How Do You Overcome Writer's Block?

[mjtaylor]

Writer's block doesn't just affect fiction writers. Many bloggers, content writers, freelance journalists suffer occasionally from an inability to get it out and onto the proverbial, though now, electronic page.

My problem is usually getting started, and I attribute it to laziness or procrastination rather than "being blocked," but perhaps it is part of the same syndrome.

I find that if I tell myself I only have to work on it for 15 minutes. Just get a sentence or two together, I am often able to get started. And once I start, it usually flows. The longer the piece, the worse the block, too.

I think, for me, it also has something to do with perfectionism.

So, how do you overcome writer's block?

[Cricket]

If you ever figure it out, please let me know.

Unfortunately, I have never had the skill to write on demand. My writing almost always comes from deep within, a result of extreme passion for a topic. If it doesn't involve emotion (love, rage, loneliness, overwhelming sadness, or overflowing happiness) it is virtually impossible for me to get much more than a forum post written.

[J from Michigan]

I went back to school a few years back, mostly for personal growth in business related topics. But I had to take a Composition course.

One of the first topics was 'writers block.' The instructor suggested that we turn off our monitors, and just keep typing... no matter what came out. Don't edit, don't stop, just type.
It actually worked pretty good for me. I saved my work, and came back later to edit.

But, oops... I turned in the unedited version of my paper.
(no punctuation, blabbering words, run-on sentences with no relevance, etc...)

I got a "C"

[dmvictoria]

I don't really get writers block unless I'm upset or very distracted, in those cases I just need to change my mind set and I'm fine. Even if I'm not clear on what I need to write next, I just write, even if its choppy, incoherent or off subject. And this is why;

Thank God for my 12th grade English teacher. For the first 15 minutes of every class we had to write in our journal. It didn't matter what it was as long as we just kept writing and we couldn't stop or he would call attention to it. Some of the things I wrote (I still have the journal) were just random ramblings that would go to dark places, on the other hand some of the stuff was quite good.

I guarantee, if you do this exercise every day for the next year writers block will be a stranger to you.

[mjtaylor]

Originally Posted by Cricket

If you ever figure it out, please let me know.

Unfortunately, I have never had the skill to write on demand. My writing almost always comes from deep within, a result of extreme passion for a topic. If it doesn't involve emotion (love, rage, loneliness, overwhelming sadness, or overflowing happiness) it is virtually impossible for me to get much more than a forum post written.

Well, it's different for each person, of course, but you might have just offered a clue. You don't seem to have much trouble getting forum posts written, so, what's the difference? Can you "pretend" to be writing a forum post? I have, on occasion, written posts for forums that I wanted to develop into a longer article for my own site ...

I have also found that the more I write, the more easily it flows ...

Originally Posted by dmvictoria

I don't really get writers block unless I'm upset or very distracted, in those cases I just need to change my mind set and I'm fine. Even if I'm not clear on what I need to write next, I just write, even if its choppy, incoherent or off subject. And this is why;

Thank God for my 12th grade English teacher. For the first 15 minutes of every class we had to write in our journal. It didn't matter what it was as long as we just kept writing and we couldn't stop or he would call attention to it. Some of the things I wrote (I still have the journal) were just random ramblings that would go to dark places, on the other hand some of the stuff was quite good.

I guarantee, if you do this exercise every day for the next year writers block will be a stranger to you.

Brilliant! Indeed, forcing myself to write anything for a period of time has been very effective. I just have to get over the perfectionism block, and when I tell myself it is just a draft or I am just making notes, it can be very productive.

[StrangeFish]

Prevent if by taking breaks often and writing about things you're interested in. Once it's there just sit down and make yourself write/type anything for ten minutes. Also keep your mind free from any negativity. Remember that you've experienced this block before and have overcome it; or that you've handled a project that you have no idea how you were going to finish before, but you did. Just take it one idea at a time and before you know it, you'd be in your writing zone again.

[jrw1978]

Well if I'm stuck for ideas, I always look through the various article directories and see what other people are writing about. This usually gives me some inspiration for new articles or blog posts.

My biggest problem, as you describe, is getting down and writing articles/blog posts to begin with. As I have been doing this for a few years now, it is a lot easier that it used to be, but I still hate writing in general.

[JakeMoore]

I rarely get writers block but when I do I've found two things to be helpful.

1. Do manual labor. Whether it's fixing something or cleaning something or working out. It frees up my mind to let it work out the thing I'm trying to write.

2. Write on something else that I'm passionate about. Politics, photography, kids, whatever it is..write on something you love for a few minutes and it will get your juices flowing.

Also I echo those that say don't edit until you are done. Editing engages a different function of the brain and shuts off creative flow.

[rfasick]

I find that I have the same problem. When I am first starting for the day, it seems like the most difficult thing in the world is cranking out the first few sentences. After that, everything seems to work out fine. I tend to work best when I've set myself up with several assignments that are of a very familiar subject matter. If you set yourself up with assignments that are in a specialized topic range, you'll quickly build your references and knowledge base to a point where things will work much more quickly.

[mothproof]

Usually, when I'm really, really squeezed out, I just sleep on it, and let the problem take care of itself. Next day I'm brimming again with ideas and ready to write again.

In cases of deadlines,I drink coffee and walk in the living room.

[alter-ego]

I prepare for Writers Block long before I fall in its clutches simply because it can be something that plagues me for many weeks, sometimes even months.

So how do you prepare for Writers Block you ask? Well the answer is simple and that's by making hay while the sun is still shining. Oftentimes when I'm in a Writing Mood, a lot of ideas pop into my head that are both relevant to the current task and irrelevant. I never disregard the irrelevant, I always record it somewhere for later use which oftentimes gives me something to do when plagued by Writers Block.

