I’ve always been a firm believer that writer’s block isn’t real. As one of my professors said last semester, “You don’t have 'writer’s block,' you just have an excuse.” Both of our statements come from our common belief that one can always write — it’s just that maybe you are not writing what you thought you were going to.
It is common for writers to say that we have to wait for the “inspiration to write.” Writer’s will wait until they come up with the next line of their book or for the plot of their short story to drop into their head. They believe that they must wait until the story that they want will come to them. But, in the famous words of my writing professor, that’s a load of bull.
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We all have the ability to write at anytime of the day, we just have to make ourselves write, even if it’s not what we originally desired to write.
1. If what you want to write isn’t coming to you, write something else.
It’s a common problem among writers to think you can only write about the current idea you have. Writers will get themselves stuck in a rut when they insist on only writing about this idea, even when they can’t figure out how to flesh it out. They get stumped, and then think that they have “writer’s block,” and must wait for inspiration to strike.
That, of course, is simply not true.
Don’t let yourself get hung up on one idea. Put your idea on the back burner and see if you can come up with another idea, even if it doesn’t excite you as much. At least you will be writer, and you will get yourself in “the flow” of writing. It’s possible that writing a story you do know how to complete will get you in the mindset to write your original story. You’ll have warmed yourself up, and you will no longer just be sitting there convinced you cannot write.
2. Warm up with a Bradbury list or a poem.
Warming up before writing really does provide inspiration and motivation. If you think that you are stuck on a section of the story you are trying to write, take a break and make yourself “practice” writing.
Author of “Fahrenheit 451” Ray Bradbury would always write a list of nouns before he sat down to do any sort of writing. He believed that identifying and writing down his surroundings would give him a story of writing prompt that he could use in his writing. He would pick out some of the nouns in his list and use them in a miniature story. If he liked the nouns so much, they would provide inspiration for the current story he was stuck on. By warming yourself up with a writing exercise like a Bradbury list, you can get yourself “warmed-up” or even inspired.
The same can be done with poetry. If you get stuck while writing your story, you can pause and write a quick poem in the tone, and voice, of your story. Again, this warm-up can get your ideas flowing again, and get you in the groove of writing.
3. Read in the style you want to write.
Writers are always told the phrase “Good writers are good readers,” meaning to know how to write well, read the works of writers who know how to write well. While I have never been sure whether or not I agree with that whole sentiment, I have discovered over the years that reading in the style you want to write helps inspire your own writing.
If you think you are “stuck,” find a book (or even a previous piece of your own), in the same tone or voice that you write in. By doing so, you will be reminding yourself of your voice and of what productive writing looks like. Reading can help get your mind creating ideas, and thus inspire you to continue your own writing.
4. Make an outline.
If you’re writing and you’re having a hard time finding the voice in your story (or having a hard time developing characters, or even deciding how you want to craft your sentences), pause and write an outline. Open a new document or pull out a new page, and start detailing all of the events you want to happen in the story. You can do this scene by scene or chapter by chapter, depending on the kind of story you want to write.
Make each description of what you want to happen as detailed as possible. By making the outline detailed, and by having a complete idea about where you want the story to go, writing just becomes a matter of filling in the blanks. You will know how to make your characters because you now know what work they have to do for the story to fill in your outline. You will know the voice of your piece because you can now match the voice to what kind of events will be happening. You’ll get yourself writing by knowing what you have to achieve.
Of course, never be afraid to break your outline. Sometimes the outline is just a launch board. If you come up with a better idea while writing than the ideas in your outline, go for it. The outline is just an idea, not a strict rule book. Let yourself be inspired.
5. Push through.
Finally, there’s the method my professor preached: just push through. Just keep writing your story, even if what you are putting down on the page isn’t perfect. Just trudge through your writing until the story finally starts to click in your head and the ideas begin to make sense and flow on the page. There’s editing for a reason. You can always go back later and fix the sections that are lacking. By just continuing to write, you never convince yourself that you are stuck in a rut, and you keep the narrative alive and going.
There’s no such thing as writer’s block; there is only giving up — but you don’t have to give up on your writing. If you combat the moment when you get stuck, you just have to help yourself instead of hinder yourself. Keep writing, don’t believe in writer’s block and sooner rather than later, your writing will be thanking you for it.
