Today I am full of energy and enthusiasm to make progress on my current manuscript. There's an abundance of ideas floating around in my head and pages are spurting out at lightning speeds.
This moment of inspiration is amazing, but what do you do when you don't feel inspired? What do you do when every idea you have feels stale and just plain dumb? Or, what if you don't have any ideas at all?
Well, the first thing you should keep in mind is that writer's block is all in your head and you can defeat it. Don't give yourself excuses as to why you can't write something today.
The best cure for this affliction is to...write. Sit down and just let your fingers do all of the work. You might just surprise yourself.
The trick is to get something on the paper or the screen, because your brain needs the exercise and guess what happens when you exercise it...
Inspiration flutters in like a butterfly on a summer day.
Here is a list of ten things you can do to conquer the dreaded writer's block:
1. Take a walk. Listen to soothing music or to nothing at all and enjoy the scenery.
2. Burn a candle, listen to music, and meditate. Clear your head of excuses and make room for those great ideas you desire.
3. Jot down a list of points that you want to cover in your story. Just write whatever pops into your head. Even if it feels silly.
4. Change the pacing of your story. If you're in the middle of a scene, add another element, such as action or a twist. Just make sure it makes sense!
5. Sit down and do a character profile. Take all of the central characters in your story and write what they look like. What are their personalities? How are they like us? What are their goals? Reminding yourself of these things just might help you push though your writers block.
6. A fun activity that I enjoy is to think of my friends. What would they do in the same situation as my character? How would they react if someone used that same dialogue you just wrote in your story? Chances are your real friends won't have the same personality as your characters but it is nice to picture things from a different perspective. Who knows, you might come up with a new character.
7. Speaking of new characters, try adding one! Just make sure they serve a purpose and don't disappear for no reason.
8. Raise the stakes! Give you protagonist an obstacle. Kill one of their companions. Have the villain win a battle. These things may give your mind a fresh outlook, as well as a new direction.
9. Jump to another part of the story. Maybe you're only in chapter 5, but jump to the end and write that cool battle scene you've been thinking about. This is sure to get you fired up again!
10. Grab a notebook. Go to a park, or coffee shop, library, etc. Sit there and write about the first person that walks by, or anyone that looks interesting. Come up with a narrative about what you imagine their life to be like. The point is, you're writing again!
As for myself it depends on what I'm writing to overcome writer's block
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm writing poems, if I'm having problems finishing a line or even a stanza, I stop writing and read for a while, after reading for an hour or so I am able to go in with a fresh perspective.
When writing short stories, I'll take what I've already written to my editor and ask him for advice, showing someone the work allows for a perspective to what is currently written.
Also with short stories, on a separate word file or notebook paper, I'll write out several different scenarios, just to see which scenario would best fit the story I'm writing
I really like your idea about reading! That's excellent. Whenever I read a book, I always become motivated to write! Thank you!
DeleteI believe writer’s block is a mental matter, not a physical reality. As with all mental problems, there are two solutions, distraction, or work.
ReplyDeleteSince I’m as lazy as the worst of them, I go for distraction first. Anything that absorbs your attention and fully occupies your mind is likely to work. My go-to is to watch the youtube video of Alejandro, by Lady Gaga. The reason? Well, the video has absolutely nothing to do with the song, but the timing is perfect and the choreography intriguing. Every time I watch it, my brain attempts to decipher the union between what I’m seeing, and what I’m hearing. That process leaves me no time for my own woes, and at over nine minutes the song is long enough for a break – and much more enjoyable than actually working…
Another aspect of writer’s block might simply be waning creativity. Life is a series of cycles, cycles are up and down, and no one can expect to be at their peak forever. When you’re in a creative slump, set yourself to working on editing, or any of the excellent points covered in the post – your efforts will show.
Oh, and one final tip. Try not to think of the thing you’re most passionate about, namely writing, as work.
Alejandro! I had no idea, C.G.! Good idea! I like to go to you tube and look at action scenes from movies I enjoy! That always gets my adrenalin pumping and I strive to make my readers feel the same way! Thank you!
DeleteTruthfully, when I'm stuck, I just sit down and start writing. Most of what I produce at that point is going to be complete crap, but so what? I can always change it later. (To use the words of a previous commenter, I guess this is a form of both "work" and "distraction": writing without plan, writing without caring about how good or bad it is.) And inevitably, after producing crap for a few minutes or pages, something decent starts to flow.
ReplyDelete