Running Into a Brick Wall

I’m going to be completely honest with you. I’ve been suffering from a terrible case of writer’s block for the past two weeks. I have a lot of subjects I want to cover on this blog, but can’t seem to get any juices flowing. Every time I start writing I run into a brick wall. So, I figured now is as good a time as any to talk about... writer’s block.

Writer’s block can happen at any time for any reason. It doesn’t discriminate between fiction or non-fiction. It can happen if you know too much or too little about a subject. It can show its ugly face when you’re burned out or even excited about a topic. It shows no favorites.

When we hit the proverbial brick wall while writing we tend to do two things: Sit and stare at the blank screen, and reread the few words we’ve already written over and over again hoping for a jumpstart. There is no one-size-fits-all answer for getting rid of writer’s block. The only way to get around it is to find a spark and fan the flame. Here are a few suggestions:

Write Something... Anything

Honestly, the best advice I can give you is to simply start writing something else. It doesn’t matter what you start with, only that you get into the swing of things and build some momentum. If it works, you’ll be able to harness this energy and start writing about your original subject.

To illustrate this, I want to talk about an exercise from one of my professors in college. He placed two finger puppets on his desk and ordered the class to “write a conversation between these two guys.” Within ten minutes every student in the class had at least two full pages written. Afterward he explained that the exercise was about making something out of nothing. It was also something we could use to escape writer’s block.

To this day, I keep a couple toys on my desk for those special cases (like today) when I get really bogged down. In case you’re wondering, this blog post began as a conversation between Yoda, Optimus Prime and the Hulk. What can I say... I’m a child of the 80’s. So much for that credibility I spent all of April talking about.

Read Something Else

If free writing doesn’t help you, try reading something else. Close your word processor entirely and dive into a new subject. Read a printed article instead of a digital one. Focus on something other than your computer screen (even if only for a few minutes). Distance yourself from the subject matter that's taunting you, and read something completely different. If your mind was a blank slate before, a few new thoughts will find their way in. Who knows, maybe one of them will be just what the doctor ordered.

Do Something Else

The most common suggestion I hear for avoiding writer’s block is to simply take a break. Taking a step back gives you time to collect and organize your thoughts. There is nothing more painful in a writer’s world than staring at a blank computer screen. Step away from your pixelated nemesis and go outside for a walk, or better yet, a run. Get the blood flowing to your brain. When you sit back down, try to get your fingers moving to make up for the fact that your body has stopped.

Sustain Momentum

Once you find your groove, don’t take a break. Don’t even look away from your screen unless you have to. When you hit your stride, the words will come easy. I spent three days working on a combination of three different blog posts for this week but just couldn’t get them going in the right direction. After resorting to what I will now call “the Yoda/Prime/Hulk method,” I had a first draft written in less than an hour.

Earlier in this post, I mentioned that many people suffering from writer’s block spend a lot of time hoping for a jumpstart. Here’s the thing... A jumpstart always comes from an outside source. Dead batteries can’t recharge themselves. When you run into writer’s block your brain is that “dead battery.” Mine sure was about an hour ago. Trying to power through writer’s block by sitting at your computer and waiting for a light bulb to go off is like repeatedly pressing a button a remote control with all-but-dead batteries. Every once in a while the channel may change, but it would a lot easier to get off the couch and search for fresh batteries.