Behind the Scenes

How I Combat Writer's Blocks

Recently, I had a massive writer's block that lasted maybe a month or longer. It came about because I was finishing high school. Even afterward, safely in summer, I couldn't just jump back into writing again. I only managed to write again by pulling all the stops. Because it worked, I'm writing this down for your benefit. Drop in the comments how you combat writer's block. This is how I did it:

Rolled up my shades. I have one large window in my room. Sunlight helps me think somehow. Maybe because the just feels natural and healthy.

Music. I have a playlist of instrumental music for writing. It's mostly Two Steps From Hell. I used headphones to shut out the world rather than using my speaker.

Burned a candle. I have quite a collection of Frostbeard Book Lovers' Soy Candles. I like to burn The Inklings scent when I write. If you don't know who the Inklings were, they were a group of male writers that C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien we're a part of. They met in The Eagle and Child Pub and discussed their ideas. It seemed appropriate to burn when needing inspiration.

A drink. Snacks help too, but drinks are less distracting in my opinion. Fun fact: I don't like coffee. I usually drink tea with or without boba, juice, hot chocolate, basically anything that's not coffee or alcohol.

Idea notebook. Sometimes I need to get the creative juices flowing before I actually start writing. What helped me was pulling out my idea notebooks and scribbling random plot bunnies.

Reading. Reading books inspires me to write my own. If I'm writing fanfiction, it also helps for me to dive into the fandom by watching the movies/tv shows/videos again or reading the books again for a refresh in inspiration.

I've been applying to college all morning. I'm watching an Open House video and I'm so bored.