B is for Writer's Block

Writer’s Block

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.” 

― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

I’ve been blocked so many times as a writer. And I wish I could say that I’ve learned how to banish it for good. I haven’t. It still happens, but I have learned, after more than 30 years of writing, lots of ways to break through the wall. They don’t all work all the time. Sometimes you have to experiment a bit before you find what works for you. Luckily, these are fun things to do anyway!

Here are some of my favorites:

Walk around the block

Go for a walk, with or without music. Both are beneficial and can help you reclaim your muse. Leaving the music behind allows you to truly be in the moment, to connect with everything that you walk past—flowers, trees, other people, animals, and to really absorb your surroundings. Listening to music allows your mind to wander and discover where your mischievous muse is hiding.

Go for a hike

Hiking is even better than walking, especially if you do it alone (or without speaking to others) because as your foot meets the earth in a steady rhythm as you traverse a path in nature, you gain the benefits of meditation.

Lose your block

Go someplace new. Get lost. The serendipity of finding new things unexpectedly does wonderful things for your imagination.

Explore your town or city with someone from out of town

Even better: explore with someone from a different country. People from other places often question things that you take for granted, or have viewpoints that you might not have considered.

Grab your block and go to yoga

Yoga will help change your perspective, gain balance, and transcend that block, leaving you refreshed and ready to return to the page.

Block off some time to play with a child 

Children are naturally creative. They look at the world in fresh and unusual ways. They ask the questions that we have forgotten ever existed. It’s ok if we don’t have the answers. (That’s what Google is for.) They make us laugh. They make us remember to appreciate the little things.

Visit an art museum, go to a play, listen to music, practice a new hobby

Indulge your creativity. Sometimes the act of doing something new triggers ideas that you’d never otherwise think of and allows you to look at the world differently.

Go to a fabric store, paint supply store or flower shop

Study the swatches or patterns. Lose yourself in the different sensations that they have, the shades of color, the intricate and creative designs. (Don’t fondle the flowers, though, or you’ll own them. ;-)

Leave that block behind

Free-writing means giving yourself the permission to write whatever comes to mind, without editing or judging, just letting it all pour on to the page. Set a timer for ten minutes and go!

Other tools to avoid writer’s block

Did you know that there is writing software that will not let anything distract you on your computer until you have written?

https://writersblock.io/

There are different kinds of writer’s block. Here is a great article on figuring out what is blocking you:

http://io9.gizmodo.com/5844988/the-10-types-of-writers-block-and-how-to-overcome-them