Walk the Block
The best cure for writer’s block? Stop thinking of it as a barricade, and think of it more as a path. I find that most people who deal with writer’s block think of it as a physical block that has to be broken down or overcome when it’s better to approach it as a figurative block.
Imagine your creative flow as a road. Perhaps it’s pretty steady at the moment and everything’s going great. You’re writing up a storm and the printer is spitting out pages, but suddenly you reach a brick wall. You’ve lost your momentum and you’re perplexed or perturbed. Now most writers will just stare at that wall and bash their heads against it until it gives way, but perhaps choosing to turn left or right would be more beneficial.
This is where the figurative block comes in. Perhaps you walk down a block or two, and you find a road that leads you back on track beyond the dead end, or maybe it takes a few or a multitude; regardless, at some point you should find your way, even if it means going all the way back and starting over.
What is it that you’re exactly doing walking up these blocks? You’re having an experience. It could be taken quite literally that you’re going for a walk through town (perhaps to get groceries or just have a breath of fresh air). Maybe you’re watching a movie, reading a book, or listening to music. Or perhaps you’re taking big steps and going on a vacation or extensive adventure. Walking down these roads could be anything (heck, even eating can count), but what matters is that you’re broadening your creative horizons by having experiences to draw from. At some point you’re going to find the right road that leads you back on the right track, or sometimes on a new, more inspired path altogether.
To put it plainly, writer’s block comes about from a lack of inspiration. Rather than sit at your keyboard and question your talent, why not take writer’s block as an opportunity to indulge yourself in leisureness or activity? Why not let your mind rest up as well as absorb more ideas? There’s no need to fret, because the fact is inspiration doesn’t magically come about by staring at a blank page; it comes from living and being active. See the world, find a story, and make yourself hunger to fill that page, because you just can’t force-feed inspiration.
-Tori Domay
Writer’s Tool #7: The Gadget-Free Day
You’d never believe it, but in a timespan of just four months…
…I’ve locked my keys in my car a total of 7 times.
Oh yes, I’m an idiot.
Thankfully, I’m not capable of misplacing my brain (at least, I hope not), and there is usually always access to paper and pens. You’d be shocked how many coffee stores, or restaurants are willing to part with a few pieces of paper and a pen if you ask nicely.
Now, if you’re a dunce like me, and you need to wait around for people to bring you a spare set of keys, or for a mobile car service to arrive, you can get pretty creative in passing the time. I’ve learned the benefits of using this time to concentrate on my writing.
I get a good chuckle out of picturing the first few times I’ve done this, and literally thinking to myself “Oh no! My cellphone, laptop, and journal are locked in my car! HOW AM I GOING TO WRITE?” … then it dawned on me one day, while waiting for my parents to bring me my spare set of keys, that I could simply ask a local Starbucks for a few pieces of paper and a pen.
Not only did they provide the materials I needed, in feeling sorry for my predicament, they gave me a free latte! Score!
It’s funny how many businesses are so eager to help you when you do something stupid. It’s almost as if the break in routine gives them an excuse to leave their all important burger flipping, in pursuit of some scrap paper… or some band-aids (don’t ask.)
At any rate, the lesson I’ve learned in all of this, was how much ACTUAL writing I completed, not having my cellphone, or an internet connection to actively distract me from doing everything. It’s astonishing how your brain is FORCED to think, when you have nothing to do.
This is also a fantastic way to iron out writer’s block. I’ve climbed out of many plot holes, and character problems this way. It amazes me how much of a creative recovery it can be, not having a gadget at your side. Unless you’re some sort of business tycoon, and your crackberry or i-arm is some sort of appendage, then I highly recommend trying this out. Before the advent of technology, many writers got along just fine without a cellphone, laptop, or what-have-you. “Just turn it off” some might say …
… sorry, I don’t have that kind of willpower. Perhaps that’s also a reason why I’m tubby. Just leave your devices at home, and thank me when you get a crap-load of writing done.
TASK: Set aside a large chunk of time, and leave every precious electronic thing you own that may distract you at home. Bring nothing but some paper, and a pen. (perhaps an extra pen, just in case.)
This writing tip is brought to you by a forgetful idiot.
You can find other tools like this in the Writer’s Toolbox link, at the top of the page.
Take Two Quotes and Call Me in the Morning
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I’ve added a new “quotes” page at the top of the blog. I’ll be updating it every so often. You can also access it under the “quote of the month” on the right side bar. All writer’s need a little help sometimes. Here are some quotes that I’ve collected over the years. Whenever I read them, I affirm my identity. I rekindle the fire, and find a way to push forward. I hope these can do the same for you.
“The mightiest works have been accomplished by men who have kept their ability to dream great dreams.” – Walter Bowie “It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.” – J.K. Rowling “Know how you’re going to end your story before you start writing; without a sense of direction, you can get lost in the middle.” Joan Nixon “Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.” - Albert Einstein “I would like to be remembered as someone who did the best she could with the talent she had.” – JK Rowling. “Character is fate. We learn about a character from the decisions he makes or fails to make.” - Nicholas Meyer, Screenwriter “Screenwriting books, like screenwriting classes, run the risk of becoming a substitute for writing” – Michael Hauge “It takes courage to be a writer. Courage to face yourself, work through your demons & make your art.” - Terry Rossio “I can’t believe that God put us on this earth to be ordinary.” - Lou Holtz “Serious writers write, inspired or not. Over time they discover that routine is a better friend to them than inspiration.” - Ralph Keyes “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” - Stephen King “The biggest thing separating people from their artistic ambitions is not a lack of talent. It’s the lack of a deadline.” – Chris Baty 
“In order to write about life, first you must live it!” – Ernest Hemingway “It’s not the college degree that makes a writer. The great thing is to have a story to tell.” - Polly Adler “You accomplish victory step by step, not by leaps and bounds.” - Lyn St. James “You have to be brave to take out that white sheet of paper and put on it words that could be evidence of your stupidity.” - Sol Saks “Harry Potter is all about confronting fears… Twilight is how important it is to have a boyfriend. “ – Stephen King “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” - Robert Collier “Anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.” – J.K. Rowling “Find a good story and don’t be surprised if it takes you five years to get it off the ground.” –Brad Anderson “You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room.” – Theodore Geisel, “DR. SEUSS” “A writer never has a vacation. For a writer, life consists of either writing or thinking about writing.” — Eugène Ionesco “Books aren’t written – they’re rewritten…It is one of the hardest things to accept.” - Michael Crichton 
“God doesn’t require us to succeed; he only requires that you try.” - Mother Teresa “Trouble in writing reflects troubled thinking, usually an incomplete grasp of the facts or their meaning.” – Barbara Tuchman “The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.” - H. Norman Schwarzkopf “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill “Writing and rewriting are a constant search for what it is one is saying.” – John Updike “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” - Dr. Robert Schuller “99% of success in life stems from just showing up.” – Woody Allan “Even without a religious perspective, love and compassion are clearly of fundamental importance to us all.” - Dali Lama “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” - Maya Angelou “Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” - Vincent Van Gogh “Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.” – William James “You have brains in your head. Your feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.” – Theodore Geisel, “DR. SEUSS” “Never, never, never give up.” – Winston Churchill “Nothing will come of nothing. Dare for mighty things.” – William Shakespeare “So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.” - Theodore Geisel, “DR. SEUSS” “Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.” - Neil Gaiman “If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write.” – Stephen King 
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