o this is an extension of something I mentioned in my last post about my top 3 tips for dealing with Writer’s Block, and mainly regards the first and third methods – the Baby, and the Battle.
So what even is Oblique Thinking?
For me, I consider to be like looking at a wild predator (e.g. a bear) out of the corner of your eyes. You don’t want to startle it into thinking that you’ve actually caught sight of it, or it’ll probably be on the defensive and maybe attack you (that is, brick wall you with Writer’s Block).
The bear is your writing.
How to Go About It?
OK. So this part directly addresses Writer’s block. For me, this tends to happen at moments where nothing’s really happening/I don’t know what’s going to happen, what I want to happen, or how I will advance the story.
In my opinion, a bit part of this issue is your mental dialogue.
his will probably differ from person to person, but for me, if I’m going to sit down and start thinking to myself “I’ve got a problem with my writing. What is this problem? How will I solve this problem? Problem, problem, problem.”
The problem is the word “problem”.
Don’t think about your block as a “problem” – don’t even label it when you are actively thinking about it in an attempt to solve it. You’re putting an obstacle in front of yourself, and by acknowledging that you’re having a problem in that matter, it can make it harder for you to overcome. Frankly, for me, it’s putting a wall in front of me, and I’m yet to teach my brain how to scale a slick brick wall.
So. Oblique thinking.
I use this method and metaphor for two things; idea development and negotiating writer’s block. For the moment, I’m just going to talk about the latter.
You do the same with your “not-problem” as you do with that bear I mentioned earlier.
If you’re taking the Baby method (because you know that you’re on the right path, so the Battle isn’t appropriate) think about what has happened in the lead up to this moment that ends in blank page. Familiarise yourself with the run up before hand, so you’ve got all the facts at your disposal (this is particularly important if you’ve been on a writer’s block hiatus). Then consider what the next big event in your story is (one that is relatively close to the events of where you’re stuck). Now, literally walk your characters out of the situation. If they’re in a room, slowly walk them out. You don’t need to think about specifics of dialogue or action, just vague content, and general movement. You want to get yourself out of the rut, and movement is the best thing possible.
To begin with this will be hard, it will be slow, things happening won’t be interesting, but once you’ve been going just long enough, you tend to reach a sort of critical mass, and then you’re steam rolling along and well out of the block. Well done!
A slight alternative to this (which is slightly more in line with the Battle method), and something that I only advocate being done if you’ve finished with the scene you’re currently in and have conveyed all you intended to with it (take heed of this warning, or it may result in the different problem of skipping ahead), is to cut it right there. You might want to round it off a little, so that the cut is more natural, but cut it. Decide what your next scene will be, again obliquely thinking about your “not-problem” and how to advance to your next plot event. Once decided upon, start thinking about it. From there on, you’re generally going to be fine.
Both Oblique Thinking, and my 3 B’s are all techniques for dealing with Writer’s Block once it has happened. What you ideally want to to is prevent it from happening about it at all. More about that next week.
