(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Write On! July 23: Bang on. [1] ['Mettle Fatigue', 'Chitown Kev', 'Alan Singer', 'Nanny Ogg', 'Belinda Ridgewood'] Date: 2026-07-23 . . . . . Around the anglophone world, “bang on” can mean “absolutely correct” OR it can mean “continue” OR in gerund form to go on and on interminably. Ha. . . . . . For tonight, it’s about dealing with writers’ block by exploding it. This from E.L. Tenenbaum, an author of some range, known for YA fantasy novels and for speaking with young people on “how writers think and develop stories, and how the lessons of life and writing are a two-way street. [Visit] www.ELTenenbaum.com or find her on Twitter/Instagram @ELTenenbaum.“ . . . . . Quoting from the recent booklife article that introduced her to me:, she says what if all the usual advice on writers’ block doesn’t work? Then do this: Drop a dodo from the sky. Set off smoke in the botanical gardens. Launch a grinning porpoise from the river. Or write BANG! Did you startle? Did you expect it? Did chaos ensue? Don’t focus on the story, but the sound. What went bang? A door? An item falling? A firecracker? A weapon? How different is that sound when heard in a room, in the sky, in a cave, in the mall? Does the sound fit in better than you thought it might? . . . . . Well, hey – that’s interesting. Possibly even bang on worthwhile. . . . . . Tenenbaum is very practical, though: if an explosive moment doesn’t move things, she says we need “an unembellished … tête-à-tête with honesty”. Read the full article if you like, via the final link above. In any case, these last passages struck me as useful technical advice worth quoting: It doesn’t have to be the most [unique story], but there should be some nuance or texture that makes the reader want to see it, and the writer want to write about it. Perhaps you’re stuck because you didn’t lean enough into a character’s quirks or emotions, so the underdeveloped, possibly too-familiar personality runs out of creative steam. Perhaps your setting is too generic, too under-described, so there’s nothing of interest to catch the eye? Consider tossing some bait to your creative mind. If you’re writing a mystery, what will keep readers invested? Maybe they’d keep reading if the chef did it. Now see if your creative mind can figure out how to get you there. There’s one caveat. These tips and tricks may get you writing and thinking again today, but you might also erase everything when you look tomorrow. However, in wrestling with writer’s block, there are two things to consider: did you write anything at all? Did you further the story? An answer to both can’t be had without your creative mind churning again, and an affirmative answer to both would mean curing this bout of writer’s block. Now your creative mind isn’t an empty desert, but a plowed field, just waiting for the right seed to prompt what will be a bountiful harvest. An answer to only the first question means that at least this part of the battle was won. So, when staring down the empty horizon of writer’s block, try doing something unexpected, not with a whimper, but a bang! CHALLENGE: . . . . . Using your WIP as the context, or our WriteOn genre templates. or simply off-the cuff, throw that explosive in, for a few paragraphs. . . . . . Ready! Aim! Bang on! WriteOn boilerplate m.f. Calendar as currently known June 25 WO strawbale – – – – – – – – FWIP sagesource July 2 WO mettle fatigue – – – – – – FWIP dconrad July 9 WO dconrad – – – – – – – – – FWIP sagesource July 16 WO Aashirs nani – – – – – FWIP mettle fatigue July 23 WO mettle fatigue – – – – – FWIP dconrad July 30 WO strawbale – – – – – FWIP sagesource August 6 WO ________ – – – – – – – . FWIP deconrad August 13 WO ________ – – – – – – . FWIP sagesource [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/7/23/800052293/community/write-on-bang-on/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/