Epic Advice and Encouragement (EAE)

Advice 12 ☼ Writer's Block (Part One)

There is always that one person in the family that everyone hates. It could be an aunt, an uncle, a cousin, a grandfather...whoever. But somehow, they always seem to appear at all the family reunions and never seem to leave you alone. They are annoying, nosy, and worse of all, they never leave you alone! Now, what does this have to do with anything?

Well, Writer's Block is that annoying family member. Still don't get it? Let me put that into perspective for you.

Finally, after a long day of having to work your butt off at school/work, you get home with some free time to do some writing. So you prepare some coffee (or tea), get a couple of snacks—most likely ones bursting with sugar—and sit down at your laptop. You open it, log in, open your story doc, and wiggle your fingers. There, in big, font 15 letters is 'Chapter 7', the chapter you've been wanting to write since the extinction of the dinosaurs. You sit there for five, ten, thirty minutes, trying to formulate words, coherent sentences. But your head is as empty as your bank account. "What gives?" you ask, as irritation makes you bite down on that third Mars bar.

I'm sorry to say this, but you, my friend, have Writer's Block.

*cue music from Psycho*

So what do you do now? You have a couple of options:

a) Type up random gibberish (e.g. dlkfjakdsjfakldsfja), and when someone walks up behind you and asks how that chapter is coming along, you rotate your head 180 degrees and tell them it's coming along 'Just fine'.

b) Squint at your blank page, hoping that your magical powers as "the Chosen one" will finally make themselves known and help you write this godforsaken Chapter 7.

c) Slam your laptop shut, open the nearest window, and throw it out. An added bonus is that you can watch it slam to the ground, exploding into a million pieces, with a maniacal grin on your face.

d) Delete your whole story, give up on writing completely, and go on an epic journey of self-discovery in the Himalayas. You might have to fight some dragons on the way, so bring a fire extinguisher with you.

Alright, maybe you shouldn't do that last one. Or any of them, for that matter. They are all hazardous to your health.

When you have Writer's Block, the most important thing to keep in mind is: DON'T FORCE YOURSELF TO WRITE. It will only end up making you even more frustrated, and you will probably end up with scenario d). Be smart about it. It's okay to admit that you have no inspiration, that you don't have the right words to say what you want to say, that you have no clue where this chapter is meant to go.

So why do we get writer's block?

[Insert long scientific explanation here]

In essence, writer's block happens because a lot of our emotions—especially our reactions to stress and anxiety—lock us out of the right hemisphere of our brain, the one from which our creativity stems. Overcoming writer's block is primarily based on getting back into that part of the brain that's actually capable of making us write creatively.

How do we get over writer's block?

1. Take a break.

Go for a walk in the park, watch another episode of your favourite TV series, paint a picture using the blood of your enemies. Do something that will take your mind off writing, and hopefully you will gain inspiration from the activities!

2. Re-evaluate your reasons for writing your story.

We all have those moments where we think: "Do I really want to keep writing this?" A lack of drive is one of the biggest causes of writer's block. If you feel like your story isn't going anywhere, or you find yourself constantly at a loss of ideas, take a moment to sit down and think about why you started writing your story in the first place, and what you want to do with it. You aren't forced to keep writing it if you don't want to. It's okay to just scrap it and start afresh.

3. Use prompts.

This is where the lovely "Improve Your Writing" club comes into play. Step away from your story for a moment and join the thread, where there are a lot of games created by users for users to help stimulate those writing juices. A few examples of this are: "How would your character respond to this?" or "What do you people think your character looks like?" or even "Writing prompts (Plot inspiration for every genre!)". Or even better, take part in a contest where you are given prompts. Not only is this a chance for you get back into the groove of writing, but it's also an awesome opportunity to get exposure for your work and make new friends!

4. Talk to someone.

It's bad to keep everything to yourself. Talk to a friend/family member/pet about your story, and bounce ideas off them. By talking it through with them, not only can they help you gain inspiration for your story, but they too can come up with some pretty cool stuff!

So that's it from me! What do you do to get over writer's block? Tell us in the comment section and don't forget to vote on this chapter if you liked it!

Until next week!

Dorito xox