How to Work Through Writer's Block

First of all, what is Writer's Block?

It is time when you have exhausted all your previous ideas of what to write.  

If you are new to writing and think you are immune, you could be right and wrong. It is a 50/50 chance. 

How can you better understand what a writing block is? Writing block is not just for creative writers who write books every day.  

Would you please take out a piece of paper or open a new page for writing on your phone or computer? Then write a title at the top of the page, "goals." Under the heading, prepare to write 100 goals of what you would like to achieve in the next ten years. Now give yourself a minute and write, write and write some more. 

Look at your page exactly after one minute. How many items were you able to jot down? 

Are there ten items? 20 items? Maybe 70 items? 

Be honest with yourself. If you have not achieved 100 items in 60 seconds, you may have stumbled upon the Writer's Block phenomenon. 

Is it bad I have Writer's Block?

No. It is the most productive time for your mind. You may not be able to think of anything else, but as we all know, our minds are constantly working. So this is a sort of downtime for new things to emerge.  

Should I force myself to write during Writer's Block?

 

Forcing is not something the mind likes, so the more you sit down and try to force yourself to write something, the more it will not happen, and then all things may come of it, such as stress. No one needs pressure. If you like writing, it should always be fun.  

 

The mind, one could say, is like an elephant, taking step by step. There is a process to that, provided other parts of your mind are responsible for trillions of operations to keep a person alive and operate within the environment. Back to the elephant idea; what would happen if you hurry an elephant to do a task? The elephant won't do anything, or get all stressed out or treat the trainer, for example, at the zoo, the same - not well.  

 

Also, the more you think you have Writer's Block and try to fight against it, magnify it, or so, the longer the period of not writing anything will happen. Either way, Writer's Block is essential in the creative process. It is when the mind hashes down and creates new ideas. 

What should I do when I have Writer's Block? 

1. During this time, you could look for inspiration. Anything that inspires you will do the trick and unlock a river of new ideas for your writing. 
2. Think of your favourite topic, or it could be an activity that you like (sports, music) and write it down in a paraphrasing form or a story format and then continue working on your previous project. You will see that it did the trick. 
3. If you write a book halfway through, you are out of ideas and can't write anything new, imagining the characters talking to each other. What would they feel and think? What happened to them yesterday? Ask questions about the characters and imagine they have a discussion together. Write down the debate and then continue writing the story. It will also do the trick. 
4. If you don't have a topic to write about, you may do the brainstorming activity, similar to the goal writing activity mentioned above; you will soon develop some ideas.  
5. Another way is when one is stressed and can't write anything due to Writer's Block. Just put away all the writing and go for a walk. Think of other things than writing, for example, talking with friends online or via phone. The next day, write down everything you did in a journal format. Once you write something down, there is less stress as you just saw the evidence that you wrote something down. Then you may continue writing your creative piece or try out steps 1-4 mentioned above.




What are some of the ways you took to overcome Writer's Block? Share in the comments or add your opinions below in the comment section. Follow us too. : )