James Ellroy (Lit Reactor) |
Charles Bukowski (The Toast) |
A Turn to Established Authors Aids in Battling Writer's Block
For me, writer's block does not involve a blank screen. It manifests itself in page after page of unreadable word chum. So I decided to keep open on my desk various books from a variety of successful authors. When in need of a description or character trait or fresh metaphor, I turn to these scribes for inspiration. For instance, I was trying to describe my protagonist and read this passage from Charles Bukowski's short story, "The Most Beautiful Woman in Town.""Cass was the most beautiful girl in town. [Half] Indian with a supple and strange body, a snake-like and fiery body with eyes to go with it. Cass was fluid moving fire. She was like a spirit stuck into a form that would not hold her."
I'd probably have written, "Cass was real good looking and sexy."
In any case, I wrote nothing so poetic, but I did think of a decent description and moved on from there.
A variety of styles, themes and genres comprise the eight books I'm currently using for inspiration:
The Most Beautiful Woman in Town and Other Stories - Charles Bukowski.
Glue - Irvine Welsh
The Exorcist - William Peter Blatty
Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup # 3 Valdez is Coming and Hombre - Elmore Leonard.
The Sowers of the Thunder - Robert E. Howard.
American Tabloid - James Ellroy.
The Fun Parts - Sam Lipsyte.
The Debut - Anita Brookner.
Thank you, everyone!
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