Writer’s Block is defined as “the condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing.” For many writers like me, we just call it “a slow march into Hell with only a thimble of water to drink.” It can make or break any author. It will make you miss deadlines, collapse goals and potentially lose money we haven’t earned from our last book. In other words, a bottomless pit from which there is no escape for the weak and weary. Once you’re there, it’s hard to climb your way out of it.
It can also cause an author to get distracted and do other things besides writing, from playing video games to watching a movie or surfing the internet. These distractions can lead to even longer delays in finishing your novel, blog, etc. So, what can we do to correct these inactions and lessen the distractions?
In the times I’ve experienced writer’s block, I found the best thing to do is to step back and take a breath. Sometimes, you get so wrapped up in writing that you can’t think straight and that leads to writer’s block. You have to stop and pull yourself together to find your zen and continue on. I know that sounds more like one of the problems when an author gets writer’s block, but it’s the best way that works for me.
To give you an example, when I was writing the second book in the Forever Avalon series, I started writing it as a prequel. I wanted to talk about the 10 years my lead character spent on Avalon before the rest of his family showed up on the island. After about the first four chapters, I got stuck. It wasn’t flowing right for me so I stopped and backed away from the story to gather my thoughts. It took me a few months and then it hit me. I started to write my second novel, The Dark Tides, as a straight sequel and used the pages I already write as flashbacks to help carry the story. It ended up being a monstrous book, nearly 200,000 words, but I was able to finish the remainder of my novel without any more episodes of writer’s block.
Others advise you to avoid distractions like television, music, etc. To me, if you have the right mood music, it helps in writing. Whenever I’m writing, I like to have a movie playing in the background, away from where I can see it, but where I can still hear it. My usual preference is a fantasy movie like Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia or The Hobbit. This keeps my mind in fantasy-mode (for lack of a better word) and helps me push through any writer’s block.
There are tons of articles out there with varied advice on how to avoid and overcome writer’s block. The one thing they all agree on is to stop writing for the readers and write for yourself. Tell your stories, write what you want to write, not what’s currently hip and trending. Remember, trends usually go the way of parachute pants and hair metal bands. Write what you want to write.
In the end, it’s up to you to find that happy place that lets your creativity flow and propel you into, as the song goes, the “Playground of my Mind.”
“In the wonders that I find,
In the playground in my mind,
In a world that used to be,
Close your eyes and follow me.”
***
Forever Avalon is available for purchase at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The Dark Tides is available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and iUniverse. The Outlander War can be previewed at Inkitt.
The BFG, written by Roald Dahl in 1982 and directed and produced by Steven Spielberg, is the only book by Dahl that hasn’t been made into a feature film previously. The BFG (Mark Rylance), while a giant himself, is a Big Friendly Giant and nothing like the other inhabitants of Giant Country. Standing 24-feet tall with enormous ears and a keen sense of smell, he is endearingly dim-witted and keeps to himself for the most part. Giants like Bloodbottler (Bill Hader) and Fleshlumpeater (Jemaine Clement) on the other hand, are twice as big and at least twice as scary and have been known to eat humans, while the BFG prefers Snozzcumber and Frobscottle. Upon her arrival in Giant Country, Sophie, a precocious 10-year-old girl from London, is initially frightened of the mysterious giant who has brought her to his cave, but soon comes to realize that the BFG is actually quite gentle and charming, and, having never met a giant before, has many questions. The BFG brings Sophie to Dream Country where he collects dreams and sends them to children, teaching her all about the magic and mystery of dreams.
This brings me back to my opening statement. Kids, and even parents, today flock to Finding Dory instead of The BFG. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Pixar movies, but to see a classic like The BFG ignored for a talking fish is sad. This generation is so hung up on movies, television, the internet, and video games that they all but ignore reading such great stories. It’s only because of technology today that movies can bring these stories to life. Watching The BFG made me want to read the book again, to bring back the magic from long ago.
We idolize our heroes, and for good reason. They inspire us to be better people. I created the 
I just wanted to let everyone know I will not be blogging for the next two weeks, but I have a very good reason. I will be supporting the 2016 Wounded Warrior games at the West Point Military Academy. I will be writing stories about the games, covering all the major events and ceremonies as well as publishing some feature articles on the athletes themselves.
Death is always an option for writers, especially since death is a natural part of life. Heaven and Hell are concepts we’ve learned about from Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Although, there are many who are skeptical of religion and do not believe in an afterlife. For example, reincarnation is a concept of the afterlife found among Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Rosicrucians, Theosophists, Spiritists, and Wiccans. Before that, you have varied concepts of the afterlife from the Fields of Elysium and Tartarus to Valhalla and Limbo.
