How to Cope with Writers Block

A few months ago I was part way through writing my first short novel when I had a brain freeze. I tried to  keep writing but I couldn’t . Nothing worked.  It was then that I went out and found ways of fighting it off. I am going to share these techniques with you. Here are my top five tips.

1. Don’t over analyse. As a writer it is true that you need an ”inner critic” but remember nothing can be perfect with the first draft. Turn the editor side of your brain off and just write, don’t read anything back until you are finished. Constantly stopping to correct yourself can destroy your confidence and stop the flow of creativity, thus giving you a nasty bout of writers block.
2. Stop writing. Don’t write anything on the latest project  for a little while. In this  time just relax, watch  bad TV, eat  junk-food. Whatever. Just give your brain a chance to be lazy. Writing is mentally hard-work and your brain might be grateful for the rest. Trying again the next day may give you a fresh view on things and could improve your writing.
3. Exercise. Going for a walk or run could help clear your head and push away the thoughts that are stopping you from writing. You could also try a writing exercises like writing as much as you can in 20 minutes about a particular color or emotion, the key here is not to give yourself any time to think or criticise; just write whatever comes to mind and you will be surprised with the result.
4. Daydream. Fantasise about your character in all kind of scenarios. What do they look like? How would they react to everyday situations? If you could have a 5 minute conversation with your character what would you both say? You don’t have to write any of this down just imagining it should be enough to reignite the fire of passion and creativity you have for the story.
5. Don’t worry. Even if you can’t find anything that will stop the block please don’t panic. As all this will do will make you feel so angry upset and confused you are unable to write anything anyway. Read a book by one of your all time favourite authors and just take some time out. Believe that writing will come back to you, the talent hasn’t gone forever and when the ability does return embrace it. At least you have learned something from the experience, you won’t take the ability to write for granted again and you can later write about the experience to hopefully help others.

Thankyou for reading.l If you iked this article check out some of my others here:

• http://www.socyberty.com/Advice/How-to-be-Confident-and-Happy.721731
• http://www.socyberty.com/Languages/Benefits-of-Learning-a-Foreign-Language.703443
• http://www.webupon.com/Social-Networks/The-Good-and-Bad-of-Social-Networking.691743
• http://www.quazen.com/Kids-and-Teens/School-Time/How-to-Revise.689427