How to Overcome Writer’s Block

It can happen to anybody. Sometimes the ideas aren’t pouring from your brain when it’s time to write. No matter what you do or how long you wait, the page remains blank before you. This is called Writer’s Block.

This problem can have many causes, from having difficulty coming up with new ideas to being distracted by other events in one’s life. Here’s what some famous authors have to say about it.

“What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat.’ And it may be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced I’m serious and says ‘Okay, okay. I’ll come.'” Maya Angelou

“In the middle of writing something you go blank and your mind says, ‘No, that’s it.” Ok. You’re being warned, aren’t you? Your subconscious is saying “I don’t like you anymore. You’re writing about things I don’t give a damn for.” You’re being political, or you’re being socially aware. You’re writing things that will benefit the world. To hell with that! I don’t write things to benefit the world. If it happens that they do, swell. I didn’t set out to do that. I set out to have a hell of a lot of fun. I’ve never worked a day in my life. The joy of writing has propelled me from day to day and year to year. I want you to envy me, my joy. Get out of here tonight and say: ‘Am I being joyful?’ And if you’ve got a writer’s block, you can cure it this evening by stopping whatever you’re writing and doing something else. You picked the wrong subject.” Ray Bradbury

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” Mark Twain

“Always stop while you are going good and don’t think about it or worry about it until you start to write the next day. That way your subconscious will work on it all the time. But if you think about it consciously or worry about it you will kill it and your brain will be tired before you start.” Ernest Hemingway

“Writer’s block is my unconscious mind telling me that something I’ve just written is either unbelievable or unimportant to me, and I solve it by going back and reinventing some part of what I’ve already written so that when I write it again, it is believable and interesting to me. Then I can go on. Writer’s block is never solved by forcing oneself to “write through it,” because you haven’t solved the problem that caused your unconscious mind to rebel against the story, so it still won’t work – for you or for the reader.” Orson Scott Card

 

There are other strategies out there, from walking away for a few hours and clearing your head to doing daily bits of free-writing. Personally, I keep an idea journal around. If I get an idea, I jot it down to look at later. Some ideas sound silly at first glance, but writing them down lets me go back and give them a second look later.

But what about you? Do you other writers have a special strategy of getting past the blank page? Let us know in the comments. Until then, I wish you all good night, and good luck.

Personal Update: Writing Inspiration, Greasers, and Dead Poets

I love to write. Simple as that. Whether it be an informative essay or a short story, the act of putting words on paper (or a screen, as it were), has always held a certain interest with me. It’s funny that I like putting my thoughts into words, considering that I am terrible at conversation. But despite my issues with conversation (mainly being lack of self-confidence and a habit of making jokes at my own expense, but I digress), I was inspired by several authors to write, and keep writing. I thought that I would share that with whatever readers are interested.

Most kids hated reading William Shakespeare in school, but he was one of my many inspirations. Whether writing a comedy or a bloody tragedy, Shakespeare focused on the development of his characters. In The Merchant of Venice, for example, the villain, a Jewish merchant by the name of Shylock was fleshed out more than any other character. Shakespeare gave him motivation for his actions against the protagonist (he was an abused, minority of a businessman who wouldn’t take any more), and portrayed Shylock in such a way that left the viewer sympathetic for the villain. Shakespeare was also extremely creative in his plays, in every aspect. He does not simply kill a character, he serves poetic justice. One only has to look so far as the play Titus Andronicus (meat pie, anybody?). How is that inspiring, you may ask? Perhaps I don’t write my essays in Victorian Middle English, but in my fiction, I try to focus on character development as much as possible.

Mark Twain was another biggie. Unlike other authors of his time, Twain’s work is often very down to earth, sarcastic, but still packing that emotional punch. The star work in this case is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I also read Tom Sawyer, and enjoyed the book, but Huck Finn far surpasses with an emotional story riddled with humor and different takes on society. More than that, what I’ve read about Mark Twain as a person was inspiring to me. Even before he wrote his big hits, he wrote commentaries and lectures. He had a comment about everything, from government to writing to religion.  He didn’t try to pretty up his writing, he simply wrote.

While I don’t see myself as either a Greaser or a Soc, S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders really hit me. I remember reading it during middle school, and it was actually the first story I’d read that nearly made me cry (the only other one that came close was John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. Don’t judge me). I think that was my first taste of just how powerfully emotional fiction can get.

Last but certainly not least, we have the 1989 film Dead Poets Society. While it may be more proper to say that the writer or director of the movie was the inspiration, I have to say that it was Robin Williams’s portrayal of professor John Keating. He is the one who taught me to love language, and the meaning of Carpe Diem. May he rest in peace.

And so, there you have it. I wish you all good night, and good luck!