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Tag: tips for writer’s block

8 Tips on How to Overcome Writer’s Block

We have all experienced it; the dreadful feeling of staring at a blank page wondering if you’ll ever be able to come up with anything new again.  You were on a roll once, but now, even coming up with a coherent sentence is a daunting task.

It gets grimmer with each passing second, and terrifying with each passing minute.  If you are superstitious, you may even feel cursed, having to deliver the essay, article, or book on time, while doomsday draws closer.

If you are experiencing this, have no fear. Below are 8 proven ways you can overcome writer’s block.

 

Tips for Writer's Block

1. Go for a nature walk

Science has recently begun proving that going for a walk in the park or woods has a calming effect. People living in natural environments have lower levels of stress hormones.

2. Write at a different place

Colors affect our moods. When you need to get in the mood to write, working in a new environment may bring new ideas.

3. Recite motivational quotes

If you aren’t an avid reader, recite your favorite quotes over and over again. Quotations are short, insightful, and full of inspiration.  A book may take an hour or two to lift you up, but an affirmation only takes seconds.

4. Go for a jog

Stack up the endorphins. Replace stress, fear, and anxiety with happy hormones.  Exercising also boosts you psychologically.

5. Meditation/Prayer

Whether you are religious or not, prayer and meditation have been proven to have healing effects. Releasing your fears to a higher power is one of the simplest proven ways of lightening your burdens, especially if you don’t have anyone you can trust.

6. Mentorship

Professional athletes, celebrities, entertainers, and business executives will be the first to tell you that having a mentor or trainer goes a long way toward helping you accomplish your goals. A life coach, for example, is trained to help you overcome your fear of failure so that you can achieve your dreams.

7. Work on something else

Sometimes all you need to do when you are stuck is work on a different project. When you return to it your mind will be fresh, full of new ideas.

8. Face Your Fears

The majority of fear’s strength comes from making itself out to look larger than it is. When you face your fears, you take away their power; they become weaker, and you become stronger.

 

 

Find more writing and publishing tips at Nothing Any Good.

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

Matshona Dhliwayo is a Canadian based Philosopher, Entrepreneur, and author of books such as The Little Book of Inspiration, Creativity, The Book, 50 Lessons Every Wise Mother Teaches Her Son, 100 Lessons Every Great Man Wants You to Know, and Lalibela’s Wise Man. You can find all of his books available at Amazon.

 

 

 

 

6 Tips for Writer’s Block

Writer's block

 

Writer’s block plagues every writer. It is a right of passage for the serious writer. If you have encountered it, then you know you’re doing something right. Whether you’re writing a novel, a white paper, a memoir, poems, or music, every writer suffers from writer’s block. Here are 6 Tips I have found useful for writer’s block.

 

1. Shut Down

Distraction is the enemy of the writer. I personally find it difficult to write while other webpages and apps are open. I shut them down–email, Twitter, Facebook, all of it. I turn them off and focus on the task at hand–writing.

 

2. Have Multiple Projects

Having more than one project that you can focus on is extremely beneficial when faced with writer’s block. You may be tired of writing about a particular character in your novel. Or you may be writing a memoir and you’re finding a certain event in your life is emotionally taxing. That’s fine. Put that project down for the day and move on to another project that you’re pursuing. Joan Axelrod-Contrada, author of fifteen books for young people, attributes her success, at least in part, to having multiple projects underway at any given time. If you’re stuck on one project, put it down for a day and focus on something else.

 

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Always have multiple projects going at once. This will help avoid #writersblock. #writerslife” quote=”Always have multiple projects going at once. This will help avoid #writersblock.”]

 

3. Jump Around

There’s a tendency to think that as writer’s we have to write our story the way our readers will read it–from beginning to end– but we don’t have to follow a linear progression. Jump Around. (No, this is not a recommendation stripped directly from 90s hip hop group House of Pain.) If you know your novel needs to get from point A to B, but you’re not quite sure how to get your characters to that point and you’re stuck, don’t worry about it. Move on to point B and come back to fill in the details later. This will provide you with the creative luxury of being able to explore different parts of your story on any given day. It will free you from the burden of being stuck on a particular scene or plot point. You will be heavily editing your writing later on in the process anyway, so you can fill in holes later.

 

4. Block Off Time to Write

There are always dozens of reasons that keep us from sitting down and writing. Since my wife got pregnant with our two-year old daughter, I have found my writing time has decreased considerably, (as I’m sure you fellow parents can commiserate). I needed to block off time to sit and write. It is small blocks of time–30 minutes to an hour–but it has been necessary for me. Early morning, nap times, or late at night have been my primary writing hours. Even if you don’t have young kids, or a day job, or other time commitments at all, we are all still prone to procrastination. Blocking off time to write forces you to create a writing habit, which will help longterm if you want to take writing seriously.

 

5. Just Write

Once you have time blocked off, just write. You may be excited and have a creative spark, which makes writing easy. Most often, however, we need to force ourselves to just write. Again, a lot will be changed or tossed out during the editing process. I have pages upon pages from Pieces Like Pottery left on the cutting room floor. But I would have never found the pages of my book that were actually published if I didn’t force myself to just write when I had time blocked off.

 

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Once you have time blocked off, JUST WRITE. The best way to be a #writer is to actually write. #amwriting #writerslife” quote=”Once you have time blocked off, JUST WRITE. The best way to be a #writer is to actually write.”]

 

6. Decompress

Sometimes powering through writer’s block is the solution–the old write you’re way out of it philosophy–but often times what is needed is to disconnect from your writing completely. Going for a long walk or socializing with friends can help. If the goal is to “unblock” your creative mojo, though, I find doing something else creative can do the trick. Maybe you like painting, or arts and crafts, or cooking. For me, I enjoy music. I find listening to or playing music is often just what I need to release my creative ideas from the shackles of writer’s block.

 

Hope these tips help as much as they’ve helped me! Keep writing away, friends! Keep at it and you’ll reach your goals!

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Looking for more tips to inspire you and kick your writing into gear? Get Dan Buri’s 40 Tips On Creative Writing now. Don’t miss another opportunity to take your writing to the next level.

Best book for writers

 

 

Find more writing and publishing tips at Nothing Any Good.

 

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