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Finding yourself trapped by that devilish genie who likes to take your “great” story ideas right when they are ready to burst forth from brain to pen and have him tear them to shreds before you can the topic on a piece of paper? 

Try what I have done since talking with Gordon and Mildred Gordon who wrote Operation Terror, a novel which they wrote, adapted the screenplay, and watched from the sidelines as it as being filmed. 

Operation Terror was an excellent title before the Gordons’ story made it to the screen as Experiment in Terror  starring Lee Remick, Glenn Ford, and introduced Stephanie Powers; the culprit of the movie was Ross Martin who went on to play Artemus Gordon in the popular TV western series, The Wild, Wild West. They also co-wrote many other stories that saw their way to the silver screen. 

When I met the Gordons and asked them about some of the background work they did on their “collaborative” effort (their own words) with Terror, they spent any typical day writing at home, then read out loud to each other what they had written that day, made no corrections in their writing and placed the manuscript in the freezer to cool down (they smiled when they related this). 

They said on several occasions they had left material in the freezer for as long as three days.  What they had written and placed in their freezer might have been a far fetched plot or a simple characterization.  Once they felt “ready” to remove their works from the freezer, they would review the “frozen” work and either make many changes to their writing and place it back in the freezer or give that portion their stamp of approval and move on with other parts of the book.

There were many days they had writers’ block and placing their written material out of sight in the freezer seemed to give them both the space they needed to let the material cool down and give their minds space between the mental and written words.  They told those of us in their writing class that technique had worked for them but each writer is different and what was right for the Gordon’s might not necessarily be right for any of us. 

There were many ways to get around that old writer’s block syndrome.  Something else that might seem extremely farfetched to some of us might just work for others, but again not for everyone.  The Gordons made writer’s block seem so mundane that they did not worry about those frozen papers unless some producer or director had placed them under pressure with a guideline.  Although the Gordon’s had been writing for years, they never let the abundance of shoe boxes with pink rejection slips get them down; they just continued to write and write, sometimes having several projects going at the same time.

When I start writing a poem, I may have a tentative title in mind that may change many times before I’m happy with the final work and title.  And, I usually have a tablet next to me with at least five titles on it that I have jotted down the night before while doing the dishes or watching TV.  In fact, some of my best titles have come to me while watching TV.  Sometimes, a fragrance on the night air or just the sound of the whistle on the midnight train going through town will give me an idea, a germ, a start.

George Thompson is a poet who offers free critiques for writers of all genres.

I have always believed in the power of words and power they have over us:  They can lift us to the clouds and can make us pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.  Or, they can send us to the lowest pits of morass and make us feel extremely despondent.  As poets, we can do more in a haiku or senyru than an epic or novella can.  That’s not to say an author of a play, a novelist or screenwriter cannot do the same thing.  We poets do the same thing with fewer words.  I’m not demeaning any author here, for all our works—whether short or long—must evoke some kind of response from our readers.  This is much like the resume that when read, must tell the reader (future employer) who we are, where we come from, what we can bring to the job and how well we can do it 30 seconds or less.  An author must use a similar ‘hook’ to gain the reader’s attention at the very beginning and hold it there throughout the remainder of the book.  With a haiku or senyru, the poet has three lines to get the reader’s attention, say something meaningful, bring out a point and then bring the piece closure.  Here’s an example of a haiku called Fox:

            Gray fox running loose—

New scent on the prairie winds;

            Chicken coop open

This work allows your brain to do a lot of traveling and you see scenes in your head which was my intention when I wrote it.  In the next example, I took the dagger scene and decided to paraphrase it, hoping it would be close enough to the original to identify and yet distant enough not to infringe on copyright issues.  I called it A Knife and coined the term Paraphrasetry to describe what readers were in for.

A Knife (Paraphrasetry)

Here’s To William Shakespeare

I see a knife in front of me
And the handle is close; let me grab you–
You seem a vision and I can’t touch you.
Aren’t you–even as a vision–making sense right
Before my eyes? I bet you’re just a figment of
My imagination….not real–
Some delusion of which I suffer.
The vision of you is as real as
This knife I’m drawing from my belt holder.
You’re trying to give me a sign, aren’t you,
And send me where I’d planned to go anyway?
I think you try to mock me and block out any
Other perceptions I might have.
Your blade is just as sharp as this one I’ve
Pulled from its sheath.
But vision, you already know what I have in mind:
I’m about to kill someone…are you a vision of a
Harbinger to come? I must proceed and act
I say "goodbye" and go to rest my head.

Now, I’m an avid reader of many genres, but do find myself fidgeting if I get to the end of page three of a novel and nothing of consequence has happened.  The damsel in distress has not called on the smoking PI to have him look into matter; no dead bodies strew anyone’s house and the hook doesn’t come for another four pages.  Depending on the author, I will sneak a look at the next page or two and will either put the book down to join the other books in the closet gathering dust or sit it aside to pick up reading on those nights I cannot go to sleep.

When we are writing, our only desire is to please ourselves because we are driven by something deep inside that starts a roller coaster and we can’t get off until it stops.  After the ride/write, we either submit for others to read of “baby,” and take what they say about our work as a reminder to make the next piece even better.  First, we have pleased that part of us that makes us write to begin with and then let others hold our “baby” to see what they say.  It hurts to be panned like opening night of a Broadway show that the critics don’t like.  But we move on, continually trying to please the public after pleasing ourselves.

George Thompson is a poet who offers free critiques for writers of all genres.