The more I write, the more often I get writer's block. When I first took up the pen, I had a pent up well of words that broke over the dam and flowed freely with little effort.
I'm not saying all the words were good! It was more that when I sat at the keyboard, I had no problem thinking of something to say.
Now, working on my sixth novel, the words do not spill out in a riot onto the page. Most days I feel more like I'm coaxing them forth. Perhaps I'm more choosy about what words I lay down on the page. Or maybe I mined the surface and must dig deeper.
Whatever the reason, the question is how to break through the wall of writer's block.
One method I've used is to write poetry in a character's voice/perspective. It helps me get inside the head of the character and often reveals a truth I was not aware of about the character or perhaps the needs/desires/wants of the character.
Today I share a poem that "Tex" wrote. It captures where he is at in book three of the H.A.L.F. series: H.A.L.F.: Origins (forthcoming June 2017).
Consumed
I could end you.
It would take only a thought,
no more effort than to breathe.
You know this.
You should be run away from me
in terror.
I am a monster.
But is it possible that you see
the human within me?
Starvation. Cold. Mutilation. Torture.
None scared me half as much
as the thought of losing you.
Is it my fate to wander,
a shell of a man
hollowed by my longing
for your touch?
My heart beats in time to
an unrequited rhythm.
You touch my cheek,
your face upturned,
your lips moist and ready.
If I kiss you now,
will the fire subside?
Or will it kindle an inferno
that will consume me?
Your lips
soft.
My hand
at the small of your back.
You arch into me as
our lips
meet.
The inferno rages,
engulfs me.
It burns until I am ashes,
burnished to reveal
the diamond heart within.
If you're a writer, do you ever get writer's block? Have you ever used poetry to break the blockage? What other methods do you use to end your writer's block?
