The Cure for Writer’s Block: Research

I’m a huge fan of Robert McKee. I know screenwriters who swear by Syd Field and Blake Snyder, the beloved Save the Cat guy, but for me, McKee said it all and said it best. (And, don’t miss his instructive appearance in the hilarious 20 Dates.)

McKee’s seminal work, Story (1997), has such a wealth of ideas on how to craft a better, well, story, that I’d recommend it to any writer, not just screenwriters. I know it’s helped me with every word I’ve written since reading it.

Here’s one of my favorite sections, one I’ve referred to again and again:

Have you ever had writer’s block? Scary, isn’t it? Days drag by and nothing gets written. Cleaning the garage looks like fun. You rearrange your desk over and over and over until you think you’re losing your mind. I know a cure, but it isn’t a trip to your psychiatrist. It’s a trip to the library.

You’re blocked because you have nothing to say. Your talent didn’t abandon you. If you had something to say, you couldn’t stop yourself from writing. You can’t kill your talent, but you can starve it into a coma through ignorance. For no matter how talented, the ignorant cannot write. Talent must be stimulated by facts and ideas. Do research. Feed your talent. Research not only wins the war on cliché, it’s the key to victory over fear. …

Research … is often followed by a phenomenon that authors love to describe in mystical terms: Characters suddenly spring to life and of their own free will make choices and take actions … until the writer can hardly type fast enough to keep up with the outpourings. …

[T]he sudden impression that the story is writing itself simply marks the moment when a writer’s knowledge of the subject has reached the saturation point. The writer becomes the god of his little universe and is amazed by what seems to be spontaneous creation, but is in fact the reward for hard work.

Today you might add “and Wikipedia” to “library” (or my personal favorite, “travel”), but the point is:

Bottom Line: There Is No Writer’s Block

At the time I was reading McKee’s book, I was actually procrastinating from writing a screenplay for a client in the UK. I remember sitting on my cushy chair in front the TV, devouring his book as though the very words would make me an Academy Award winner. His little slap on the fanny above got through to me—I hadn’t dug in enough.

Next thing I knew, I had a trip planned to visit my client in Devon, England, for deeper research into the novel we were adapting and to interview its elderly author (fascinating). I read copious books on the differences between Brits and “colonials” to get the right tone. (Best: Watching the English by Kate Fox.) The more details I knew, the breezier the writing became.

Sure, there was still the hard work to do of crafting and editing, and who knows if the thing will ever actually see the light of film. But my client kept asking over and over, “How did you do this?” I felt like all I’d done was transcribe.

Your turn: How do you combat writer’s block? How has research helped you?

Tagged as: Film, Research, Screenwriting, Story, Writing How-To