OVERCOMING WRITERS BLOCK

This subject came up on one of the forums I attend on Facebook.
My immediate answer was that I couldn’t relate to it because I’ve never had it. EVER. However, I have to say that with a caveat. I’ve never had it since I took up writing seriously in 1995.
Before that time, when I not only didn’t have the muse, but didn’t have the mental or technical tools to take on the task of writing much, writers block was only a natural.
Once I found my muse, discovered I had the skill, it only came natural and I never had writers block again. I just had too many ideas to ever worry about it again.
I also write so linear, from A to B that I don’t write myself in a corner, or get off on sidetracks that veer far away from B.
That’s not to say I don’t run across hurdles and errors in my writing that I need to fix. Sure I do, but that’s not the same as writers block. I never get to the point where I stop, put the brakes on, or simply can’t think of anything to write.
I’m not like many of you out there.
TOUGH LOVE
Another author I know takes the tough love approach. His opinion is that there’s no such thing as writers block. When a writer blames it on their muse or whatever, they’re just being lazy and are procrastinating and making excuses for hitting a difficult area. They need to suck it up and think through the hurtle.
I don’t abide by that philosophy, but it works for him, as he’s a mercenary writer and gets paid for what he does. In fact, he won’t write anything unless he gets paid for it.
I write because I love it. That’s one of the keys to why I never get writers block.
WHAT TO DO?
While I’ve never had the issue myself, I’ve heard and seen methods others have used to get out of the rut, to break the cycle.
Probably the best thing to do is stop what you’re doing and walk away from it for a bit. Not just a few days, but weeks, months, maybe even a year or more. Whatever it takes to give you a fresh take on what you were writing.
What do you do during that break?
Maybe you write something else.
Maybe you just read.
Watch TV or movies.
Maybe you do nothing at all.
Research.
When you feel the time hit you (or muse), go back and re-read what you wrote, get a feel for what the issue is, if any, and pick up from there. The key is to forget about it during your time off. Take that time to reset your brain.
There’s nothing worse than stewing over that stumbling block which gave you the problem in the first place.
ALTERNATIVES
Seek out similar stories and read them. See how others did it and determine if you can work your story that same way. Maybe seeing how others did it can give you the impetus to do your own twist in a different fashion.
Maybe those similar stories will inspire you to take up an entirely different project, setting this one aside for another time. There’s nothing wrong with that. At least you’re writing!
Then again, there are those of you with drawers or hard drives full of half-finished stories. Yeah, that happens. You can’t complete anything.
Then there’s the inspiration. During your time away, planned or unplanned, you find something that sparks you back into the story. While you intended to give it a break for a set time…say a year, six weeks later, you’re driving down the freeway and pass a truck and something written on the side sparks your imagination.
BAM!
There’s the end to your writer’s block.
You never know.
All those plans down the toilet and you’re back in the game again.
SUMMARY
Sometimes, you just have to shut down for a while and reboot. Other times, you need to wait it out for a bit until something comes along. The key is don’t let the frustration build until it becomes the main issue.
Happy writing!