Truly. Writers Block and How to Overcome it

Well. I haven’t written a post in a long long time. Part of that is because I’ve been crazy busy with school and everything else. And part of that is because I’ve been trying to figure out what to write. Writers Block. What a lovely thing. I think that’s what I’ll write about now, because hey, its what I’m going through.

There is a lot of controversy around writers block. Yeah, its nothing like debates about societal issues, but writers block is talked about often. Why? Because its so common. Everyone has suffered from it, either when trying to write that english paper, or even just a letter to your grandma. Sometimes the pen stills in your hand and the thoughts just leave, and for the life of you you cant figure out what to write, or where you were going with your last thought.

So, why am I talking about this? Well. I’ve decided to do this post on writers block, and how I get out of it.

So what is writers block?

There are a couple different theories about this, and this is where the controversy comes in. Some people say that writers block is nothing but the fear of continuing to write, maybe because you don’t want to mess up, or you don’t know what to do. Others say that writers block is simply a disinterest in writing that causes us to stop and put it down for a while. Still others say that one’s mind can actually go blank for a short while due to over use.

Honestly, I don’t really know what writers block actually is. But I do know a couple ways to help get rid of it. I can’t guarantee that they will work, these are just the techniques that I find helpful.

• Take a step back
  That’s right. Just leave it. Shut the laptop, go get a snack, have some coffee, make nachos, take a walk. Think. Listen to a song you haven’t heard before. Do something that will take your mind off of your writing. Its always good to take a break before coming back, it gives you a new perspective. It helps to freshen things up and get those creative juices flowing again.
• Try to find some inspiration
  • Whether it is a novel, or the clouds, go find something inspiring that really gets you pumped about writing. When I write my novels, I will often listen to movie soundtracks to help with the creativity. When I’m stuck, I’ll sometimes look up ‘writing prompts’ or ‘story inspiration’ on Pinterest. Some of the images that I have found in the past have become crucial plot points in my novels. Here are some examples:
    
    You never know what you might see or hear that triggers that ‘I have to write that down!’ response. Oh. And people watch. People watching is the best way to get to know your characters better. Go out there and discover new mannerisms, and ways of talking, discover more character types, personalities, hair colour, you name it. The best way to know what you are writing is to get familiar with it inreal life.
• Take yourself out of your norm
  What I mean by this, is: move away from how you normally write or work. If you usually sit at your desk, try moving the writing session outside, or into another room. Often new sights and sensations will help with writing. This applies with the actual program you are writing with as well. If you usually type on Microsoft Word, try writing a paragraph on the ‘note book’ application on your computer, or on scrivener or outlook or google docs. Change the font. Change the page size. Make it interesting. It will be more fun that way, and you’ll want to write. Sometimes I write with the page so small that the font is tiny. And sometimes I write with the font so large it nearly takes up the page with a sentence. Change it up. It helps, I promise.

• Finally make it interesting
  This one really only applies to anyone writing something creative, but I’m going to throw it out there anyways because it is a huge helper for me. If you get bored writing your story, chances are, anyone reading your book will get bored at that part too. It means that not enough is happening with the plot. So throw something in. Add in a new character. Introduce a sub plot. Make someone die or go missing (don’t make it messy though. Still plan this out, don’t want to devastate the readers 😛 ). Add in something scary, mysterious, or crazy. Make your characters do something embarrassing. Do something hilarious or intense that will make you want to keep writing, and your readers want to keep reading. Now don’t get me wrong. There’s always a balance between over the top action 24/7, and too many dull scenes where nothing is happening. Every scene should have a purpose to move the plot forwards, but you have to balance out the excitement in you novel. That being said, unexpected is one of the best things you can do in a novel, so go for it!

  Well. I hope this list helped you guys out, or at least inspired you to find your own methods for getting over writer’s block.
  You can do it! And remember…
  Lara