30 ways to deal with Writer's Block




30 Ways to deal with Writer’s Block




Writer’s Block is not a literature but a psychological problem, because the person who coined the term, Edmund Bergler, once said, “A writer is like a psychoanalyst.” So we are all psycho as per the researcher. He explains it as “neurotic inhibitions of productivity.”

It is not only you facing it. Every author enjoys this time at least once in his career. Big universities have done research for it over the decades. Some are still investigating. So think how BIG this problem is. And feel Glad! We authors never mess up with small troubles.

Enjoy! Because not everyone in the world faces this time. YOU are the author.




1. Stop writing. Trust me, stop writing. Don’t force yourself to write ahead. Just close the laptop/notepad and slide it away.

2. Close your eyes and think on what you have written so far. Make a movie of your writing. You will see ample plots to add to your story.
3. Jump over to another place. If you are not getting how to close a chapter, then don’t push yourself to shut it. It doesn’t want you to right there. Characters, chapters and the book, frame their own fate. So don’t play God. You are NOT. Ideas come and go. Don’t stick to one pole. You have many strippers around. Go and enjoy them all.
4. Plot more stories. Trust me, this helps me a lot. I have over a hundred plots - though I don’t know when they will all be done and how - but it helps me in thinking about characters and storylines.
5. Get a Coffee. How could you forget about COFFEE? It’s a writer’s oldest and fairest friend! Does it help to get a new plot? No! But it definitely helps in suppressing your frustration.
6. Walk? Yes you can go for a walk. It’s afternoon and the sun is over your head. You cannot peek outside and think about walking outside? Nah! Stride around in your room. Sounds good? You will think about how messed your bed is and then you will recall one of the characters remains messed up and so describe your bed. But not as you but as your characters. Trust me, no one will ever get to know about yours. Or write the reverse? The character is very tidy. LOL.
7. Running in the garden. Yes, never forget to go outside, in the park, in your area, in the locality you live. It will fill you with ample ideas that you can never forget. Use each one of them in hundreds of stories.
8. Forests? I love woods, jungles, forests, lawns overgrown with wildflowers. Go and have a walk in them. Around them.Try barefoot in the park just like the film! With friends? Alone? Watch the beauty within. Ever noticed the woods and the mosses growing over them? Moths and butterflies? Birds? Animals? There are always so many new things to discover.
9. Write poems. Who said while writing stories you cannot also write poems? You can. Don’t push hard in rhyming. Not all poems rhyme, they just get your emotions out. I will write in detail about this section.
10. Talk to a friend. An old friend? There’s so much he can share with you and don’t forget each of them could be a story idea for you. Or another plot? Just dial a friend.





11. Listen to people around kids, they can pour an ample amount of information. Perhaps whatever is happening behind you, in the society and more? Their imaginary friends and how about their fairy tales? Go, you’ve got another BESTSELLER.
12. Act as a counselor to someone needy who could be your friend or a family member. Listen to their pain, sufferings and think about probable causes. You don’t know whether you have got another plot for dystopian, heartbreaking romance or can develop skills for crime stories.
13. Yes, crime/detective/Mafia stories need skills other than strong masculine words to rush testosterone through the blood. I have read so many boring crime and mafia stories around. They were plotted to make the procrastinator sleep with a lady. Lawd, write a smut if you want.
14. Dance. Yes. Dance. Close the room if you are shy. Loud music or plug in your earbuds and free your feet. It helps in many ways.
15. Write whatever is coming into your mind. Most of the time authors face a block because they are focusing or pressurizing on just one plot. If it’s not working, start thinking about something else. You are not bound. You are not in a dungeon. No one will punish you for anything.
16. Write what your mind is speaking. If it wants to cry, then write that too and why and with all the emotions. Want to rant, want to vent out, want to abuse, want to tear a page, and want to break someone’s head? Please write it down darling. There are so many great plots. And readers love them more than anything.
17. Do you know Romance is the most successful? Only because most of the readers lack it in their own lives. The ideal fairy tale? The handsome hero and gorgeous heroine? They are only found in books. So write about them.
18. One day I only wrote about LOVE. Yes, love, its need and more. Over three pages. That is three times more I have ever read anywhere. I am not boasting. But they can be used in three different books too. Any click in your mind? You can jot down your vague writing into as many books as you want.
19. Play with quotes. Yes, read quotes from great books and think around them. DO NOT plagiarize and then say I asked you to do so. *A devilish grin* But just read and let their emotions soak deep into you. It will arouse authoromes, a specific HORmone found only inside an AUTHOR.
20. Play a game. REST. You don’t need to write every day. Mind needs rest too. Have you heard about mind farts? Scare with it.

