Anyone have any recommendations on how to get past writers block. It is literally making my head hurt
Anyone have any recommendations on how to get past writers block. It is literally making my head hurt ??
35 Answers
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don’t try – all the time you think you have a block it will get bigger. Write something else – a short story perhaps. and then go back to whatever you are working on after a little break.
Thank you Jan. I’ll give that a try ?
When I’ve had a block its for one of two reasons. I have finished one thing and I am not sure what to write next – or else I have reached a point in a storyline that could go several different ways and I’m undecided. Either way the thing I find that I need to do is ‘something else’
Think of it like looking for some lost item – you can waste hours tearing the house apart searching – but the moment you stop looking and try to find another thing – it will jump out at you from right under your nose. 🙂
Crazy reading a bunch of books always helps. I usually am engulfed in writers block when I do too much Netflix. A jack reacher thriller or a m. J. Aldridge book helps me overcome it
Yeah I’ve been watching Netflix to try that lol. Thank you ?
See. We all are in same boat
Outline your story. See it visually.
Ok will do ty Dinah ?
Give yourself permission to write absolute crap that you will throw away later. Just start hitting the keys no matter what comes out (and don’t be surprised if you start to put something down that’s pretty good.)
That’s a great idea Russell thank you ?
@Vicky good luck!
@Russell thank you. Much appreciated
Think about the geography and place of where you base it and go and walk it with maybe a notepad or recorder?
Hey Hazel. That’s a little hard as the place I’m writing about is the place I grew up and now I live over 3000 miles away but ty. Great idea otherwise ?
This bootcamp from Tim Clare really helped me
I’m on week 8 and about to start my third novel after a long dry spell. It’s only twenty minutes a day, just ten minutes writing. And it’s playful with some more serious moments, but it really worked for me
http://www.timclarepoet.co.uk/couchto80kwritingbootcamp/
Oh wow cool. I’ll check this out thank you Ann ?
Just saw on twitter his web site is down , but you can still find them all on soundcloud
https://soundcloud.com/search?q=Tim+Clare+Couch+to+80k
I write another part of the book – you don’t need to write the story contiguously…
Good point Simon thank you ?
My tutor for uni gave us advice for when struggling to write assignments and said to just spend 15 minutes writing whatever comes into your head then when the time is up look over it as it might give you some inspiration or a direction to go in. This is something i tend to use more when writing my fan fiction though rather than assignments and i find it useful for me
Ok Joanne Thank you will certainly try ?
Hope it helps, even just a bit ?
I totally agree. Move around the plot and then go back to it. Best wishes
Thank you everyone with some great ideas to try and I plan to try each and every one suggested. Thank you everyone for you time ??
When it happens to me I have to walk away from it and write something else for a Time
Try and think of alternative ending and see how that would effect your story. Write that and then re-visit your current scene.
Work on something else that you can finish quickly – like a flash fiction piece. Hitting “The End” on something always helps me out on longer projects!
I just start on a new short story.
I made my living as a copywriter for many years where you have to come up with a snappy headline by the end of the day or you lose your job. No pressure then!! If writers block hits you, the only way to unblock it is to back away from your keyboard and put everything to one side….push it out of your mind, go visit an art gallery, a museum, anything. And you’ll suddenly find the answer presents itself from your subconscious – out of the blue – maybe you’ll be sitting at traffic lights!
Take a break, chill, meditate, relax, you have brain strain❤️
Stop thinking about it. Find something else to concentrate on for a few days.?
Write a quick biography of the main character or play with mind maps.
Change genre for a while & work on something fun.xx
Sound like great ideas everyone. Thank you and I appreciate it from all ?
Change medium completely and explain the story so far to a trusted friend. Talking uses different thought processes to writing and can trigger new ideas, especially if the friend asks questions ?