Thursday 15 March 2012

Ten Easy Ways to Beat Writer's Block

Writer's block is real.  It's a black hole of chaos.  It's a dead-end road and a junkie under the bridge.  It's exhaustion disguised as a tiny pixie you can never catch.  It's the dog who won't come when you call.  It's against the primal forces of nature!!!

Have a look at the clip below.  To write a rant like that you don't have to be a great writer.  All you need is a heart full of passion and lithe like a rope-walker.  Writer's block is about waking up your soul. And watching it dance.




The worst thing about writer's block is the way it makes you feel.  If you are a true writing addict, you'll get withdrawals.  Here's a list of symptoms you might recognise:
  • Lethargy
  • Nausea - sick at heart
  • The shakes
  • Nightmares
  • Flashbacks of scenes/poems/emails you really enjoyed writing
  • Irritation
  • Tense, nervous headache
  • Limp posture
  • Insomnia
  • Hallucinations - often of insects
  • Sleeping too much
  • Drinking too much
  • Not getting your book finished and fearing you might die before you can ever write again...

Equipment:

So, you need a cure and you need it quick.  Luckily, there are ten easy ways to beat writers block. You don't have to try hard. In fact it's important that you don't try to write well.  Don't even think about writing.  To trick your mind into opening up - approach this like a game.  This game allows you to cheat, howl, fall in love, kill your enemies and fall through a space/time portal into another world.  All you have to do is make notes while you're there.  Easy.

To play the game you will need: 
  • A cup of tea [coffee or water etc will do just as well]
  • Some of your time [switch off TV?]
  • Some writing utensils such as a computer or better still - a notebook and pen 
Ten Easy Ways to Beat Writer's Block:

1. Find a picture and write a load of rubbish about it.  Remember, this is not proper writing.  You're just messing about.  Write how you speak.  Ramble on and don't bother about following a thought. Put people in the picture and make them suffer. Think of your own suffering and give it to them.  Weep if you need to.  

2. Find some music and write a complete pile of manure about it.  Use the kind of music that you listened to when you were really happy one summer.  Dance around the room.  Write about the song and the effect it has on a character [not you] of your choice.  Throw in some dialogue.  Bang on about love or joy or being drunk or high.  Use a song that makes you feel like the singer understands your pain.  Write the lyrics.  Write your own lyrics.  Make it into a scene of dialogue.  Laugh at your efforts but do it anyway.

3. Find some film [movie!] and write nonsense all the way through like a crazy diamond singing in the chorus at the end of the world! Pick a film that is meaningful to you.  Pick a film with a great story.  Note the turning points.  Transcribe great bits of dialogue.  Describe the characters.  How would they react if they met the characters from your book?  Kill them? Love them? Hate them? Fear them?  Or you can just pick a film clip like the one above and write your own bonkers version of the speech - then put it into the mouth of a character you've created.

4. Find a person.  They can be dead or alive.  Find someone who isn't famous.  Give them a new name.  Give them three main character traits.  Put them in a situation that makes them angry.  Write a scene where they let rip at the person who made them so mad.  Imagine a person who never curses - and make them curse the God they always believed in.  Would they get violent?  Would they scream to be heard?  Make it surreal.

5. Find seven words.  Concrete words like: grass, jug, wave, oven, gun, marquee, jam tart.  Make patterns with them on the page.  Hide them in sentences that might fit your novel or story if you were writing properly but you're not.  You're playing a game which is quite different from writing.

6. Find a fairy story.  Find a gruesome one.  There are plenty of sites that will make you wish you'd never found out the real story of Sleeping Beauty.  Imagine you're a reporter.  Write a crappy piece of copy on the whole story.  Update it, and make sure someone goes to prison in the end.  Remember, in this game, you're the worst reporter in history but it doesn't matter.  You just write the words and your editor prints them anyway!!

7. Find a letter or an email from a friend.  What if you found out they were having an affair with your partner.  How would you write to them? What kind of attitude would you have? Murderous or grateful?  Or something in between?  Keep to your usual sloppy email style.  Threaten, cajole, plead and rage.  Either that or thank your friend acidly and invite them to tea.  Write back to yourself in the character of your friend.  What do they say?  How do they explain themselves?  Get lost in the game.

8. Find something you've been working on. Imagine a reckless, drunken, delirious poet is going to write the next bit.  Let rip.  Thank god it's not you doing that kind of writing.  When you get over this writer's block, you'll be much better than that...

9. Find a long walk.  Go on it. It doesn't matter if it's in nature or down the back alleys of your home town.  Take your notebook.  If it's cold, take fingerless gloves.  Every five minutes write down something you see or smell or taste or touch.  Just one sentence.  You don't have time to be all lyrical and writerly.  Just jot it down and keep walking.  When you get home, put the walk in your story.  But make it mean something.  Is your main character leaving home? Meeting a secret lover?  Picking up a bomb for use later?

10. Read a book.  Read like you don't care.  Read with your whole heart.  If you don't read, you might never write again.





Here's some music you might find useful as a writing prompt: