Writer's Block

I often get emails from writers looking for assistance or information regarding either the business or craft of writing, and it's always great to connect and help a fellow writer out.

So I thought that, instead of just responding, I'd take some info from my response and share it here in the hopes that it might be useful to other writers.

This morning's query was about writer's block.

Calvin & Hobbes - © BillWatterson

Q: How do you deal with writer's block?

That can be a tough one. I will often jokingly say that if you don't believe in writer's block, it won't believe in you. (ie, don't GIVE it the power over you) - however, that answer often frustrates an author who has already been over-powered and is stuck in their writing.

One technique I use stems from the thought that actually writing is the best cure for writer's block.  There was a quote I remember reading years ago, likely in the pages of Writer's Digest magazine, and it is that writing begets writing.

So if I'm stuck on a scene or particular piece of writing, instead of staying stuck where the writing and the muse seem to have left and abandoned me, I go ahead and write something else - either another piece/story or a different part of the same story by SKIPPING the spot I'm stuck.

I do it with the following two thoughts:

1) Either the writing itself will get me enough back into the flow that, once I'm "running" again with word flow, I can return back to that stuck part and just motor through it. (Part of that "writing begets writing" mantra I mentioned earlier)

2) Perhaps there was something ABOUT that piece I got stuck on that was the culprit - something wrong about it that didn't ring true - which might mean going back and re-doing it a slightly different way - (ie, your tires get stuck in a rut when driving down a dirt road and it has taken you into a 'dead end' spot preventing you from continuing on, and you can't get your tires out of the rut. So, you back up, alter the path slightly and avoid the rut and try a slightly different way to get where you were going)

In any case, here's hoping that these thoughts on writers block help you overcome it should the little monster show itself in your writing life.

Author Branding

I do a lot of talks for authors at conferences in various different cities. One of the things that I share is the importance of the author brand. I ask authors to consider who their target audience might be for their writing and whether or not they have a distinctive author brand that might click with such an audience.

I typically use concepts such as my own use of Barnaby Bones, the "mascot" who attends various author events with me. Barnaby is my personal example of an author brand. I write horror - therefore, the props of tombstones and skulls and a life-sized skeleton create an instantly recognizable and classifiable "brand" that speaks of "Mark Leslie"

And just a few days ago, I took the "author branding" to a more literal level.

I branded myself - my skin - with something quite appropriate for a horror author, when I finally got a tattoo.

It all stems back to the early 1990's when I remember sitting at my desk when I lived on Craig Street in Ottawa. I should have been studying, but instead, I was looking at three things on my desk -- the pencil cup on the edge of my desk, the coffee mug in front of me, and a cool drawing of an eerie skull with flesh melting off of it from one of the small press horror magazines that I was either published in or had ordered a sample copy of/

I ended up combining the skull, the mug and the pencil cup into a single sketch that I quite liked. I later inked the sketch in, enjoying the feel of the piece.

A copy of the original "Skull cup" sketch I had created

But I didn't know what to do with it. When I released my self-published short story collection One Hand Screaming in 2004, I considered using that sketch for the front cover. But my buddy Steve who designed the cover for me, did something much better - so I went with that.

The skull cup sketch sat, like many stories often do, in a drawer.

And it wasn't until I had decided to get a tattoo earlier this year that I realized I could use this. (And it took me several hours of digging around in boxes of my misc creative and writing files to find it)

So this past Friday, I had the tattoo done at Skinners in Hamilton.

I was relieved to learn the tattoo could easily be removed should I change my mind

My appointment was for 2 PM on a Friday - I arrived for the appointment on a bright and sunny afternoon. I was delighted to learn that, should I ever change my mind, there was an easy way to remove the tattoo.

The artist began by shaving my arm with a little Lady Bic razor and then rubbing my arm done with some sort of warm liquid then transferring a stencil from my sketch onto my arm.

The stencil is on. "Look Ma, no pain!"

That was pretty cool and also quite painless.

Then the actual tattooing began. It felt, basically, like a simple and relatively painless needle going into my arm (which, I suppose, is exactly what it is - a needle that is injecting ink into the skin) - the second that it was out, the pain was over. Only, it was followed by another relatively mild pin prick sensation, then another, then another.

Here is the Tattoo outline as completed

Then, once the outlining of the tattoo was completed, the "filling in" of the shadowing and the eyes and nose, etc began. (There was a good 5 minute break while the artist was attending to some other customers - and it gave me a good chance to move my arm around and get the feeling back into my hand - for the procedure, I had to sit with my arm danging straight down and my hand went to sleep being in that position for so long)

The tattoo as complete - is all that red part of the design or just irritated skin?

Admittedly, the series of pin-pricks that accompanied the "filling in" of the "black space" was quite intense - but again, it was just a pin prick, following by another, and another, and another, and another, and another, etc, etc, etc.  To be honest, the numbing feeling of my hand falling asleep was more painful than the tattoo itself. And there was a TV on and which I amused myself by watching from the multiple mirrors set up in the shop, likely for just that purpose.

Then, I was coated in a cream, a bandage was applied and I was given instructions on how to treat it for the next couple of weeks. (Basically, applying a Vitamin A/Vitamin E cream, keeping from submersing it in water for 2 weeks, keeping it out of the sun and keeping the skin lubricated while I go through the process of scabbing and flaking and healing.

Oh no! Blood! ;)

I was a bit surprised when I got home to see that there was quite a bit of blood leaking out from the bandage.  But the next day, when I removed the bandage, it was starting to look good. (Although, sure, there's still a lot of redness around the tat -- and the feeling is more like some sort of sunburn)

The day after tattoo look

In any case, I'm now going through the process of applying the vitamin A/ vitamin E cream multiple times a day and, of course, showing the tattoo off.

But I have to say that this is quite the appropriate tattoo for a horror writer to spot, which the brilliant horror author Jason Brant pointed out in a tweet that day.  (Quick side note for horror fans, if you haven't yet checked out Jason's writing, do yourself a favour and go buy one NOW.....you'll be sorry if you don't)

Tweet by horror author Jason Brant

As Jason says, I'm taking author branding to the extreme.

I suppose I might use some of this in my next "author branding" example.

Thirteen Years Ago

It has been thirteen years since the tragic event of Sept 11, 2001 and 2996 people lost their lives.

Blogger D. Challenger Roe began Project 2,996 as a way to bring bloggers from around the world together to remember and pay tribute to the victims of Sept 11, 2001.

The point of the project is to celebrate and remember the LIVES of those who were lost rather than focusing on the tragedy of that day.

Birds circling in the tribute lights - from 9pixs.com

I adore the fact that the focus of this blog meme wasn't on the horror, but on the celebration of the lives, the people they had been before 9/11.

Here are my own links to three individuals that I focused on learning a bit about and sharing.  Every year, on this anniversary, I re-read the posts, think about the lives they lived before the tragedy.

 Raymond Meisenheimer

 

Remembering Raymond Meisenheimer  (Blog post from 2006)

Deora Francis Bodley

 

  Remembering The Lives of Two Heros (Blog post from 2007)

David Reed Gamboa Bradhorst

  Project 2996 - Sept 11, 2008 (Blog post from 2008)

It's my small way of continuing to celebrate their lives, of not forgetting . . .

Podcast Alley

My voice has been getting a lot of "airplay" lately with having been a guest on several different podcasts lately . . .

• A couple of weeks ago I was a guest on Simon Whistler's Rocking Self-Publishing Podcast. I have long enjoyed this really well produced podcast and the fascinating interviews that Simon conducts. It was fun to have Simon first interview me about my own writing and then we transitioned into talking about Kobo Writing Life and how authors could sell more books on Kobo.  (That was for episode 62)

• Last week I was also a guest on the Self-Publishing Round Table podcast (and Google Hangout). That podcast is always an interesting dynamic between the group of hosts (Wade Finnegan, Carl Sinclair, Trish McCallan, John Ward and Kevin Michael), creating an interesting blend of voices and perspectives) as well as the guests who are watching live.

• This past weekend I was interviewed for the latest episode of the Hide & Create Podcast, a 30 minute weekly podcast that covers all aspects of writing.  That podcast is hosted by Jordan Ellinger, Joshua Essoe, Debbie Viguié and Michael J Sullivan, who all bring a unique personal perspective to the discussion because of their backgrounds in the industry.

And, of course, I was delighted, as part of my hosting of the Kobo Writing Life Podcast, to get to interview Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks (In Episode 22) in a delightful conversation about their work and a new collaborative project they are teaming up for.  (Rainbow and Faith coming together to work on a project is as genius as the merger of peanut butter and chocolate -- two great entities on their own forming something even more spectacular when brought together - and that's definitely something you get listening to the two being interviewed at the same time . . . .)

Rainbow & Faith taking a selfie in the front lobby at Kobo's home office in Toronto

Book Meme

Chele Cooke, the brilliant sci-fi and fantasy author of such books as Dead and Buryd and Fight or Flight in the "Out of Orbit" series, recently followed this meme talking about her serialized novel that she's releasing on Wattpad called Teeth. (Check out Chele's blog post in this meme)

Chele tagged me in her meme, suggesting I talk about my novel I, Death (coming in print and eBook in October, but I am releasing it in serialized fashion on Wattpad throughout the summer) 

[A warning that I, Death contains graphic horror and depictions of adult sexual situations - this is definitely not a story for those easily offended]

1. When and where is the story set?

The story opens in the small mid-Northern town of Levack as well as the nearby city of Sudbury, in Ontario, Canada. The characters migrate four hours south to the city of Toronto towards the end of the book.

While not necessarily a part of the setting, the first 70% of the novel is written on a blog by the main character and that part of the story is told entirely from his POV along with interjections from others in the blogging community. (But I often do think that part of the "setting" has to do with the online tools by which Peter is sharing his story)

2. What can you say about the main characters?

Peter O'Mallick, the novel's main character, is an angst-filled seventeen year old who has just been dumped by his longtime girlfriend Sarah. He begins blogging about the turmoil faced with losing her while also dealing with the belief that he was born with some terrible death curse that has resulted in so many of his friends dying or suffering horrible fates.

One of the supporting characters, a supply teacher by the name of Mr. Robertson (called "Robbie" by his students), was one of my favourite characters to write, as he became a composite of every single amazing teacher I'd every had, as well as some traits that I liberated from the character of John Keating played by Robin Williams in the movie Dead Poets Society.

The "bad guy" is a drug lord by the name of Bryan Brecht, who discovers Peter's blog, understands that the kid isn't just paranoid, but actually has some sort of death curse, and seeks to find a way to use the kid's power to further rise in the ranks of becoming a kingpin of the drug world.

3. What is the main conflict?

There are two main conflicts in the novel -

The main underlying conflict is internal and has to do with Peter's sense of loss and grief and frustration with the death curse that he believes is responsible for losing everyone from his parents and best friends to the loss of his girlfriend Sarah (who is very much alive, but who has cut herself off from his life). I tried to adapt the universal angst and frustration that are felt during the teenage years related to acceptance, friendship, love and loss with the additional element of a dark undertone of death. Dealing with his own feelings and his reaction to the terrors that surround him are a good part of the conflict Peter faces. Throughout the loss and destruction of his world, his desire to reunite with Sarah remains a constant thread. But he knows he can't be close to her or else she, too might succumb to the curse.

The second conflict, the main external one is related to Brecht's desire to infiltrate and manipulate Peter in order to use him and his death curse for the benefit of his position in the drug world. He plays upon Peter's continued loss of a fatherly and supportive figure and his desire to have a strong and important mentor.

The Infectious Phase

I'm nominating the following writers (all peeps with serialized books on Wattpad that you can and SHOULD check out) to continue this meme . . .

1) Edward Willett, author of Andy Nebula: Interstellar Rock Star

2)  Robert S. Wilson, author of Shining in Crimson

3) Meredith Rose, author of Chains of Silver