We've all been there. There's a common joke among writers that goes that being a writer is 5% writing, and 95% playing on the internet. Writer's block, when we're struck with it, is very unfunny. No one likes to bang there head on their desk with no idea on what to write. Well, believe it or not, there are two kinds of 'Writer's block' and we're going to tackle them both and provide strategies with what to do in order to fix them.
Let's start with the one you've heard of before: standard writer's block. Writer's Block is a term used to refer to the phenomenon often shared by writers where they find themselves at an inexplicable inability to write. You'll hear many people say, 'there's no such thing as writer's block, it's just a lack of motivation.' Don't listen to those people. If those people have honestly never experienced writer's block, that means that they don't use ideas, creativity, or inspiration. Not the sort of people you want to take writing advice from.
But, insults aside, writer's block is actually accepted in the psychology world. It's a real thing, and it has been studied time and time again in hopes of finding some miraculous cure that makes it go away. We have yet to find one. HOWEVER, don't panic. Don't grab the brown paper bag and start puffing away, because there are strategies and tricks you can use in order to overcome the dreaded block of writers.
Now, most will give you ideas like 'listen to music', 'watch TV', 'read a book'. Those are all great ideas...for the other kind of writer's block. Standard writer's block tends to be caused less by a lack of ideas, and more of an overflow of them. As writers we have thousands of ways to say the exact same thing, and sometimes picking those ways aren't easy. So what's the best way to get rid of these crazy rampant thoughts? Well, it isn't stuffing your head full of more stuff. The best thing to do is find a way to empty your mind. Now there are two great ways to do this that I often use: meditation and what I like to call 'clusterf*ck writing'.
Meditation is the act of mental relaxation through deep thought or contemplation. It is not crossing your legs and going 'ommm'. In fact, meditation can be done in whatever position makes you comfortable and relaxed (though I don't recommend laying down as you'll probably fall asleep). There are a few ways for meditation to really clear up those thoughts. The typical way that I do it is imagining my thoughts tied to red balloons (don't ask why red, it just helps). As I meditate, I envision those balloons floating higher and higher, carrying my thoughts with them until eventually my mind is blank and all the thoughts and ideas I had are gone. Then I shake myself out of it and I start writing again. However, blanking your mind is not an easy thing to do for beginners, but there are tools to help.
Binaural beats is a term that refers to the practice of having a particular tone played in one ear, with a different tone played in another ear. This stuff seriously works...for most people. If you go to Youtube, you can find dozens of videos that use binaural beats for meditation, lucid dreaming, even as a cure for insomnia. A majority of people will find this helps exceedingly well, more so than you'd actually expect. It may sound like some spiritual stuff, but this is backed by science, no joke. Now for the small minority of you, it will give you a splitting headache. No worries, just stop listening to the sounds and it'll go away. It's important that you use headphones to get the best effect out of binaural beats, and you'll find that they're typically accompanied by instrumental relaxation music. "Wait a minute, you said that music is for the other kind of writer's block!" So I did! Typically music that people listen to when writing are songs that are familiar to them. Because of this, your mind starts anticipating what portion of the song is coming next, which does little to help you clear your mind. Sticking to instrumental, particularly soft instrumental music, is the way to go if you use music at all to help you with standard writer's block.
Clusterf*ck Writing, expletives aside, is something many writers use. Some call it speed writing, others call it free writing. Dealer's choice really. The way it works is this. Sit down at your keyboard/typewriter/whatever you use, and just start typing. Whatever words come to your head, throw them out there. Doesn't matter if it's grammatically correct or if it makes any coherent sense at all. If for some reason the word 'squirrel' leaps into your brain every fifth word, write it down. Do this for about five minutes and you'll find that your head suddenly is far clearer, and when you look back at it, you may have even found some good ideas that you picked out. This works because when you are writing without thought, your brain is registering that progress. You become a rolling stone, and you stop gathering messy mossy thoughts. By vomiting those thoughts on paper (sorry for that image) you sort through your ideas much more quickly than just trying to pick them out yourself.
"Okay, so what's this new type of writer's block that you're going on and on about?"
Funnily enough, this is the writer's block you'll experience more often. The catch? It's actually a disorder. Blank Page Syndrome (not kidding), is the phenomenon of being unable to find ideas, creativity, or inspiration when attempting to write, thus resulting in you staring at a blank page. So what causes Blank Page Syndrome? Well, without getting into fancy psychobabble, your creative battery has lost its charge. People will often say 'there's no such thing as an original idea', and technically speaking it's true. Now before I start being stoned to death, let me clarify. This is said because every idea we come up with is inspired by something else, be it something we've seen or experienced before. There is still original work, just the idea has to come from something else, and that's okay!
Blank Page Syndrome has an easier fix than the standard writer's block: walk away. "But what if..." Nope! Just walk away. Don't think about writing for about an hour. Watch a movie, listen to some music that you enjoy (lyrical if you want), read a book, take a nap, or even just go for a walk. What's important is that you get away from the blank page! Blank Page Syndrome is a bit like a brick wall: you can smash your forehead against it, and you'll eventually get through it, but it's a headache waiting to happen and it's much faster and less stressful to just go around it.
By doing these things, your tired mind and body recharges itself, filling up with new ideas and new inspiration. Readers often ask me how I write so fast, and it's literally because I'm always doing something else between writing sessions. The moment that I start slowing down, I drop what I'm writing, get something to eat, listen to a song, or what have you, then just plop myself back down and all the ideas that I was just daydreaming about while doing my other things come flowing from my finger tips. Another strategy I use is having multiple stories that I'm working on. If I can't come up with ideas for one, that's okay, I'll jump to another and see if I have anything rolling around for that. This doesn't work for everyone, and if you ask them, my readers will express their frustration at my feet dragging for certain stories *cough* Worlds Apart, Separate Ways *cough*, but to be honest, and I mean this with the deepest love for my readers from the bottom of my heart, they'll get over it.
They'd rather wait for you to release good content, than to rush bad content. And if you're releasing multiple things of good content, well, they'll always have something to read and that's really what they want in the first place. What about you guys? Do you have any strategies for writer's block or Blank Page Syndrome? Be sure to +1, share, and comment your thoughts, and feel free to ask me to work on anything in particular that you'd like.
Your writing exercise for this post: do some clusterf*ck writing. Just really clusterf*ck your ideas on to paper, and see where it takes you. I know it's not as exciting as some of the other prompts I've given, but it really will help if you're finding yourself with a case of writer's block.
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