Knower’s Block pt 2

There’s a flipside to knower’s block that’s worth mentioning, and it’s better defined as Needing versus Wanting.

Needing an idea versus wanting an idea is a risky game. The temptation of Knower’s block is wanting to know it all. Whether you’re a plotter, pantser or plantster/plotster you can get sucked down the rabbit hole of needing to know everything about the story.

Now needing to know and wanting to know are only slightly different in meaning, but no less important in their distinction.

It comes down to results.

Needing to know the idea and all of its intricacies begins to hinge on the story being right, and good, and the best thing ever…The list goes on. Suddenly the story takes on a pressure and importance beyond curiosity.

Which is the clue to having gone off the beaten track.

Instead, you may have another idea percolating in the back of your mind. You’re slowly tinkering with, playing with the ideas. There’s no attachment or pressure. The ideas click seamlessly and you’re pretty chuffed with it when they do, thinking to yourself ‘Hey, this idea’s starting to look pretty good too’. You want to know more, and are pretty curious to the process, but you’re in no rush. There’s no pressure.

I speak of these ideas having done both, written stories from both, hated both, loved both, and with knowing certainty, will do it again.

It’s part of the process of getting excited for an idea. It’s part of the process of a story failing and succeeding. We need to experience both with a story or idea because it is that excitement that lets us know if it’s got legs, or a spark.

But it’s also the urge to push on when we know we should step back, that needs to be learned.

The same passion that fuels a project can also become the blinding light to a lopsided project. You know, those wicked ideas that have skipped leg day and don’t stand on much other than the big scenes that are deep, and awesome, and completely necessary to make the story… They just lack any real character meaning, emotional content, or most importantly, conflict.

Before I ramble on too much I’ll cap it here with the idea that the purpose of understanding Knower’s block is really becoming curios to the idea and project. And by maintaining curiosity without the pressure of results, we can find a better story.

But this is me, you should, and probably will, find your way.

Who’d a thought?

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