Writers Block?
It’s a term that gets thrown around a lot, I’ve even said it myself. You just stare at a blank screen, the curser flashing away, but no words appearing on the page. Of course they can’t. Your brain has stopped working, and you can’t get it going again. It can last for minutes, hours or even days. I’ve read both sides of the argument, some articles even claiming writers block doesn’t exist. And to a certain extent, I agree with them. Writers block is an excuse we give ourselves for not doing what we do. Writing. What writers block really means, is that I can’t write this current bit right now, but it doesn’t mean you can’t write. There are various things to do to get over this hurdle. What it means is that you’re getting in the way of your own creativity. That conscious is getting in the way of that subconscious of yours.
How do I get over writers block?
The first answer to this, may sound like the most unhelpful, which is to write. I get over writers block by writing? That’s exactly what I can’t do! Yep, I get you, but just hear me out. You’re sat there staring at that blank screen thinking hard about the section you’re trying to write. Well just skip it, move onto the next section and come back to it. Is there a scene that’s been praying on your mind for a while? But you’ve not been at it because you’re not there yet? It’s happened to me a couple of times, so surely it must happen to others. Well just get on with it. It may not be the best work you’ve ever written, but so what? You can always edit, always rewrite. All you need to do is get starting, and those creative juices will flow, and you’ll be writing like a champ once more.
But ok, you’re really stuck, you can’t move onto the next section, or you have no more ideas, or whatever, you just can’t seem to put pen to paper. That’s fine. Then just take a break, walk away. Just for half an hour. Stand up, out of your chair, leave your office or bedroom or whatever and go outside. Go for a walk, breath in fresh air, take in the sights and sounds of the other work-a-days all living their lives, and most importantly, don’t think about writing. Get all thoughts of that current project out of your head. Let your ideas peculate in your subconscious, and half an hour later, when you sit back down to your computer, those ideas will spring fourth. But if you can’t go out, for whatever reason, then go onto google, punch in a couple of keywords and look at some pictures. It’s a close second best.
My personal method for getting over it is to go for a run, go to the gym, and get hot and sweaty and tired and sore to the point where you can’t bear to even think. And once those mental barriers have been smashed to little pieces those ideas will rush to come fourth once again.
There are a couple of things to do, but there is also a long list of things not to do.
Don’t drink, it might work once, maybe twice, but if you ‘get on it’ every time you hit a wall, eventually you’ll just start drinking whenever you write, which will just make for incredibly shoddy writing that’ll need even more work to rewrite and edit.
Don’t start watching TV. Ok, it’ll get your mind off of writing, but as my mom always said, it’ll rot your brain, and if you, like I do, have a tendency to binge watch, you’ll be watching TV for hours and it’ll be time for bed and that blank page you were staring at will still be blank. You’ll get up the next day, sit down at your computer, and will still have the same problem, so just don’t.
Don’t start eating. You’re not hungry, just bored. No need to add diabetes to the list of problems.
Basically just do your best to ignore that voice in your head that’s telling you you’re not able to do it, and get on with it, do something constructive with your time, and remember that this happens. It happens to everyone one way or another, and the more you write, the better you’ll be at getting over it.
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