Ways to Get Rid of Writer's Block
Brainstorming Strategies and Techniques to Help You Start Writing
It happens to the best writers: The dreaded brick wall of running out of words, of being so completely stumped to the point of ripping your hair out and/or banging your head against the keyboard or desk. In order to reduce the stress associated with writer's block, and to spare your head from any physical pain, here are a few strategies for overcoming any problems with finding the right words.
Observation as a Writer's Inspiration
Go outside and observe people: Write what you see. Speculate about people and places and try to come up with a couple of facts about them. Build a character through your musings. Another advantage of going outside, or even just to a different place than the one you normally write in, is that it may just help clear your head. Routine can sometimes equal rut, so changing that routine, even just briefly, may help.
Writing From Experience
Think about what you did already that day, or something you did recently: Maybe something will stand out as an event worth writing about. Even a seemingly small, insignificant event--like grocery shopping, walking the dog, going to the gas station in sweatpants and mismatched socks--can be transformed, with a few creative words, into something interesting that may equal a story.
Another strategy is to base writing on other people's experiences; talk to a family member or friend about something exciting, unusual, or amusing going on in their life to get a few ideas. The key here is just to get an idea, not to write a biography of someone you know (unless, of course, that's the project you're working on in the first place). And of course, it's always a good idea to get that person's permission before seriously writing about his or her experience.
Using Visual and Print Materials for Ideas
Flip through a magazine and choose a picture that intrigues you. Write about what you see, whether it's a person, group of people, or a particular scene such as a beautiful landscape or unusual still life. Writing a simple description and painting a picture through words is both a good writing exercise and a potential foundation for a story. Newspapers are also a good resource; maybe there is a news story or topic that can serve as inspiration for the general direction of what you write.
Another strategy is to go through old photo albums. Is there a particular photo that strikes your interest and sparks your memory, something from your life that can be easily adapted into a story? If so, you may have come across a great idea for your next piece of writing.
Take any one of these ideas into consideration when you get stuck while writing, and you may eventually be able to find the right words. And if you're lucky, you may become inspired to write something entirely new.
Discarded Writing Ideas
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