There's nothing worse than a bad case of writer's block. It always hits you at the worst times, and makes a mess of any aspiring authors mind. With that said, here's my best advice for overpowering this invisible enemy.
1.Take A Break
The first thing you should do is take a moment to yourself. Finding yourself staring at the same page for excess amounts of time won't do you any good. Make yourself a cup of tea, go for a walk, interact with other humans! A change of scenery will you do, and who knows, maybe taking yourself away from your project for a bit may help inspiration strike?
2. Story Blocking
When writing a rough draft, think of your big picture elements first and plot them in a rough outline. You can get to the nitty-gritty line by line details later, and this will help you connect everything together as you write. Write out character analysis outlines, so you get to know the people in your story. Understanding who your characters are helps with writing inner monologues and reactions to wherever your story takes them.
Have you experienced writer's block recently?
Yes, it's the worst!
Nope! I'm an endless river of ideas!
3. Don't Over Edit
Probably one of the worst mistakes a writer can make is over editing what they already have. You'll wind up spending too much time perfecting something that may not actually fit with your story and be kept later on, or something you might have to change drastically. It's never a good idea to write out the perfect first chapter and base the rest your story on that. This can be a huge cause of creative blockage later on.
4. A Little Goes A Long Way
Don't overwhelm yourself. There's no need to sit for hours and hours writing. It's not a race, and the creative process can't be rushed, so take your time. Set aside an hour everyday, or two hours every two days, as writing time. Not only can having time in between writing sessions to do other things inspire more writing, it can help you process what you've already written, and help you figure out where you want to take things next.
5. No Pressure, No Problem
Remember you're only human, so cut yourself some slack. Nothing has to be perfect right away, and nothing is set in stone. You can always go back and change something that isn't working, or add something that might be missing. That's the best part about a draft, it's flexible.
Writing requires a lot of a person mentally. In a world where so many ideas have been done already, originality can be hard to come by, so always understand that nobody is perfect and writers block can get the best of even the most creative of people. Are you struggling with writer's block? Try some of these out, and hopefully you'll have those creative juices flowing in no time!
Comments