It is more common than I originally thought it would be. The malaise affects us all who pick up the pen or tap the keys to write something. I also thought that writer's block is just figment and nothing more. We write for pleasure and it's as natural as breathing for most of us. We don't suffer from breath block or fun block...so why should their be a 'writer's block'. The only thing I know I suffer from is verbal diarrhea. I know that I can wake up on a Sunday morning and start tapping on my keyboard just for the pleasure of writing. So I guess I thought myself totally immunized to the so-called block. I was a bit off the mark. Just a few days into my content writing freelance career, I was struck down by this malady. I could put something on the screen no doubt, but it was all incomprehensible. It didn't make sense at all to me. I loved writing. How could I not string together my thoughts into a sentence of words! A bit fazed, I started to a bit of research into the reasons and the cure for this which had laid low my pen-chant (pun intended) for writing.
I guess writer's block happens because we,
i) Run out of ideas...
ii) Don't feel inspired or motivated enough...in other words get a case of the writing blues.
iii) Just cannot string together our thoughts and ideas into words.
Their is surely no magic pill. But their are lots of tiny things we all can do. Of course what works for me when caught in a rut might not be what works for you. A cup of tea sometimes for me...in someone else's case it could be a bout of boxing! But the important thing is we all can find out an activity or a combination of activities that take us out of the rut.
For me at least, I found out this prescription,
1. I take long walks just to unclog my brain. Sometimes just observing other people around us makes me think of something new to write about or allows the old ideas to reshape.
2. Every morning for this blog I think aloud, what is one topic which if I write about would advance me somewhere. It could be an article on learning something new, some new inspiration or something just to increase my fun quotient.
3. I try to read a lot. When I can't write for my life, I just pick up a book or go on the net to read something. I always have found that some quality input often acts as a catalyst for some output.
4. I maintain an ideas book. Its like a scrap book, filled with top of the head ideas to write about.
5. I try to just think about the title of a particular piece and carry on from their.
6. Sometimes on a piece of paper, I scribble everything that is going through my mind...its like doodling with words, half of it is pretty non-sensical but it works to clear up the clogged channels of the mind.
7. Just write 5 lines. I take it by the numbers. 5 lines or sentences don't take much out us. As in all things, the first steps are the hardest, then its all Newton’s law of momentum.
8. Sometimes just chilling out is the best solution. As they say, take a break.
These are not complete solutions by themselves but they do help me to break the idling of my brain and give it a jumpstart. Do comment on ways you use to break free from your version of 'writer's block'.
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