I recently got a message from a writer named Robert Scarlato, and although he’s really just starting out, it didn’t take me long to be impressed by both his productivity and his sensible self-marketing. He asked if he could do a guest post here at Becoming A Fiction Writer and I readily agreed:
I used to struggle all the time with writer’s block. After writing one book, from midnight to six am, while still a freshman in high school, I found that one of the best ways to get your writing done is to have someone bully you into finishing. When I met my girlfriend, I showed her the first nine chapters of the book I was trying to write. When she asked what happened next, I had to write further. I didn’t want to disappoint or leave her hanging.
Recently, the block has returned and I was lucky enough to find another method that helps. Start small. Try writing a two-paged short story. Make it about anything. Not only will you become more accustomed to writing, but you’ll have a nice collection of short stories for yourself. That’s how I wrote For What It’s Worth. I was basically trying to write my way out of writer’s block. It seems odd to dig yourself out by typing more words, but it works. Writing seems scary on the surface, the epic battle of person versus paper, but once you just sit down and dig yourself out of a jam with words, the writing flows.
Thanks, Roberto. Anybody else used this methods? Got any more to add? Let us know in the comments.
Tags: guest post, Robert Scarlato