Excuses, Excuses (and Writer's Block)

"I was in a rush."

"I lost interest."

"I didn't know how to write it, so I skipped it."

Chao- We all have reasons explaining why a part of a story was dull, neglected, or rushed through. Some readers are more understanding about these factors than others. But, come on, is that really fair to your readers or to yourself as a writer? This isn't an academic paper! Here are a few ideas to get back on track. Try them out!

Take a Break: Sometimes walking away for a bit can clear your mind and give you a new perspective.

Look at Something Similar: Some artists who first start drawing trace and copy poses in How to Draw books. Writers can look at something similar in writing and try and mimic that.

Visualize it (a scene, a character, etc) in Your Mind: If you can see it in your mind, you'll have an illustration to refer to.

Read It in a New Layout: On some writing programs, like Microsoft Word, you can change the format you are looking at your work. By default it's on Print Layout, but you could try something new like Web Layout.

Try a Writing Exercise: There are websites and books that offer various types of exercises for you to explore in areas you are comfortable with to situations you may have never thought of on your own.

Chao- Perhaps the reason why we skip over certain parts is due to writer's block. If we write at least something, we can get on with our other adventures, right? Here are some websites that talk about that!

Overcoming Writer's Block

The 10 Types of Writers Block and How to Overcome Them

Symptoms and Cures for Writer's Block

Chao- Fanfiction.net, Fictionpress.com, and deviantART.com all have ways to communicate between authors and readers through the comments feature, profiles, or author notes. This is fine to use for explanation, but remember that stories are meant to be illustrated, not told. With published books, unless you have a chance to meet the authors or stalk them on their blogs, you won't know what goes on their mind. All you have is the summary, a little author bio, and maybe a line for dedication. Chao is definitely gonna miss reading author notes when leaving FF.net. But that won't be for a while!