On Writer's Block

So, I guess now is as good a time as any to cover one of the most important subjects in writing: Writer’s Block. If you’ve ever tried to write anything, then you know writer’s block. Here’s what you need to know about writer’s block:

-It sucks.

-It WILL happen to you

-It only occurs when it’s extremely inconvenient

And

-It can be beaten.

So, now that the basics have been established, I’m going to delve further into it. Writer’s block is one of the biggest obstacles between amateur writer and professional. It is the bane of all writers, but the best find a way to slay this particular beast.

There are a ton of different methods for dealing with writer’s block. My mother always told me growing up that the simplest cure was just to look around at your surroundings, and write down all the words you can think of. And it works, but not all the time, and not for everyone. Other suggestions I’ve heard include everything from imbibing of alcohol to reading poetry. But here, I’ll list my favorite methods:

-Write-or-die (http://lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.html). Essentially, this handy little tool is an evil taskmaster that makes you write. You punch in how many words you want to write, and a time limit, and it proceeds to make you do it in a variety of ways, depending on which you select. Mostly, it makes extremely unpleasant noises. However, I recommend Kamikaze mode, in which, if you go for more than a few seconds without writing, it starts to delete what you’ve already written. And that is extremely good motivation.

-Editing: yes, I humbly propose that editing can be a cure for writer’s block. Next time you just can’t write, pull out an old piece and go after it. Tear it to pieces with your trusty red pen, cross things out; rephrase them, and next thing you know, you’ll be writing something new.

-Pure force of will: okay, so this doesn’t always work, but it can work most of the time. Just sit down, steel yourself, and write a sentence. Apply all your cold, merciless, emotionless technical knowledge to form a paragraph. Because the key to beating writer’s block is momentum. Once you get rolling, build up some steam, then you can keep going, but those first words are vital. So, take a thought, and make it a sentence. Don’t worry at first about prose, or elegance, or any of that, it will come later. Just form a legitimate sentence, then two, then three, then a paragraph, and so on. And soon enough, you’ll have something. Alternately, if that doesn’t quite break the deadlock, combine this with the other method and go back and edit what you just wrote.

-last tip: music. Good music has cured my writer’s block more than almost any other thing. The secret here is to find the right song or genre. Just start out in a genre, and listen to a few songs. If those don’t help, move on. Try music you don’t listen to much, obscure or out-of-date genres, whatever. But it’s almost a sure thing that somewhere out there is a song that’ll fit like a key into your particular case of writer’s block, and blow it wide open.