Writer Hang-Ups

About twenty-five years ago, a set of words - four to be exact - came to my father's mind that was so pure, so devoid of cynicism, so honest, that he knew that if he were ever to write a book, this would be its title. He told me this almost as a confession, as if not wanting to say it too loud lest someone else take his idea for their own. He said, "I would call it, 'The Book of Hours.'" It sounds like one of those names with an air of intrigue, a little mystery, but more of an insightful introspection about the world than anything else. It was, in fact, a good name for some book. I felt bad telling his that the Catholic Church beat him to it, using that name to refer to books containing various prayers, etc. He was, to say the least, disappointed, but he still loved the name.

Twenty-five years later, I came up with my own perfect book title, and fortunately knew it was already a phrase so I wasn't in for any disappointment. The next WIP (work in progress) for me will be titled, "The God of Empty Spaces." Brilliant, right? Intriguing, mysterious, introspective, all that. Yes, the term is used in religion, and yes, the term is used in science as well, and many people debate what the phrase actually means. As for me, however, I am taking that title and running with it.

All I need now is characters, a setting, and a plot... Hmmm...

This is my personal hang-up as a writer - snapping onto words or phrases and trying to turn them into something (a trait I apparently inherited from my father). It is very true that any written piece of work is full of words, therefore they better be good ones, and any title is at least one word with some meaning. However, as a rule, I don't write about words, but rather ideas, concepts, moral challenges and the like. The ideas can read like a Mad-Lib: "What happens to a (occupation) when they find out that (some simple fact) is actually (opposite of the fact)?" Now that's the proper building point for a story (and I am already getting ideas). However, a phrase might stick in my head and now I want to find a story to fit with, "The God of Empty Spaces" instead of write a story that inspires me then find a title for it.

Oh - here's another good hang-up that I see writers fall for. They take that little Mad-Lib sentence and just start spitting out events - things and stuff that can result. They think, "What happens to a fireman who finds out dragons are real?" and start writing about a fireman, a dragon, and a bunch of wild things that happen like draconic episodes of I Love Lucy. Well, those are adventures, but where's the story? Where's the conflict and tension? It qualifies as telling stories but without those story elements, it's just BOSH writing (Bunch of Stuff Happens). 

We all have our hang-ups - the things that prevent us from doing the big project we want to do. Sometimes they're writing hang-ups, sometimes they're personal hang-ups ("I can't write a whole book..."), sometimes they're just our little fears and anxieties come to life in bad habits that distract us from greater things. And how do we identify them? Well, when we find ourselves eager to work on a project but for some reason not actually writing it, we're probably hung up on something. In those cases, write down the hang-up, say it out loud, and promise to do something else. Some other hang-up might appear afterward, but just repeat the previous process, then start getting to your story.

If worst comes to worst, comment me on your hang-up, and I will write you a personal prescription on how to get over it. Until that time, just keep on writing.