Plot Walks Around the Block

 

Recently I attended a webinar hosted by Lorin Oberweger and Free Expressions that featured Liz Frank  (Secret Shore. HarperCollins, 2023). The webinar was part of a series that focused on writer-oriented discussions. A book club, if you will, in which writers take a deep dive into literary crafts elements of a specific book, and the author of that book discussed her process. Liz Frank introduced a new term, at least for me, in her strategy for dealing with writer’s block.

Plot walks.

Everyone writer understands the dilemma of writer’s block.  K.M. Weiland, a speculative writer who also offers excellent webinars and writes craft books that take very deep dives in the story engineering process, offers that:

“To be a writer, one must do two things: write and, perhaps surprisingly, not write. Usually we champion the first and demonize the second with much fear and trembling, giving it dread labels such as ‘writer’s block.'”

While there are many reasons that can lead to writer’s block, there are two types of block: Life block, in which personal challenges need attending; and plot block, in which the story’s logic has gone amuck. Either way, one of the first steps required for sanity’s sake is to step away from the story. As Weiland suggests, creativity “is your partner, not your servant.” Creativity is not something that can be commanded or demanded. And the return to creativity tends to happen on its own schedule, not yours.

Which takes us back to plot walks.

Beyond the obvious health benefits, talking a walk – like meditation –improves your mood, reduces anxiety and encourages creative thinking. Studies show that when the walking allows the mind to relax, it opens up a free flow of ideas. When you concentrate on your plot, like chanting a mantra, a-ha moments happen!  It’s a meditation of sorts that gives perspective. And perspective is everything, especially as it relates to discovering how to fix the plot’s logic. How characters solve problems. How to find and fight the monsters. 

Plot walks. It’s a good thing!  

Helping Writers Become Writers Series, Book 7 (2014. 

Thank you for reading!! 

--Bobbi Miller