15 tips to combat writer's block

There have been times in every writer's life when she or he has confronted writer's block. That's a given. And, there are literally thousands of articles out there on how to combat it. I probably shouldn't bore you with one more, but I need content for this site, so I have to write something. And, since this title literally came with the site, like a hidden cutting board in a new house (I miss that cutting board...), I decided to use it. These are the ways I combat my particular blocks. I think they work pretty well, but they might not work for everyone. So, in the spirit of writing for writing's sake, here they are, in no particular order.

1. Take a Nap: Any kind of break will do. Some people exercise. Some take a nap. But, I'm the nap sort of person. There's nothing like a little snooze to reinvigorate a person. It also gives your brain that much needed respite from the intense concentration it takes to bang out some passages. Hail Naps!

2. Go to Work: As much as I dislike leaving the book I'm working on to go to work, I have come to recognize how important that particular sort of break really is. Okay, it took well over a year to realize it, but switching my brain from one work mode to another has actually opened up possibilities in my writing. I discovered that my brain is still working on the novel no matter what I'm doing, and I can draw inspiration from what seem like highly unlikely sources. I've gotten sudden inspiration on the drive to work, and I've been able to let it ferment throughout my shift so I can get it on the tablet later. Yes, sometimes it's frustrating that I can't write it out right then and there, but that's not always the best course of action, anyway. Sometimes, the words are like wine, and they have to age before they are palatable.

3. Play with the Cat/Dog: Turn your brain down to low and just run on your basic instincts. It's like taking a nap, but more active. Your brain gets some much needed rest, and you never know what play might inspire. I've taken that break often, but mostly to have a little fun. It's an especially pleasant reward for getting through a particularly difficult section in the novel.

4. Write Something Else: One of the side effects of having a blog is the chance to write something other than the novel I'm working on. It's pretty fun to write something different for a change, and it keeps my writing skills -such as they are- sharp. So, take a moment to write something completely alien to you. Something silly or serious or dangerous or romantic. I usually write something short, or silly, and it is usually in the crudest form, not much better than notes, but it feeds that need to write for a while. It's kind of like junk food for the brain, instead of the healthy banquet of the bigger project.

5. Eat Something: Feed the body, feed the brain. Don't forget to eat. I used to get so involved in what I was writing that I would let time get away from me. Before I knew it, I had been writing all morning and it was well after 1PM. I had forgotten all about lunch! Thankfully, I don't do that any more. But, I know that the small feeling of panic that I had let half the day slip away like that did have an impact on the quality of my writing. It wasn't that I was hungry. It was the guilty feeling that came from allowing myself to get into that situation that nagged at me and dragged at my creativity. Yeah, it's stupid and silly, but I've always been like that. It's gotten better recently, though. So, eat something, for crying out loud!

6. Keep Telling Yourself It Doesn't Matter: This is probably much easier since I'm am yet unpublished and thus have no deadlines hanging over my head like the Sword of Damocles. In the long run, whether or not I get published isn't the most important thing to me. Yes, I want to be published. Truth be told, I want to be like JK Rowling or Raymond Feist or any of my other favorite authors and roll in that sick published author wealth. Wouldn't it be fantastic if a movie company wanted to take my novel(s) to the big screen! It might happen. It might not. What is the most important thing about writing, to me, is the therapy it provides. It keeps the terrors away for a while, too. Maybe more on that later. Maybe. But, in the grand scheme of things, there are much more important things out there than getting published. Friends. Family. Church to some. Charity. Being kind to one another. Helping others. All that and more, much more important than getting published. (I suppose with an attitude like that, I'll never get published, but I still want to try.)

7. Don't Take Yourself Too Seriously: Along the same line as telling yourself it doesn't matter, have a sense of humor about yourself or your situation. I'm trying to not take my writing too seriously, either. Yes, I'm stuck in a job I dislike, I would rather write for a career, and I have to make a website so I have an online presence, and, yes, it is all very overwhelming, but I could be living in Minnesota, so I have to count my blessings. (I actually have nothing against Minnesota. That was a pretty poor attempt at humor. I guess I still have to work on some aspects of that.) Anyway, I try to not take things too seriously. It's bad for the heart.

8. Play with Your Kids: If you don't have goats, then human children will do. If you don't have children of your own, then other children will do. Just make sure you have permission to play with them, or you know the family very well. Don't just choose a child at random. That's creepy and highly illegal. But, if you are able to play with a child, do it. They are unfettered fountains of imagination, and if you leave yourself open to it, you can refill your own drained resources from them. You might find inspiration to slip through that block, or you might just find the energy to keep chipping away at it, but in any event, you might find, as I do, a welcome respite from whatever it is that vexes you.

