Writer's block...that mental brick wall every writer runs into countless times, bruising the imagination and the plot line. I managed to get through eighteen chapters of Iron Bloom without running into one, probably because I plotted the first half of the story so well. The rut I find myself in right now is a historical hang-up. As this is my first attempt at historical fiction, I'm not really sure how much of my story should be history and how much should be fiction. My story includes members of the Imperial family, Caesar Tiberius, his nephews Nero, Drusus, and Gaius, and his mother Livia, as well as members of the Praetorian Guard, Sejanus and Macro.
Their personalities are based off a mixture of research and fictionalization, but many of the events of the story truly happened to them. Tiberius has exiled himself to Capri at the begining of the story and Sejanus assumes command of the Empire as his proxy. Nero, Drusus, and Gaius are heirs to the Emperorship and therefore targets to Sejanus as he conspires for the title. They are pawns to be played, and were played in specific events in history that I meant to include. Trouble is, I can't find any details about their removal. It was actually their mother, Agrippina the Elder, who was exiled for treason and Nero and Drusus went with her.
The other night I was lying awake well after midnight when Right Brain decided to come alive and devise a scheme for Sejanus to undo Nero and Drusus. I scribbled it all down in my journal and am still deciding if I want to use it or continue researching the actual events. In the end, it probably isn't something to lose sleep over, because these historical characters aren't my main characters and I can kill them in any way I want and still have a story. I guess I just want their exits to be as authentic as possible.
What writer's blocks have you hit in the past? How did you get over them?
No comments:
Post a Comment