Block Around The Clock

The blinking cursor is a taunting meanie. She flashes back and forth on my screen to a mocking beat that seems to say, “You. Suck. You. Suck. You. Suck…” The only way to keep her quiet is to write something. Now, you don’t have to be a writer to know that some days you’re hot and other days You. Suck. You. Suck. You. Suck and today is one of those days. Actually, so was yesterday. I searched my brain for something worth sharing and all I saw was darkness. Many of you would diagnose me with Writer’s Block–a condition that attacks the creativity hubs of motivated writers and renders them useless. But I don’t believe in writer’s block. There. I said. People give a lot of power to this term, but here’s what I believe happens when we go blank:

  1. We’re not interested in what we’re writing. That, or we haven’t given enough thought to where we want the story to go.
  2. We don’t know where we want the story to go because we haven’t outlined. The outline is a route your story travels so it can make it to its final destination. It doesn’t mean you have to stick to this route. It just means you need a general idea of where you’re going and how you want to get there. If it changes along the way that’s because you know more and can make an informed decision.
  3. You lack inspiration. This is probably happened to me. I’m still recovering from surgery and I’m thinking about my pain too much. I’m not in the right mindset to have fun with my characters. In these cases it’s important to get inspired. Go do something else. Read or watch something that puts you in the right mood. Buy a candle. Eat popcorn at your desk. I did all those things. Yes, I watched Big Mouth. Judge me.
  4. Maybe that scene you had your heart set on writing simply doesn’t work. Cut it. Try something new. Don’t get bogged down by events or details that don’t drive the story forward. Remember, you are the creator of your fictional world. You can give life and you can take it away.
  5. Commit to S%!t. Avoid perfecting your early drafts. They’re not supposed to be pristine. They’re supposed to get the story out of your head and on to the page. You’ll never make it to the end if you keep stopping to fix details along the way. Trust your future self to fix it later.

 

Hey, I wrote something!

TTYW,
Lisi

12 Comments

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  • GM says:

    Hello, Lisi (from cold and snowy BC)!

    I pretty much went through your entire site within an hour and wow, this was a major throwback (the nostalgia hit me hard!)

    I used to read your blogs weekly back in the day when the “iPad” was just Massie’s room and not some overpriced tablet (Blah-g Thursday’s anyone?). The Clique with all it’s over-the-top fashion and drama was (and still is) one of my favourite series! It was a very nice mixture of clever humour, diverse characters with some electric and unique personalities and all the amazing designer clothes!

    It gave me a weird tingle of excitement reading your previous comments about a future followup Clique novel. In recent years, many of my favourite authors from childhood (Meg Cabot, Ann Brashares, Cecily von Ziegesar, JK Rowling, etc.) have done “adult sequels” and some were good, some were “meh” but honestly, the PC “all grown up” is the one I have been waiting for! I am sure you will not let down and I am looking forward to it (no pressure!)

    Good luck!

  • Love all of lisi’s books!

  • Alexis says:

    Lisi,
    I think the follow up novel for the clique should be that the girls all wound up at the same college, but aren’t friends anymore. Massie lost contact with them long ago, but moves back to America for college. Alicia failed to govern the Pretty Committee well. Massie’s mission is to bring the girls back together to form the Pretty Committee 2.0. The back cover would look somewhat like this:
    Massie Block: Is back! With a tinge of a British accent and the same smell of Chanel no.19 lingering on her, she is ready to hop back on the Pretty Committee train. But what happens when she discovers it’s crashed?
    Alicia Rivera: Has disbanded the Pretty Committee. Who say’s Hermia is always right? Alicia was ready to lead, but her betas weren’t ready to follow.
    Dylan Marvil: Is still a star on Marvilous Marvils. So why in the world would she have a B-for beta tap dancer lead her?
    Kristen Gregory: Is once again on a scholarship. But at NYU, green stands for the economy,not money. When she joins a group of tree hugging hippies, she discovers her world is not tied to it’s roots.
    Claire Lyons: Has not only broken up with the Pretty Committee, but Cam too! 5 years wasted! When she discovers Massie’s return, she is up for a new adventure to remove her mind form the old one that’s just ended.

  • Madeline says:

    Lisi,
    I am absolutely in love with the clique books i can’t get enough of the series once it ends i restart it immediately, i just love how detailed it is, and all the characters.
    is there any way that there could possibly be a follow up series on massie block, what shes up to these days?
    what happens when she gets to england? im dying to know more about the pretty committee.

    • Lisi Harrison says:

      Thank you Madeline and funny you should say that. I’m brainstorming that very idea right now. Stay tuned into this blog for the latest updates.
      xoxo Lisi

  • Laura says:

    I love you. I’m feeling exactly the same way – im
    Blaming it on sympathetic stress for my kids and their finals

  • Zara says:

    Love the tips! Got any of those for people who are in a life block/blank? I’m currently going through this inner crisis where I don’t know what I’m doing with my life. As of right now, I’m in high school and although I know I don’t need to have it all figured out. I’m scared that I am not doing enough in life now or I won’t be able to go to a good college or have a job like this. Have you ever felt like this?

  • Kimberly says:

    Ahh I thought you meant Massie Block! 🙂 good tips regardless!

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