9. Let It Go: Take an extended break from writing if necessary. And, don't worry about it for that entire time. Your brain, if it is as stubborn as mine is, will continue working on that tangled knot of a blockage without you. This is only different from the other forms of breaks in that it is a little longer, like a vacation. Do something else. Think of something else. Don't even think about the project. It's hard to do, I know, but when I've done it, I'm actually so thankful to get back into the swing of things that the words just seem to flow out. I can even think past the block to what happens next. Which lead me to...

10. Think Past the Block: This one's a "working solution". Where do you want the characters to go next? What do you want them to do next? Writing down those answers, planning what happens in their future, can help you work out how to get there. And, don't be afraid to think of several ways to go, and then choose the best one. I've considered alternate timelines many times, and it's worked so far.

11. Don't Be Afraid to Hate It: There are a lot of things I've written that I wasn't very fond of. And, I would erase them and start over again. My current novel has probably gone through upwards of a dozen unofficial rewrites in which only the very basic plot survived. Characters came and went. Situations happened, then were obliterated from history. I ended up working on this novel for about twenty years, off and on. Then, I heard an actual author admit that she didn't quite like the way she had taken one of her novels, and then I heard it from other writers, too. Now, I realize there will be things that I write that I will never be satisfied with. But, that's life. That's also authorship, if I can use that word in this context. And, I can even make the characters in the book hate the situation, too, and lend a bit of realism to the narrative. There is a saying in science...Mythbuster science, that is: Failure is always an option. Isn't that a wonderful saying? It means that failure is a scientific result that one can learn from. I apply it to writing, now, too. Learn from my failures, to make future writing better.

12. Punch Your Way Through: Like Janeway once said, "...sometimes you have to punch your way out!" Like the last piece of "advice", you can't be afraid to hate what you write. But, you will still have the option to change it before showtime. But, at least having something on paper helps get the juices flowing, even if it's something as stupid as the hero puts a duck on his head. (Wait...that's pretty good. Hmmmn...) Anyway, just put something down. Force yourself to have the motivation and write something. Good or bad, it's better than nothing, so don't kick yourself if it isn't as good as your prior stuff. They can't all be golden. Some of it is going to be in the form of a crude stone that needs to be cut and polished before it's a gem. Keep that in mind, and you'll be okay. Well, you'll be okay anyway.

13. Start a Blog: Or a website. Or some sort of social media presence. I subscribe to a writer's website that suggests a writer needs to have a media presence like that, and I partook in a webinar in which the author running it gave some instructions on what to do to get such a presence. It's been nagging at me for a long time. I occasionally wondered whether I should be working on the book or a website, and I know it impacted on the quality of my writing. So, now, I'm doing that so I can check it off the list and get back to more important things. In the webinar, the author stated that a writer can connect with her/his readership better, and with other writers in a sort of community. Maybe even a support group. I'm going to try that, but first I have to get the burden of initial operation out of the way. It helps to get it out of the way.

14. Get Your Errands/Chores Done: And, do the things around the house and those life obligations done. Renew your prescription. Go shopping. Clean the house, if I haven't already mentioned that. Please clean the house! It needs it! Anyway, do the things that tend to pile up while you are obsessed with your writing project. Put a day or two aside for it, or however long it takes. It might not be foremost in your mind, but you know it lingers in the back of your mind, nagging away, being the distracting noise that makes it impossible to concentrate. Get them done and out of mind so you can get on with things. And, remember...

15. You'll Be Alright: You will be. Writer's block does go away. It does, whether or not you take anyone's advice on how to combat it. You will be okay. It happens to every writer. Except to Steven King. I expect he never gets writer's block. He's just that good! But still, until I can get to that level, I use these strategies to get me through. Maybe you might use them, too. Who knows? But if you do and they actually work for you, too, then I'm glad. Just remember that it's going to be alright and you're going to be okay. Sometimes my greatest burst of energy and creativity came after the worst bout of writer's block. I guess things just got dammed up, and the little rest I took from the book let it build up until it broke and flooded the valley, destroying the town. Okay, bad analogy. Just remember that it'll be okay, and it'll be okay.

And, that's it. Not exactly everything I had thought of to write about the subject, but I stupidly didn't write any of that down and now I'm suffering for it. So...

16. Write It Down: Self-explanatory, really. See above. Don't let it get away. Carry a note book. (Note to self: Carry a notebook.)

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