WRITERS GET WRITER’S BLOCK…AND WE CAN’T WRITE SOMETIMES (My remedies)
I have been writing all my life! The most intense times were when I was both, for the school paper, reporter AND features editor. I had to cover my beat (campus gossip and conversations) as well as write features articles and edit other works from contributors. I was even the resident scriptwriter for our local theatre group. So I know writer’s block, yes I do!
What does a busy writer do, especially when deadlines are looming large on the horizon, and one’s brains are at a standstill? It’s the old writer’s block syndrome, which strikes at the most inopportune times. I really have not inquired into other people’s methods, but here’s what I do personally, not necessarily in order nor all of them at the same time. A combination here and there works best. (Maybe it’ll help someone out there…Hello to you!)
THE FOUR THINGS I DO (Are they SURPRISING though? Well at my age, some of them sure are!):
1. I take a looong bath. Two hours. Somehow, great ideas come to mind when I’m in the bath! And I really have a good time!
2. I look at my vast collection of pictures, mostly beautiful photography from magazines, and I have picture books too…of architecture, paintings, interiors, fashion. Art energizes my mind and I am filled with ideas for scripts and features for the paper. By the way, I graduated with a Silver Medal-Best In Journalism, using the picture method alone! It told me that I was a very visual person indeed! (Our Editor-in-Chief won the Gold Medal)
3. I watch old movies and have a laugh with friends or loved ones. Somehow, for me, laughter unleashes an avalanche of original ideas. Presto – writer’s block gone!
4.I do anything that to me spells F-U-N. This is not an autobiography so I’ll spare you the details of WHAT IT IS I do exactly that’s tons of fun. Okay, I’ll relent with one: Fight video games! There’s a fantastic release there, shoot-em-up or sword fights are my favorites.
So there. These activities are never done in vain as they produce results for me! I’m sure I have at least some things in common with other writers.
What I don’t do is talk to others about my writer’s block. I also try not to eat much when I have to write. Eating makes a lot of blood flow to the stomach, making the mind duller for writing – THAT’S counter-productive.
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Response to the prompt WRITER’S BLOCK PARTY: What do you do when you experience writer’s block?http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/writers-block-party/
All Images, 1-cropped, 2 to 5-full from http://www.desktopnexus.com