It was Plato who said, “The soul takes nothing with her to the next world but her education and her culture. At the beginning of the journey to the next world, one’s education and culture can either provide the greatest assistance or else act as the greatest burden, to the person who has just died.” Although this sounds a little more like reincarnation than the afterlife, I think it speaks of a higher purpose. We are taking all we are from this world into the next when we die. That’s a lot of baggage to bring with you. The stories of one’s life can be told by what you take with you into the next. That brings some peace and solace while others hope it is enough to earn them a place in the afterlife.
Inspiration … it’s a word I use a lot in most of my social media posts. You’ll find #inspiration in almost everything I write. I can relate to so many different things as I weave my stories together. Movies, books, television, theater, and music give me the focus and drive in everything I do. Even as I am writing this blog, I am listening to Joss Whedon’s 2005 sci-fi classic Serenity.
It’s the simplest things in life that inspire us. I remember a few months ago when I was working to finish the third book in the 
Let’s start at the end and work our way back. In 1973, Heston starred in Soylent Green with Chuck Conners, Leigh Taylor-Young, and the great Edward G. Robinson. In the year 2022, the people of Earth survive on a ration known as Soylent Green. When an executive at the factory is murdered, Detective Robert Thorn (Heston) investigates the case. This leads to conspiracy, intrigue, and murder along with the shocking discovery that their rations are made from the dead. Like a lot of the other movies of its time, Soylent Green hit upon the fear of the era … overpopulation, starvation, nuclear war, etc. The film is loosely based upon the 1966 science fiction novel Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison. It won the Nebula Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film in 1973. This was also Edward G. Robinson’s last movie so that makes it even better, but it’s Heston that drives this film. His performance turned, what could have been a boring movie, into an edge of your seat crime thriller.
In 1971, Charlton Heston starred in The Omega Man, based on the novel I am Legend by Richard Matheson. If that sounds familiar to you, it is the same name as the 2007 movie I am Legend starring Will Smith. There was also a 1964 adaptation called The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price. In any case, Heston’s version is, to me, the true representation of the novel. It’s about Dr. Robert Neville (Heston) the sole survivor of a plague that killed or turned most of the population into zombie-like creatures. His blood held the key to curing the victims and also vaccinating other survivors. This movie had many firsts, including the first interracial kiss between Heston and co-star Rosalind Cash as Lisa. Another great aspect of the film was the empty streets of Los Angeles. They filmed in downtown LA on a Sunday morning to show the post-apocalyptic, deserted streets. Though the movie only got a 55% rating on 
The last movie is the 1968 classic Planet of the Apes and it’s sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes. As astronaut George Taylor, Heston and his team’s space flight takes them more than 2000 years into the future where apes now rule and humans are mute slaves. Of course, you don’t find this out until the end of the movie when you see the classic image of the Statue of Liberty, rusted and torn apart on the shoreline. This movie hits on a big theme of that era, equality and racism, but this time, it’s the humans being discriminated against. The movie was the first for large-scale make-up effects for all the actors cast as apes. Heston shines in his role as the only talking human in a world of talking apes. His arrogance, vanity, and narcissism comes through in his tough-guy persona as he struggles to survive. He also has to share time with the late great Roddy McDowell, who starred in all five Planet of the Apes movies. In the end, though, this is one of Heston’s most memorable roles.
“Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in the face of certain defeat.” That’s from Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. That’s just one constant you can always find throughout literature, words to live by and wisdom to navigate through the rivers of self-doubt. As authors, we represent the struggles of not only our own lives but that of the world events happening around us. Authors want to instill hope, courage, determination and justice in the words we right.
The end of the world has been prophesied since the dawn of time. The Mayans said the world would end on December 21, 2012. The Vikings called it Ragnarök when the world ends and the Norse Gods die, only to be reborn. Of course, the book of Revelation in the New Testament goes into detail about the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus; and with the current climate of financial, political and global upheaval happening today, people are scared that our time has come.
As writers, the end of the world can come about through endless possibilities and that gives us so many options in the stories we tell: Zombie apocalypse, machines taking control, deadly viruses, nuclear war, climate change, etc. We are fatalistic in our views of the apocalypse and show humanity at its worst to bring about the end of the world. Yet, through all that turmoil and tribulation, we find a glimmer of hope. There is always one guiding light or shining star that wins out in the end and gives everyone, from readers to storytellers alike, that spark of optimism that will inspire.
Mark Piggott | Fantasy & Steampunk Author 