3 Strategies for Dealing with Writer’s Block
How you deal with writer’s block can ultimately determine whether you become a working writer at all, because if you’re blocked, you’re not writing, and if you’re not writing (at least most days) you’re not a working writer.
We all have good days and bad days. Days when the writing flows and days when it doesn’t. If you’re feeling blocked try these three simple strategies to get the ideas flowing again.
Do something (with the intenion of writing about it)
Or as Ben Franklin put it:
“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
If you’re really blocked get out and do something – but make it something you can write about, whether it’s a trip to a local attraction, climbing a mountain, learning to kite surf, or volunteering for a non-profit.
Read something (with the intention of writing about it)
So many of my ideas have been sparked by reading. Sometimes one sentence in an article will make me want to find out more about a concept or organisation and that will grow into a whole article (or at least a blog post). Sometimes one element of a short story or novel will spark an idea for my own short story. Sometimes reading the back of the cereal packet will make me want to write a peice on ‘real food’, nutrition or the ethics of marketing to kids.
Write something (with no intention of publishing it)
Sometimes all you need to do is remove the pressure of writing something publishable and just write for the sake of it. Writing a letter (that you don’t intend to send) to a loved one can work too.
In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott talks about her approach to writing an essay that an editor requested of her. As I remember, it was about being a lifelong Giants fan. Feeling blocked, she started writing in letter form to her son, remembering early experiences, and how her loyalty to the team was formed. Before she knew it she had the first draft of her essay. Writing a letter to someone close to you about something that matters to you can be an effective way to clear writer’s block.
Any home-grown remedies for writer’s block? Please share in the comments.
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