Have you had writer’s block? You know you want to write something but you just can’t think of one thing to write about and every idea that does come to mind just doesn’t sound good at the moment. Well I was sitting here, ready to write a blog and for an hour could not think of one thing to write about so I thought I would write about the fact that I couldn’t think of anything.
First, I figured as a random thought, that I would take a moment to say that I am married to the most amazing, most beautiful, most intelligent, and most desirable woman ever. She is absolutely amazing and I love her with all my heart.
So back to writer’s block. Anyone who writes, be it blogs, journals, books, articles, newspapers, speeches, whatever, all at some point find themselves staring at the keyboard or at that piece of paper, mind blank unable to think of one damn thing to write. It’s frustrating. You know it’s right there, it wants to come out but you just can’t wrap your head around what it is.
You find yourself even at some point cussing at the computer screen or throwing your notepad or pen/pencil across the room. While these things do make you feel better at that particular moment they really don’t solve the problem, you still have writers block. What I find to be helpful is to get up, walk away, and do something else. Take your mind off of writing. Watch a movie or TV, play a game, talk to someone about nothing in particular and normally at some point during doing that an idea will pop in your head. When it does write it down real fast so when your done doing what you are doing and ready to write again you know what your going to write about.
Great Post! This happens to me quite often. Music usually gives me inspiration. I like classical music because the lack of words allows me to focus more than music with lyrics.
Adieu, scribbler
I agree, though I tend to get my brain fired up and thinking of things by listening stuff a little harder, like some hard rock or heavy metal.
Softer songs tend not to be as distracting as things like hard rock or heavy metal
LOL, for me the softer songs do the opposite. I can’t think of anything and just get frustrated and end up changing it to something harder. Don’t get me wrong it’s not that I don’t like them, they just don’t help with inspiration or my ability to think.
Well everyone is different! I have friends who can’t listen to music at all because it is so distracting. I also find that reading before I write can help with inspiration.
I totally agree. Each person has their own things that get them going. I know some people who need absolute silence and others who need a TV on in the background just for noise. It just depends on the person.
I definitely have writer’s block from time to time. For me, reading usually helps, because once I get something rattling around in my head, I want to write about it to get my thinking straight. But I can’t say enough for going out, and just living, getting experiences. Every great writer I’ve ever read, or met has his quality to them, where you think, wow, this person has seen a good bit of the world.
You are so right. The best stuff comes from your own experiences even if you take that experience and turn it into fiction. The facts behind it are still there. Not to mention a lot of times those life experiences make for great stories.
My problem is I tend to want to write dark and negative stuff… People tend to not like that.
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I think one thing that causes writer’s block is the feeling that whatever you first commit to paper (screen) must be strong, good, profound, insightful, etc. That’s too much pressure. It doesn’t help that most of us use outlines or lists to get started. When I think about starting a list, I freeze: What should I write down first? What’s the most important thing?
I use mind mapping because, since it capture ideas like branches around a tree trunk, there is no first. Every idea is equal, and that’s somehow a huge relief. Mind maps let me just get my thought down first, then arrange them later to make sense of them. Once I do, I can export them to Word and start writing. And for some weird reason, mind maps are really fun to make too.
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