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So I’ve been working on Chapter 5 of Fie Eoin lately, and while I haven’t hit a writing block per say, I have hit a “meh” block. I assure you, you too can hit a “meh” block – even while working on your favorite chapter! I’ve been re-hashing the same scenes over and over so much lately, trying to polish them until they absolutely shine, and it just got to be a little too much for me. I didn’t want to work on it anymore. I wanted something new. Something shiny. And that’s where the fluff comes in.
Fluff – otherwise known in my group of friends as writing your own fanfiction – is when you write scenes that you know wont ever make it into the finished product. In other words, it’s writing Just For Fun.
You do remember that, right? Back when you first started writing, years or months (or days) ago? Before your grandiose dreams of publication and being the Next Big Thing. Back when you discovered your love of writing. Before it became work. Channel that feeling. Write something that no one else is ever going to see. Write something that means nothing. Write for you.
But I can’t do that! I’m on a deadline! I promised my critique group I’d have Chapter Five to them by the end of the week! Besides, what’s the point in writing something you’re never going to use?
The point is sometimes you will use that fluff. Sometimes you will discover a new character who will kick your old character’s butt into gear. Sometimes you’ll figure out the solution to that nagging problem of pacing, or why Gar would still give Kindra a flute after she’s already told him she won’t accept it, or how she decides that she’s going to accept the flute after all. And sometimes all you’ll do is throw another hot man into the mix to make the first hot man jealous and make the leading lady flush, but will you ever have fun doing it!
And then you can get back to the work.