Working Through Writer's Block

It’s bog time. Oops I mean, it’s blog time. Silly me. It’s that time of day where I sit down and let the thoughts roll.

My students used to have the hardest time coming up with topics to write about. It can be daunting when you sit down with pen and paper or computer and your mind draws a blank. You just don’t know what to say!!!

OMG – the dreaded writer’s block. What are you going to do? What are you going to write about and the more you struggle to come up with something, the worse it gets. You force yourself to concentrate. This dialogue keeps running through your mind

I can’t think of a topic to write about!

What can I write about? I don’t know anything!

I’ll write something stupid and no one will like it! I don’t know how to write!

This is awful, I need to write something and I can’t think of anything that anyone would be interested in!!

Suddenly you have turned a minor brain fart into a major roadblock in your life. You’re in a panic. The more you think about it, the worse it gets……..

STOP

You are talking yourself into a complete mental panic. Don’t psych yourself out!!! Take me, I sat down today without a thought in mind as to what to write about and I pulled a topic out of that!!! Writer’s Block. So let’s figure out how to get around that block, what detour you can take to get yourself back on track.

First of all, calm down, get up and walk away from the problem. Get a snack and something to drink – no………a bloody Mary is not going to break writer’s block. It might stop the panic!!! But you still have to deal with the problem.

Here are some different techniques you can use to help relax and get your mind off that “block”…………

• Get up and do something else, maybe a chore, cleaning, walking the dog or talking to someone else. Anything to get your mind off the writing.

• Eliminate distractions, even within your writing window. Get rid of toolbars and work in a clean window. Each of these apps can give you a distraction free witing platform: OmmWriter (mac, pc, ipad), iA writer (mac, ipad), Clean Writer (mac, pc), Ulysses (mac), QuietWrite(web app), ByWord(mac), WriteMonkey(pc), Q10(pc), and PenZen(web app).

• Play, pull out a game, get others involved and have some fun

• Read a good book

• Change your environment

• Listen to music

• Create a routine. Many writers have daily routines to help them write

• Talk to others, get your mind off of writing

• Brainstorm by yourself or with someone else.

The method that I use and that I taught the students is called free writing. Let me tell you how it works:

Sit down with either a blank piece of paper and pen/pencil or the computer. Get rid of all distractions. Clear your mind, relax. Set a timer, usually 5 minutes is a good length. You are going to begin writing, don’t worry about a topic just write any words that com into your mind. Do NOT worry about mistakes or punctuation. This is the hardest part for me, do NOT go back and correct anything. Don’t worry about spelling, grammatical structure, sentence fragments or any other element in the process of writing. Just write. Don’t stop until your five minute timer buzzes. If you can’t think of anything to write, write about it. Eventually your mind will come up with something else. The goal is to just write about anything and everything.

Here’s an example of a free write I did:

Today im doing a free werite iam trying to get ideas doen on paper so I heve something to writea bout later im not sure what to write about maybe ai should write wbout my dogs and tell peope how neat they are or I could write about the cats and tellyou how to train them. I could add someinfo about my life and with ait is like to live in the country and how nice tha life is when it is so quiet awayfrom the bustle of city life there are some drawbacks though and peole probably wouldn’t even thingk of them.

Ok, it is even embarrassing to let you look at this, but it is for a good cause. That was a one minute free write. I can go back into the text and pick out several different topics I could write about. This is what I would pick out of it:

Getting ideas down on paper

Brainstorming for later

Dogs

How much I love my dogs

How to train cats (if that is even possible! That should be how my cats train me!)

My life

Living in the country: benefits and downfalls

How quiet the country is

City advantages and disadvantages

What city people don’t realize about country living

It is a simple process, but it loosens up the brain and gets you focused on writing. A free write is a mental warm up. If you are a sports person, you know you have to warm up, stretch, and get mentally prepared for the game or match. What makes a writer all that different? Writers need to warm up as well. They need mental stimulation, mental stretches, mind set and motivation.

When you sit down to write, warm up.

If you find free writing a little bit daunting, there are other warm ups you can do:

Start the same way……..pen/paper or computer then choose a couple different warmups. Again, don’t edit, just write:

• 1.Choose an object in the room and write about it for 2 minutes. Describe the object in detail.
• 2.Look around you and choose a scene or object outside. Write about it in detail for 3 minutes. It could be description, a back story, life from its point of view………whatever you want to write
• 3.Write for 3 minutes about the last book or article you read.
• 4.Write for 5 minutes about the last movie or tv show you watched
• 5.Write for 5 minutes on “ What it is like to be_______________” you fill in the blank. ( a pirate, rich and famous, batman, super girl, a fossil, dog, cat, etc……..)
• 6.Write for 6 minutes about what your pet thinks of you.
• 7.Write for 6 minutes about what it would be like to be the last person on earth.
• 8.Write for 8 minutes about a recent incident in your life.
• 9.Write for 8 minutes about what you would do if you were changed into another person for a day.
• 10. Do a 10 minute free write and find at least 5 topics within it that you could write about.

Whatever you do, do NOT stop writing just because you are having trouble writing. The worse thing you can do is stop writing until you think your writer’s block is over. Chances are you will start making excuses not to write and there begins your downfall.