21. Read. BUY (we have enough pirates around us so please buy) and read. Not necessarily the genre you write. But outside of that world too. Children’s books? Trust me, sometimes they are great. Aliens, fairy tales, magicians, witches, shape shifters, LGBTQ ( if you are don’t like that genre read on.) queens, bitches, BDSM, masochist, role play and puppy play. There are hundreds of genres and each have thousands of subgenres. You will never become bored if you have the reading habit.

22. Go and booze (ADULTS ONLY, please). Get some new feelings spread in your blood. Some nights they will calm you down, other nights they agitate you. I know few writers start typing only when their blood is adulated with wine or whiskey. I am teetotal, so will love to hear about your experience if you try this ;)

23. Play some music. It helps a lot. Though, I prefer silence while writing. But it depends upon the situation. When I am writing about myself then I silence the loud music because then I want my raging heart to be silent. When my characters speak then I prefer silence, I have to listen too!!! While writing this article a song is being played in the background. Because I have plotted for this articles for so many months but never got a time to write it down.

24. Write stories ahead in the series. I always do. Some days I plot Book 1 but start working on Book 2. I know it’s not always a good idea but it feels good to write something rather than nothing.

25. Work on the multiple POV’s at a time. This helps with fleeting ideas. Writing on the BDSM plot when the sub is tied and Dom doesn’t know what to do next or he is fed up of old ideas? Go and play with a vampire. A virgin is waiting for him. *No need to clap for me LOL* Your one month time could take two months, but by then you would be ready with two books and not just one! Cheers.

26. Something or someone distracting you? Kill that BASTARD. Now, please, do not follow me word to word. Avoid it. Clean your place, your desk, get your kids out to the park or in their rooms. Pets? I can't help there, because they seek more attention than your stories.  

27. Don’t know how the time was passed? Were you chatting? Scrolling down on Facebook? Whining about how a colleague gets more books sold than you? Scrolling down reviews on someone else’s shelf? You are excused this time. Everyone does this more or less. But it’s a very bad habit.

28. Talk to your fans and friends online. They are like blessings, and while talking to your fans you can do two things at a time. First, social networking, every indie author needs to expand their base. Second, you can get a few more ideas and a time to relax your mind.

29. Few people try some crazy ideas like showering, bubble baths, washing dishes, house cleaning, cleaning up the kids’ rooms, gardening, long drives, coffee in a café (this works a lot. I bet!) Flirting (this is my escape.)

30. Force Writing. Yes, so far I said to avoid writing but here I will say FORCE yourself to WRITE. Is it really a writer’s block or something else? Have you tried bullet pointing your story? Did you do an outlining of the project? No? Don’t play BITCH. You have to write. Try these things.

In the next blog write up, I will share how to speed up your writing… Watch for it.

Comments

  1. This is a really well put together and clear article Pierce.

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    1. Thank you for taking out time for my first post. I greatly appreciate it. Humbled.

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  2. Well said, Pierce. i like how some of your suggestions take the writer away from the laptop to regroup and find other ways to be inspired. -Fran R.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Fran. I wrote with a hope that writers around will find it worth. Your comment made me feel same.

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  3. Well said, Pierce. i like how some of your suggestions take the writer away from the laptop to regroup and find other ways to be inspired. -Fran R.

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  4. Well said pierce, I hope this helps other authors.

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  5. Loved this article. It was very good.

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  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. Well done Pierce. A great first blog. A candid insight into the mind of an author. Inspirational and funny too. Looking forward to further blogs. :)

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