How do you deal with writer's block?

Answer 1

People get writer's block for different reasons, and at different levels of severity. One thing that I used to do in a workshop on overcoming writer's block is have people write about random things. Sometimes you can get over the block if you focus on something besides what you have been *trying* to write about.

I'd write "Life is like a _________" on the board, and then we'd go around the room and come up with different nouns that life was like... a cheeseburger. An airplane. A Baseball game. A new guitar. And then everyone was assigned something from the list, and they had to write about it for 10 minutes. ... just doing that gets some people back on track. They are having fun again, instead of feeling tortured about *having* to write something... and that is often one of the reasons people get blocked.

If you can find a way to have fun (and usually there IS a way, even for very structured assignments), it becomes a lot easier to write (or to do anything, really). Another way is to talk to someone about it. Sometimes we're stuck in our own brains, and getting unstuck requires being able to bounce our ideas off someone else's brain for a change. :) Talking out some of your ideas, and getting some ideas from the other person could be a good way to get a jump-start.

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Michael Stackpole (the author of many Star Wars novels) says that writer's block just means that you don't know your characters well enough. He says when you get stuck, find one of those questionnaires that the magazines are always publishing (like "How Well Do You Know Your Boyfriend?" or "Let's Ask a Famous Actor a Bunch of Questions!") and fill it out as if you were your character. There is also a link to a character information sheet you can print out in the Related Links below.

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I discovered an easy method to get over writer's block.

Look around the room you're in. Select an object, word

from childhood, or an animal. It's a game to writing.

My eyes caught the fan. The first letter of fan is

turned into three other F words.

My words are father, fast, furious.

Start writing about your words. Take a look.

"What happened to the Father?"

"Not sure. He was found slumped over his desk."

My story can twist down any path.

You'll get new writing ideas, the longer you work with the technique.

Continue writing until your creative flow starts. This method will work for non-fiction and poetry.

Answer 2

Try taking a long bath, taking a break or talk to a friend for a little bit, and maybe some inspiration will come to you.

I would say that if you were having writer's block, that you should try and do other stuff that you like to do - and keep in mind that you want to come up with an idea to write about or some idea that you need to keep your story going on. I do that, and soon enough, it will come to you.

Answer 3

I think there are lots of ways to overcome writer's block, and so I expect the answer to this question will eventually become a list of ideas. But the easiest way I know is to skip the first paragraph, and write the second. You can go on from there, and return to the first if you need to. This is true for the first paragraph of a book, a story, a chapter, or a scene. In my experience, I usually find the second paragraph is where I should have started anyway.

Answer 4

Here are some ways to deal with writer's block:

• Keep working - even if it seems boring, keep writing until you get past the blockage
• Go back and figure out why your brain is trying to tell you that this section is bad - sometimes that's why you have a block
• Work on another story for a few days or a week
• Go take a walk or get some other sort of exercise to stimulate your brain