Write Away the Writer's Block

Wait, What?

That's right, write away writer's block.  Allow me to back up a bit here...

Writing is my passion. I don't care if I am writing for my blog, working on my latest mystery, or polishing up a children's book, I enjoy the writing process. Which is odd because I didn't do so well in English class and I sure didn't enjoy writing the essay assignments I was given.

But, now, I love to write. And, like every writer out there, I too experience writer's block.  If James Patterson admits to hitting a wall from time to time, I think it is okay to admit it as well.

It's not easy to get into a groove, but once I do, its great. Characters are working together, the scenes flow and the conflict is great and the resolutions are hard to see, which is preferable. I don't want an easy-way-out solution, I like solutions that are not all that obvious and have a twist to them. The solution is "XXX"  but it reveals something else, something new, something unexpected.

It's nice when the grove is there. but when the groove falls flat, like now; I am working on this article because my story has gone flat. My hero is interrogating someone and I cant find a viable path. I have several ways to go, but nothing is jumping out at me. So I have what some may call writer's block. It's sometimes harder to get back into the groove once you get kicked out.

I don't like to call it writer's "BLOCK" because I am not really blocked, I just hit some dead air, a lull in the story-line, an air pocket, if you will. The writing just went flat for this specific scene. I can still write, just not on this specific scene. I have my own method to get over the block, or to get back on track and into the groove, but I was curious what others do, so, off to Google I went. I found some things that other writers do to get out of the lull, the rut, get around the obstacle.

Some writers:
Get physical: ride a bike, take a walk, do something physical –exorcise, hunt down the pesky squirrel in the back yard, build a barge and launch it in the nearest lake.

Change of Scenery: Taking a walk as mentioned above will give you a change of scenery. Like me, for instance—I work from home so the four walls in my basement tend to close in on me so every other morning or so I head to the nearest Mickey D's  for some Vitamin C (“C” is for coffee). The drive is only about ten minutes, so this is a quick escape.

Put it away till the next day and start over: I have done this before but it is not my favorite way to get past the blocked words. If I am not careful, I put it away and get distracted by some other project and before you know it, six months have flown by.

Some even take a nap: I cant even take a nap on Sunday afternoon after church. There is too much to do and –I don’t k now about you… but I only get 24 hours in a day.

Me, I write.
Since I write on my laptop, and everything is electronic these days, I simply open a Notepad file and start typing.

I may start a 435 word sentence that makes no sense grammatically and has run-on sentences all over the place and just goes and goes until I hit the key point that the guy I killed was part of the inner-circle of some secret society like… theMob.... naaaa....the opera.... nope....the Government....or… um….ILLUMINATI…. or a 33 degree free-mason ….. yeah that’s it. And he tried to get out which is what got him killed. And BAM! Just like that I am back on track with my plot. Now the proverbial juices are flowing once again.

Writing, no matter how plain, dull, bland, senseless it is, gets me going again. For me, when I am writing about everything or nothing in general is like priming the water pump to get the water flowing again. For me, writing gets me writing again.

Now, this might not work for you when you hit your road block and develop Writer’s Block, and you may have something else that works for you.

Take a ride on your bicycle, a walk, a drive, work out, read a book, start over in the morning, call a fried, take a break and watch the three stooges marathon, watch another episode of Castle.

Whatever works for you do it so you can keep writing. For me, if I don’t write during a day, I feel like I have failed. I must write every day. It’s –for me at least- like working out. When I am in my groove and I skip a day, I feel lousy. Writing is the same thing. I gotta’ write to feel like I accomplished something that day.

I hope this works or helps you out.
What do you do to overcome Writer’s Block? Leave me a quick note or on twitter and lend your method of getting over writer's block. It may help other authors.

--Steve                                           .