Novella Update 4: Writer’s Block and Death Metal

If you’re following me over at Facebook or Twitter, you would have seen in the last few days that I just finished a major edit of Lost Tunnels. Now I plan to go through it manually – which essentially means I’ve printed it off and will be working through it with a literal red pen, trying to spot any previously unseen typos or grammar issues.

This will hopefully be the final round of edits, though having spent plenty of time working in print media I know it’s entirely possible that weird inconsistencies can creep through even at this stage. Nonetheless, things are still on track for a late June release! As always, keep your eye on Facebook or Twitter for updates.  

Today, I also wanted to talk about Writer’s Block. As someone who’s spent many years working as a professional writer, I am not a big believer in writer’s block as it’s depicted in popular media. Writer’s block is typically shown to be a torment of some creative type who just can’t get their words onto the page. There’s some “terrible” blockage which preventing them from expressing their GENIUS to its fullest. This tends to manifest as an excuse for stuffing and acting like a huge jerk in pursuit of rediscovering their creativity – and doing pretty much anything but writing in the process. If you move in any sort of creative circles, you may have even met a few people like this in real life, and they are almost always a huge chore.  

Sure, I’ll happily admit that some days of writing are easier than others. On the creative front I’ve had days where I stare at a blank page and can barely get anything down. Lost Tunnels is a relatively short novella, but it’s been an incredibly difficult process working through it. In the workplace, though…well, that’s a different thing. When you’re working in magazines, try telling your boss that you didn’t turn in a piece of copy before deadline because you had “writer’s block”.

Writing is a learned skill, just like anything else. It comes more easily to some than others, but this is true of just about anything – IT, fixing cars, painting, fishing, whatever. Do it enough and you develop a toolbox (as Stephen King calls it) of techniques that you can draw on to fake it to you make it. Turns out if you sit there and try to write, rather than just talking about wanting to write, you’ll get more done. 

Writing requires discipline, and that’s quite distinct from how people tend to imagine the “creative process”. I was talking about this with a musician friend last week over a few beers and was quite explicit in saying that for me the process is to sit my ass down, work at what I need to work at and eventually the “Muse” will show up. It gets easier with time, and you develop a skillset you can draw on.  Pretty much any established writer will tell you something similar.

People who romanticise the “creative process” and cannot do their “thing” except under very specific (i.e. anally retentive) conditions are not going to get very far with any of their creative goals. There will always be an excuse to not do it, and hard work is virtually excluded by definition. I know I have my preferences about how, where and when I like to write…

 But to be honest, you can do it just about anywhere if you practice. The modern open-plan workplace is not a place sensitive to my personal “creative process”, but…well, I don’t see the Western Capitalist working system suddenly shifting to accommodate my particular wants anytime soon. I just need to get on with the job at hand.    

But enough venting. Over the next few weeks, I hope to talk a bit more about practical techniques for freeing up your creativity and preventing your own brand of writer’s block. Today, let’s talk about music. I find listening to music extremely helpful in freeing up my creativity. This is not revolutionary advice; many authors talk about it, and author/ghostwriter Roz Morris runs a column speaking to different authors about the music they use here.

Now, heavy metal is my first and foremost musical love, but it’s not always the best tool for the job. Unless I’m very familiar with the album in question, it can take me out of what I’m doing and serve as a distraction. Instead, I like to find something appropriate for the genre I’m working on, e.g.:

• If I’m writing something fantasy-related, I might listen to something like the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack, or perhaps Mortiis’ early work. 
• For sci-fi, I might crack out Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre or some more modern synthwave.
• When I’m doing on a copywriting gig, I tend to throw on some kind of 80s pop mix. All of this helps me get into the right mood and headspace for writing in that particular world.  

Lost Tunnels is a horror novella, and it traverses a few different moods during the course of the story. Accordingly, I went through listening to different stuff during different phases of writing. Initially, I spent a ton of time listening to Fabio Frizzi’s film scores – specifically his soundtracks for Lucio Fulci’s Zombie Flesh Eaters and The Beyond. They’re two of my favourite horror films, so they seemed like good places to start.

But as writing went on, things began to vary a bit more; I listened to a lot of Amebix’s second album Monolith. The came Blood Incantation, particularly Starspawn – this where the death metal of the article title kicks in! There was also a bunch of Fleetwood Mac and Lindsey Buckingham solo work thrown into the mix, depending on the particular scene I was working on. One band to emerge to the forefront was Popol Vuh; probably best-known for their soundtrack work with Werner Herzog, they’re often thought of as an ambient group, but they really span a much broader range.

Some of these seem like more relevant influences than others – I mean, there’s nothing particularly terrifying about “Big Love” – but everything I listened to helped me get into the particular mindset I needed for a scene.

I don’t expect you to get the same stuff out of any of these bands that I did, but I would suggest that you try listening to music while you’re writing if you haven’t already. And if you are, maybe try listening to something new as well – see how it affects your mood, and accordingly your writing. Tell me how you go in the comments below!