I also tend to chip away at the stone when it comes to Writing many of my stories. While most may argue this method detracts from the quality of each article I'd argue in that content quality is a process of Editing only, not Writing. I think a lot of people get hogtied by worrying about grammar, sentence structure, plot, flow, etc., during the Writing process and all it does is stifle the creative process.

I view a story or article as a painting with layers. The outline is key in writing anything and it can be in point form, sentence fragments, keywords, even sketches if one is so inclined. Polishing is the easy part but it won't work without something to polish if you take my meaning. Jot it down, who cares what it looks like? You have plenty of time to fix it prior to publish.

Also, another good method of dealing with Writers Block is using a Thesaurus. I've literally taken some of my articles and plugged the plot into a Thesaurus and come up with an idea for a whole new story based off Thesaurus' suggestions. I also find Google Adwords Keyword Tool is terrific for putting ideas into my head based off relevant existing site content.

Some other things I do to keep the ideas flowing:

• Carry a small writing pad everywhere.
• Stick to the point in writing and use the spinoff ideas for new content.
• Create related discussions in my forums to help flush out new ideas.
• Listen to what people are saying in my real life and use it as a basis for content creation.

Lastly, I don't force myself to write. I think writing is challenging enough sometimes so forcing it is always a bad idea. Sure you may churn out some content but I'm betting that if you review it 24+ hours later you'll hate most of what was written.

I think writing depends on mood just as much as anything else so if your not in the mood, don't write. I don't write because I have to write, I write because I want to write.

[mjtaylor]

Wow! Brilliant, helpful post! I do the sketch here and there thing. For example, I almost always have had two or three word docs open for notes on threads or tips or articles I am working on.

I love your idea for listening to people in real life! Great post. I am going to Tweet it!

[hostentic]

Best way to break a writers block is with a hammer

But on a serious note , what works for me is to do or think about something that is totally opposite then what I am trying to write about.

[mothproof]

Originally Posted by alter-ego

I prepare for Writers Block long before I fall in its clutches simply because it can be something that plagues me for many weeks, sometimes even months. ....

wow, this is good stuff, already article-length. and here i am already racked by writer's block on what to post as a comment. you should post this is article sites, for more visibility. thanks for the wonderful suggestions.
i also carry a small notebook around. it was supposed to be my journal, but now it's also a to-do-list, a brainstorm notebook etc, scratchpad, etc.

[Dominic_ace]

I call it quits, go for a walk, shopping, gym, go out with friend,s.


Take my notepad with me, and often come up with very good ideas which I implement.

Best way to deal with writers block though is to stop and walk away, if you try to fight through it, you'll end up producing poor quality work.. And then on your next sitting you'll end up just deleting that stuff anyway

[HTMLBasicTutor]

For collecting ideas:

• A cheap notebook for each site to write ideas in. Mark the date I posted it.
• Google alerts for keyword phrases.
• Forum questions that keep getting repeated.
• Questions from clients and students.
• Tweets by others (great for references to include with your blog post)

My problem is finding the time to write all these articles!

[MelS]

Well, if you are just stuck in the middle of a sentence - that might be a sentence that doesn't fit and should be left out. If you don't have an idea what to write about - you have the whole internet to shop for ideas. I personally look at The Globe and Mail, The Huffington Post, and other big media outlets. I find it useful to go through these because you see a writing style that catches the attention (like - if you haven't heard about facebook, you might be in a coma). If I still cannot find a good idea - it's time to shut down the computer and get a real life

[blaba]

Originally Posted by mjtaylor

Writer's block doesn't just affect fiction writers. Many bloggers, content writers, freelance journalists suffer occasionally from an inability to get it out and onto the proverbial, though now, electronic page.

My problem is usually getting started, and I attribute it to laziness or procrastination rather than "being blocked," but perhaps it is part of the same syndrome.

I find that if I tell myself I only have to work on it for 15 minutes. Just get a sentence or two together, I am often able to get started. And once I start, it usually flows. The longer the piece, the worse the block, too.

I think, for me, it also has something to do with perfectionism.

So, how do you overcome writer's block?

I feel exactly the same, it is more of laziness and procrastination than being blocked. The main problem is to get started, once I am started I can bang out 1000 word article without any problems, the "key" is to actually make yourself sit in that chair and begin

[mjtaylor]

Just found this excellent article by Jessica Lee from Bruce Clay, Seven Ways to Overcome Writer's Block

Two I particularly liked, the first because I have some attention on social media at the moment:

4. Tap into your network for topic ideas.

If personal experience isn’t helping you tackle that writer’s block, tap into your network. I mean this both digitally and offline. Take Twitter, for example. I bet you could look at your feed at any given time of day and find a handful of worthy ideas to blog about.
<snip>
5. Write about a topic you want to learn more about.

If using other people’s ideas isn’t working for you, pick a topic that you’ve always wanted to know more about and educate yourself on it. One of the coolest things about being a writer or blogger is that you get to learn a lot about things. In fact, I have boatloads of knowledge on various topics that are approximately 1,000 words deep floating around in my brain.

Take advantage of the fact that it’s your duty to learn and report. I’ve written several blog posts and articles simply because I wanted to learn more about the topic.

Read the rest: http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/2010/1...writers-block/

[wragh]

If i don't really get a 'block', but if i am struggling to be as creative as i'd like then i find doing some exercise helps. Whether it's 100 pushups or a 20 minute walk or bike ride, it always seems to get me back on track.