Writer's block? ...What writer's block?

'You know you're a writer when your imaginary friends won't talk to you anymore.' I love this quote, it sums up writer's block for me anyway! We all hit a brick wall in our writing at one time or another but I'm writing this blog to tell you that there are ways to break through it.

Below is my tip on how I conquer the inevitable writer's block when it hits, It requires many notebooks!

Categorized Notebooks 

OK, so my first piece of advice is to buy a pack of notebooks. I can highly recommend the ones in the photo above from Amazon. They're an ideal size for carrying around and they come in a pack of ten for a bargain price. Check them out!

Once you have your notebooks, start to categorize them. For example I use categories like Characters, Potential Settings, Potential Lines and Story Ideas. I also have other notebooks for Book Review Notes, Morning Pages and Poetry. If you have any other ideas for notebooks I'd love to hear them.

Having done this begin to fill them with as many ideas as possible, even if they sound silly at the time, It's always worth writing them down.

Now you have your notebooks and ideas you never need to be stopped by writer's block again. Start having fun. If you've hit a brick wall, dig into your notebooks and start mixing up your ideas. Choose a potential setting, pick a character to place into your setting and give them your potential lines to say. (If they sound silly even better!) 

If you've filled your notebooks enough, you'll rarely run out of ideas to have fun with. After all we should be enjoying our writing and you never know, what might seem silly to start with could end up inspiring a bigger piece of work.

Keep writing and keep chasing your dreams!

@stephlottwriter on Twitter

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Character Development

Hey, I've got to admit I've had a slow week of writing. Last week I submitted my short story Azaria to the Costa Book Awards competition, and I'm still working away on Moonlight Jasmine for the Dragonfly Tea 'Story in a Teacup' short story competition. 

I'm currently working on a second draft of Moonlight Jasmine but (like all writers) I hit a brick wall this week. To get through the wall I decided to take a break and go back to basics, so I've been working on some character development for Jasmine to see if I can find her voice and make it come across in the story. 

I thought I'd give you some tips on how I approach character development. Personally I think the best way through it is to create a character questionnaire. This questionnaire should include important information about your character. Here's a few things that I include:

For each main character apply the following profile:

Name (and maiden name /previous names /aliases if applicable)
Date of birth
Birth sign
Marital status
Religion
A detailed physical description; height & weight, eyes; hair; special abilities
Parents; names and histories (jobs, education, religion, ethnicity, etc.)
Siblings – names, ages, relationships etc.
Relationship with immediate family members
Education
Job (and previous work history)
Salary
Interests/hobbies
Fears
Prejudices
Desires
Attitudes
Friends
Enemies
Pets
Passions
Disposition (temperament, character, mentality etc.)
Mannerisms
Likes
Dislikes
Any other traits you might want to add

I find that by doing a simple exercise like this, I can find a way through the story again. The idea is not necessarily that you make use of every single detail from the questionnaire in the story, more that you get to know your character(s) in greater depth, and can draw inspiration from the details of their life.

I'm now looking forward to getting stuck into my second draft and finishing the story ready for submission. I hope this blog has helped you out if you're struggling with developing your characters. I always find this exercise very useful.

Good luck and keep chasing your dreams!

@stephlottwriter on Twitter

Steph Lott Writer and Poet on Facebook

Azaria Excerpt

It's a busy time at the moment. This month I have two short story competition deadlines and the first one is this Wednesday, 5th August. It's a piece for the Costa Book Awards short story competition, everything else has gone on hold for the last couple of days to get it finished.

My story is called 'Azaria.' Azaria makes things happens on Earth via his paintings, its the way he interacts with the humans, but the humans are not listening and are doing things their own way. This leads Azaria to decide to send a warning to the world via Daniel and Ruth about a punishment that will befall them if they don't start doing what is right. 

Here's a sneak preview from 'Azaria.'

"...Azaria had just finished painting the last of the trees with a striking lime green. They lined a long straight road that stretched the length of the canvas and gave no clues as to where it might end. Azaria sat back; he tugged on his beard and stroked his chin in deep thought. ‘Hmm!’ he mused. ‘What I need is a messenger.’..."

I hope you like it and are looking forward to reading more. I will keep you informed of any progress during the competition.

Thanks for reading and keep chasing your dreams.

@stephlottwriter