Lyle Skains
I don't. It's a myth.
Writers get "blocked" for one of two reasons: the struggle for "originality", and not knowing where their story is going. If the former, forget it. Nothing's original anymore; the cool thing is, no one actually cares. We just like good stories, no matter how many times we re-hash them. So go ahead, write that same old fairy tale again. If it was good enough for Shakespeare and J.K. Rowling, it's good enough for you.
If you don't know where your story is going, you didn't do your homework - you don't know enough about your character or storyworld to keep it rolling. Step back, ask the basic questions (what do the characters want? what stands in their way? how do they act to resolve the conflict?), and things become much clearer.
Writers get "blocked" for one of two reasons: the struggle for "originality", and not knowing where their story is going. If the former, forget it. Nothing's original anymore; the cool thing is, no one actually cares. We just like good stories, no matter how many times we re-hash them. So go ahead, write that same old fairy tale again. If it was good enough for Shakespeare and J.K. Rowling, it's good enough for you.
If you don't know where your story is going, you didn't do your homework - you don't know enough about your character or storyworld to keep it rolling. Step back, ask the basic questions (what do the characters want? what stands in their way? how do they act to resolve the conflict?), and things become much clearer.
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