1. Use Logic: Check for External Pressures
Are you under physical or emotional stress? Is your diet lacking? Do you need more sleep, or more restful sleep? Would a visit to the doctor be in order before you start beating yourself up about your inability to concentrate?
2. Start brainstorming
Jot down all the possible plot permutations you can think of. At first, these will be fairly logical. Then, as you run out of options, you'll find that you start to come up with more off-the- wall ideas. These might be just what you need to get you going again.
3. Ease into your writing
Start your writing session with something that's 'easy' - a letter, a shopping list, a recipe, a 'to do' list. Then move on to a brief session of free writing. THEN go back to your story. You may find, as others have in the past, that a half-hour session of writing in a journal or diary is a good warm-up for a writing session.
4. Take some time out
Only you know how much time this should be. Sometimes the subconscious simply needs time to work its magic. That might be a day, a week or a month. Obey your instincts. You might think that the danger is you'll never get back to it. Okay: perhaps that means you don't LIKE it enough to get back to it. Writing shouldn't be a penance. Find a job or a hobby that you DO like.
5. Revisit the last few pages
Go back ten or twenty pages and revise. You could even retype the last page completely, and see if that releases new ideas.
6. Use the tried and true 'carrot' trick. Reward yourself!
Think of something you'd really, really like. (Of course, the family might object if you want to reward yourself for your diligence with a trip to Bali.) A chocolate? A trip to see a movie? Dinner out? New clothes? Set yourself a task that is commensurate with the size of the reward - and DO IT.
7. Pressure Cooker Tactics
Some of us work well only under pressure. You'll probably know if this applies to you by thinking back to how you handled homework, assignments and exams at school. If you can produce when the pressure's on, then set yourself a deadline. Don't make that deadline too unrealistic, though, or you may find that you're setting yourself up for failure - again.
8. Change the time and venue
J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book in extended stints in a cafe (or so the story goes). Roald Dahl worked in a battered garden shed. Try changing the venue or the time of your writing - from home to a library; from late evenings to early morning; from the kitchen table to a table in the corner of your bedroom.
9. Meditate or go walking
Sometimes it helps to get out in the fresh air, or to sit quietly and move into a meditative state and just let the ideas flow. Or not flow. Perhaps what you need is to dissociate yourself from the world for a while.
10. KEEP walking... remember Forrest Gump...
Don't want to write any more at all? OK. Then walk away and keep walking. Nobody said you have to write. Why write if it makes you miserable? It may ALWAYS make you miserable. If that's the case, don't do it. It really is that simple.
Or...it may be making you miserable NOW, but you loved it in the past and you expect you will again. If so, walk away just for a while. Give yourself an extended break - and only go back to the keyboard when you just can't stay away any longer. That's the best cure there is for writer's block.
(c) copyright Marg McAlister
Marg McAlister has published magazine articles, short stories, books for children, ezines, promotional material, sales letters and web content. She has written 5 distance education courses on writing, and her online help for writers is popular all over the world. Sign up for her regular writers' tipsheet at http://www.writing4success.com/
Culver prom limo ..Picture this scene.Your hero is sitting in a bar. He's... Read More
Has the thought run across you mind that you might... Read More
I've seen it time and again. One of the most... Read More
These 8 tips on using characters in your stories will... Read More
Interested in breaking into writing or breaking into a new... Read More
Almost everyone could profit from enhancing their writing skills. From... Read More
Here's something from my mailbag. "Dear Michael, do you need... Read More
Balance your life ... Read More
Peter Abrahams is the author of thirteen novels, including "The... Read More
The greatest gift you have to give to yourself and... Read More
WRITING THE PERSONAL STATEMENT TO GET INTO UK UNIVERSITYHOW DO... Read More
Freelance editing opportunities are out there, you just need to... Read More
Any article, report or book which is bought or sold... Read More
(This excerpt is taken from my new writing workshop Writing... Read More
Do you suffer from writer's block? Is there a pending... Read More
One of the biggest problems that inexperienced writers have is... Read More
With the expansion and diversion of businesses, manufacturers, and even... Read More
Anyone who has read any of my articles on the... Read More
In his book, "Achieving Financial Independence as a Freelance Writer,"... Read More
If you are looking for copywriter books, you'll want to... Read More
What a lack of research could do to you.When creating... Read More
Beyond three and four act story structure, lies the Hero's... Read More
There is one key difference between reports and most other... Read More
ACCEPT, EXCEPT Not commonly seen even from unpublished writers, who... Read More
Yes, you know your subject. You also need to think... Read More
Wood Dale limo ..Our Image-Driven SocietyWe live in a new image-driven society. It... Read More
Do you know what a query letter is? If so,... Read More
"If you're like me, than I'm sure you're pretty familiar... Read More
Writing for the web is very different from writing for... Read More
Persisting With Bulldog Determination [Book excerpt from Successercising} by Rick... Read More
We writers are a powerful lot. We control time. We... Read More
ESSAY 2Andre Malraux once said that what interested him in... Read More
And a dreadful thing from the cliff did spring, and... Read More
Sure you can write, but can you write crisp, compelling... Read More
Day after day, writers tend to sit for hours writing... Read More
What to do when you get rejected.You've just finished your... Read More
It occurred to me one day that I needed something... Read More
Dr. Phil's Life Strategies, #1 New York Times Bestseller catches... Read More
9 out of 10 professionals and small business owners have... Read More
Every writer expends a great deal of creative energy developing... Read More
At some point, every serious writer is forced to sit... Read More
Virgil, the great Roman poet, wrote "Practice and thought might... Read More
ELICIT, ILLICITElicit means to extract or draw out; illicit means... Read More
All sales begin with some form of advertising whether it's... Read More
FERRETING OUT WORK You keep hearing that there's work out... Read More
Why is it that so many people don't take writing-as-a-job... Read More
Beyond three and four act story structure, lies the Hero's... Read More
Writers often get stuck because they make assumptions about writing,... Read More
Remember the days when we wrote with pen and paper?... Read More
The self-indulgent writer listens only to the mumblings of sycophants,... Read More
Writing |