How to Deal with Satan's Worst Minion AKA Writer's Block

 

You read the title of this blog post and chuckle to yourself. "Wow, Brett's being dramatic," You think. "Comparing writer's block to the devil, she sure is crazy about this."

WRONG

Writer's block is truly the devil of life, affecting everyone and constantly the bane of everyone's existence. There is no feeling worse than wanting to write or knowing you probably should and not being able to. I like to  think that it's about as comfortable as sitting on a porcupine. Writer's block is literally word constipation and it sucks.

"Oh," You think, as you scroll down with nothing better to do. "She's talking about writer's block and maybe I'm not a writer. This is probably going to relate to my life about 0% so I think I'll just scroll along."

NOPE, wrong again.

Writer's block affects everyone. Even if you're not a writer, you still have to write school papers, you still have to file reports. You still have to write cards to your relatives and maybe you're an artist or musician, you still have to write lyrics or paint your painting. The horrible feeling where you want to write, you want to be productive but you just have no motivation or no ideas - yeah, I umbrella that all under writer's block.

It affects the best of us, we all fall prey to it's demonic tentacles. It's horrible when you have a deadline and it's even worse when you have the words and/or ideas inside you and just can't get it out. Like I said, word constipation.

Unfortunately, there is currently no market for idea laxatives, otherwise the inventor of that would probably be a billionaire. Word laxatives have to come from inside you, from conditioning and practice and it's hard to get going, but there are a few little tricks that I have that I would like to share. Obviously it's a personal journey to find a way to throw off writer's block and I don't know if everyone's methods are in fact different, but as I have had practice with this (and no, my methods are not 100% proven to work, they just sometimes work for me) so maybe you'll see that these overlap with some of yours or pick up something new.

1. Music
I have multiple playlists that I use for writing but these aren't just for writer's block but for writing in general. They tend to be slower songs, more Ed Sheeran and Imagine Dragons rather than Panic! at the Disco or pop music, songs that could fade into the background if they wanted to but also make me slow down enough to think about my next move. However, I listen to this playlist all the time, not just when I'm writing, and that means that when I have writer's block these songs might tug at my trapped writer's bladder but also they might leave me hanging. So, the way I fix this problem is that I have two songs that I have assigned writing emotions with - so that whenever I listen to them, my fingers itch for my notebook and pen. even if I'm in the middle of something or have no ideas whatsoever. The two songs that do this for me are Some Nights by Fun. and Winter Winds by Mumford and Sons and one of the best ways for me to want to write is to listen to these songs. I think having songs that you can assign these emotions to are a great starting point to doing some writing.

2. Rereading
I know that it's annoying to reread your own work, especially when you don't want to start editing it cause - let's face it - there are so many mistakes! It can be stressful but it can also give you that jump of writing-adrenaline that you might need to get excited again, remind you of what you were thinking when you wrote this line or that plot twist. Also, no one likes to admit it, but there are of course those amazing moments when you read a soul-shattering, spasm-inducing line that makes you go "Oh my GOD, did I actually write that???" and, come on, you do get very pleased with yourself. Rereading is such a great idea to remind yourself of why you loved the story originally and it's always a great tool to cure writer's block, or at least help. If you're writing a story, however. I don't think your stock report will get any more interesting the second time you give it a read-over...

3. FanFiction
Obviously this one will only work if you're writing a story, a novel because I think you might have a hard time writing fanfiction for a history paper or business report. Now, don't get me wrong it can be done (cause let's be real, I have come across some crazy stuff for Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton) but it is DEFINITELY going to distract you and make you not want to write your actual paper on how Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson's political philosophy so I recommend refraining on that account...but for most other situations, this one is great! It doesn't have to be smut (if you don't know what that is, you didn't read it here) or anything super crazy, it can just be your characters spending time in a bar, or having a sleepover, or you getting to write a situation that has no way of ever getting into the actual story but is still fun to write. This exercise always gets me excited about my characters again and it has never failed to make me want to continue writing, coming up with new plot points, and making myself write is so much easier when I'm excited about my story.

4. Character Charts

In relation to #4 and getting excited about your characters, one of the best ways to look deeper into characters and examine how developing them will help you come up with more ideas for your story is through character charts. These can be found on the Internet or they can be created with a bit of elbow grease and a little imaginiation. My favourite hits to make on this chart are always to do the bests and worsts, to really get to know your characters. Best quality, worst vice. Closest friend, worst fear. Worst dream, best memory. Stuff like that, create a three-dimensional character that might not come out that easily when they're being wrapped up in the plot. Character charts are a fun way to get to know your character in a way you might have never expected and to make even the most minor characters important and influential.

5. Run a blog!
Obviously I am a huge advocate for running a blog since, well, obvious reasons. But all that aside, I think that opening a blog has been one of the best things I could have possibly done for my writing work ethic. Having to adhere to a deadline is somewhat terrifying but also a great discipline to learn and something that I definitely needed a lesson in when I started this project. Honestly, I have never been happier with a decision. With this blog, I get to practice writing whenever I come up with whatever idea strikes my fancy and it's awesome. I mean, I'm no journalist, I only like to call myself a writer because in reality, I'm an amateur. This is excellent practice and, let's face it, when I do this, I can always pretend that I'm a famous writer posting blog articles people actually care about. That always gives me inspiration to write so that one day that might actually be my reality!

I hope this list has helped a little, or maybe you scrolled through it and just laughed and went "That is literally me!" or, the more likely option, "I have no goddamn idea what she's talking about". It's okay, I get it. Maybe you've never been squeezed by the evil oozing pestilence that is writer's block, in which case I want your soul immunity. But, if it is the case that you've never had writer's block, maybe this post is something you stick in your back pocket for the future, in case you do ever suffer from it's evil wrath. Maybe it'll give you some ideas when your brain seems like a desert and ideas are waterfalls - yeah that's writer's block.

Have a Brettastic day!

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