were stuck in Stockton, which isn't the best city in the world in terms of safety, and I had no choice but to let my son drive the family while I regrouped.

Once I got to my parents' house, I realized that I was holding in so much emotion because my truth was that I didn't want my son to go.  Once I let him go, and prayed through the angst, and the entire night while he was on flights, my writing brain returned.

And I came to a conclusion as a seat-of-the-pants writer.  You must deal with real life before you can deal with characters who work.  Otherwise, your characters will have all this excess baggage and they won't work for you.  Their conversations will be riddled with angst that doesn't move the story forward and worse?  They'll become victims of circumstances instead of movers and shakers.

So if you happen to be a SOTPer, deal with your emotions.  Food addicts will eat.  Drinkers will drink. And writers will pawn off their unwanted emotions on their characters.

Labels: advice, angst, emotions, Fiction Writers, novel, novelists, seat of the pants, SOTP, Writer's Block, writers