It happens to the best of us. You have a great idea or so many words to spill one day and then the next...you've got nothing. A blank sheet of paper with zero motivation to pull through. Sure, you could bang out maybe 20 pages the week before on the differing shades of a sunset, but as for the moment, there's absolutely nothing. These are a few tips I myself use in order to keep my brain moving and the words somewhat fresh.
1. Watch a movie.
This might come as a surprise, but watching a visual spread out on a screen can evoke a ton of inspiration to your writing life. Whether it's from the dialogue itself or maybe the cinematography, there's bound to be something that makes you want to write out a few lines. If that's not the case, then you watched a pretty good film and put some culture in your life.
2. Take a walk.
In true Transcendentalist fashion, walking through nature can actually make you feel as if any foggy thoughts have suddenly become clearer. Maybe it's through a trail or a botanical garden, or even lying out in the sunshine, it'll make you feel, in the simplest of terms, pretty good. And when you feel good, you want to transpose that onto paper or screen.
3. Listen to music.
I know for myself when I listen to music and write, the whole world seems to slip away and there's nothing more interesting than the scene I'm working on in that moment. Maybe it's playlist of empowering songs that you could also listen to through a workout, some sad tunes you'd only give attention toward on a bad day, or maybe even classical music. There is power in the art of music, just as there is in film or writing. Utilizing it is key.
4. Think of a nice memory.
It's not always a bad thing when writers take happenings from their own lives and spew it out into their books or short stories. Who knows about an event more than anyone than the person actually experiencing it? Think about a time where you were proud, where you were sad, where it seemed like every day was just a part of the surreal. Scouring through memories can be the key to associating it to a fictional character of your own creation. Defeating writer's block.
5. Write about your writer's block.
In a way, it's too meta. Writing about how you just can't seem to form the words. At the end of the day though, it makes for an interesting moment of retrospection.
It doesn't matter what you write about, as long as you end up writing. There is a vast expanse lodged in the brain of anyone who wants to create. It all comes down to what you do to get those words out.
