October 17, 2011

Is your writing project bogged down? What happened to your inspiration? Things aren’t “going well”? It may sound too dramatic to call it “writer’s block,” but it is.

Reconsider

When I’m stuck, I tend to think that I’ve tried everything, but nothing has worked. That is always a wrong assumption. There’s always an angle I haven’t yet considered. There is always other (or new) information that I haven’t factored into the equation. A writer’s block is often a mental rut.

What to do then? If the writing task you’re working on right now is going badly or at a standstill, just stop.

Writer’s Block Revisited

Get up and walk away. Do some jumping jacks. Take some deep breaths and stretch. Move to another place in the house to write. Do what is necessary to wake up your brain. And then…think about your writing project again.

BUT instead of starting where you left off, pick up the work in a completely different spot. If you’re stuck in the middle, skip to the end (or vice versa). If you’re bogged down in the middle, go back to your original notes and character sketches and the opening to get re-inspired. Do some background research for your characters. Interview your characters and ask them what they think the problem is! (This actually worked for me to get unstuck.)

Think Again

Your brain may feel frazzled and dried up, but in reality, you’re using many fewer brain cells at any given time than you have available to you. So dig a bit deeper and engage a few more brain cells. Look at your writing problem from another angle. Come at it from another direction.

Our brains are fascinating things. They will often serve up to us exactly what we expect. If we expect to stay blocked, we will–and quit for the day. If we understand that we just need to look at the problem another way–upside down, reversed order–there’s an answer.

When writer’s block attacks you, don’t grit your teeth and keep pushing ahead like a bull dozer. Stop. Back up. Walk around the problem a few times. Find another port of entry: move to another place on your time line, describe a different character, add more depth to descriptions of places or characters, or brainstorm on paper about the worst thing that could happen in a scene.

Use more brain cells. Think again.

Other Resources

If you need more ideas for dealing with writer’s block, try these places:

“Top Ten Tips for Overcoming Writer’s Block”

“The 10 Types of Writer’s Block and How to Overcome Them” (very good)

“A Block by Any Other Name”

And never fear that you’re alone with this writerly disease. There is even a Writer’s Block Festival, which was held this past weekend!

4 Comments »

1. 

   I find that this advice works well for me, not just for writing, but for any kind of problem where I think I’m stuck. Thanks for the reminder!

   Comment by Jane Heitman Healy — October 17, 2011 @ 6:27 am

2. 

   This happens to me all the time but I call it, “Writer’s Funk.” lol.
   Thanks for the tips, Holly.

   Comment by Denise Stanley — October 17, 2011 @ 7:17 pm

3. 

   OOps. I’m sorry, Kristi, where are my brain cells now?

   Comment by Denise Stanley — October 17, 2011 @ 7:19 pm

4. 

   Jane and Denise, thanks for your comments! (And Denise, Holly has a nice ring to it! )

   Comment by Kristi Holl — October 20, 2011 @ 4:42 pm

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website