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Please welcome Lauren Bailey, who was kind enough to submit this guest post for us.
Writer’s block plagues every writer whether or not they like to admit it. It’s a natural part of the writing process. And even though it’s a universal experience among writers, many of them panic when they see the warning signs of writer’s block set in. Notorious accessories to writer’s block include avoiding the writing desk, talking about your writing far more than actually doing it, surfing the web for nothing in particular, and so on. If you find yourself suffering from any of these distractions, you may be in the midst of it.
Of course the best solution to writer’s block is somewhat counter-intuitive: keep writing. Unfortunately telling a writer to write more when they feel blocked is the equivalent of telling a sick person to simply “get better”. In other words, writer’s block can be difficult to overcome, largely because victims can’t always identify the cause. It could be your brain’s way of saying “This isn’t working” about some aspect of your writing. Or it might be the case that you need a change in the scenery of your creative landscape. But how do you reorient your writing without affecting the quality or quantity of your work? Consider these three strategies.
Explore undeveloped ideas
Whether I’m writing fiction or blogging for business, I’ll inevitably get distracted by stray ideas that have nothing to do with the work at hand. If an idea persists as I write, I’ll jot it down in my idea journal for later investigation. I usually revisit these ideas and random thoughts when I feel blocked by a major project or if I’m just too burned out with other writing assignments.
These undeveloped ideas can be a real boon when you feel blocked. You can take a briefly imagined character or setting and flesh it out for as long as it takes for you to take your mind off your blocked project. I find that it’s best to try executing these periphery ideas in short story format. What started as a few sentences suddenly stretches into thousands of words of short fiction that does wonders for reinvigorating my brain’s creativity. What’s more, I can write out a short story fairly quickly which gives me a nice feeling of accomplishment after completing it. A brief side project might just give you the boost in creative confidence to start on your blocked work with renewed enthusiasm.
Change up your reading list
It’s no secret that a large part of a writer’s inspiration comes from their reading material. If you feel stuck in your writing, take a long hard look at what you’ve been reading lately and determine if the books on your bedside table are to blame. You’d be surprised at the immediate affect your current reading has on your writing.
For instance, say you’re plodding through the final section of mystery novel manuscript, trying to elicit high drama from your characters and resolve a complicated plot. As part of your research for the book, you’ve been engrossed in detective novels and hard-boiled fiction. While the books may have been what opened you up to the core ideas and characters of your novel, they now might be the impediment stunting you from finishing it. You might feel like everything you’re trying has been done before; you’ll see passages in other novels as identical to those in your manuscript, or you’ll fret over how to make your book stand out in the genre. In this case, a change in your reading habits could make all the difference in your writing. You may be better off reading material that has no direct bearing on your writing projects so your mind can rest when it’s not at work.
Reassess your writing
It sounds cliché, but sometimes you just need to give your writing an honest, intimate edit in order to overcome a case of writer’s block. Some writers get blocked because they refuse to face hard truths about their work, preferring to avoid problems as long as they can. It might be easier to ignore a poorly realized supporting character or an erroneous chapter, but big mistakes have a tendency of piling up when unaddressed. Eventually you’ll have to cut or severely edit weaker portions of your writing. But this shouldn’t be a cause for fear or hesitation; your writing will be all the more readable and enjoyable with all the fat trimmed off. The sooner you address the obstacles to your writing, the sooner you can address them and move on to more pressing matters.
This guest post is contributed by Lauren Bailey, who regularly writes for accredited online colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: blauren99 @gmail.com.
Blink. Blink. Blink. Taunt. Taunt. Taunt. We’ve all been there, right? Sometimes a minor annoyance, sometimes a frustratingly monumental boulder in our path to success. We all handle the void in our own way. When I first started my blog, the wide open canvas freaked me out at times. If I knew I needed to post but had no stellar idea brewing I would tense up and curse the cursor. Two years into it and most of the time it bothers me not.
). Skim through the listings, paying particular attention to the type of writing or articles the publication is looking for. Jot down a few of these key words and use these as sparks to light your creative fire.
). Commit to writing an exercise a day until all of the exercises are complete. You may not end up with publishable prose, but you may spark other writing ideas and most importantly you will be writing.
