How to Beat Writer’s Block - 3 ways
Writer’s block. Is. The. Worst. You all know what I’m talking about. You’re inspired, excited, even motivated (shock horror) to start writing. You’ve even gotten so far as to open a new Word document (most days I barely get that far). The little cursor blinks at you mockingly. Blink. You still haven’t written a word. Blink. No that word you’re thinking of writing down isn’t write. Blink. God you’re the worst writer in the world. Okay so maybe that’s just MY inner voice. But we definitely all struggle with writer’s block – whether you’re writing your PhD thesis, or the next great American novel. Here are my top tips that always seem to pull me out of the rut.
The Dictionary
My personal favourite. When I was a kid I used to read the dictionary for fun. No joke. But now I turn to it in my time of need. Flip through to a random page and find the most interesting word. The one that strikes you. That jumps out at you. The one that needs to have a story told around it. Write 2-3 sentences revolving just around that word. Stew in it. Soak in it. I guarantee you’ll come up with some very original stuff. Weird stuff, sure. But by god it’ll be original.
Space Travel
Think of a date that’s memorable to you. Imagine that day – what happened? Why was it so important to you? Why do you remember it so vividly. Jot down those details, it can even be in bullet points. Now image someone else in the world feeling the exact same way as you, but for a difference reason. Is your day memorable because you got married? Maybe you felt hope and love and surrounded by family. Think laterally and you might imagine a young boy in Pakistan enjoying a birthday with all his cousins. His brother has gifted him a piece of rubber to repair the bicycle he’s been dreaming about fixing up and riding since he was 5. Now think laterally again, and again. This allows you to take the emotion – a snapshot of what you feel deepest – and laterally create emotion in a story.
CopyCat
Still got nothing? Sometimes it’s difficult thinking up enough conflict to write about. We all love getting our characters into trouble (I have a bad reputation for making my favourite characters die. eek), but sometimes get stuck on thinking up new ways to show it. So try this: think of the 5 best films you’ve ever seen (or books you've ever read, of course). In your life. The ones that changed you. Now pick a single thing about the plotline in each one that you thought was the best moment. The moment that was most epic, most heartfelt, most whatever. Regardless of the reason, pinpoint it. Once you have all 5 moments, try to rearrange them into a single story. Create an arc and roll with it. The best part about this one is you can always go back to the drawing board and pick through another 5 films/books, and then add those to your plot.
Even if none of this works, at least I can guarantee you'll end up writing about some pretty random stuff. But isn't that the point, just to get writing after all? Good luck! And let me know how you all get on by posting your results in the comments :)