Writing tips & tricks

Writer's Block

Writer's Block is one of the most difficult parts of being a writer. You finally stop procrastinating, you open your document and...nothing. You just don't have ideas or the ideas is just on the tip of your tongue. You can feel it, but it's just not coming out. Here are some tips that help me when I have hit a wall.

1.Read what you have written so far.

Have you already taken a break, had a breather and walked away from the project? Come back to it and read what you have so far. Even if it's a sentence or an outline. Just read it. You'll start to edit this, think about that and suddenly ideas will start flooding in. Instead of this happening on page 10, maybe it should be page 20, and so it will lead in to your catalyst, etc. Just reading what you have written down should help get you in the flow of things.

2. Just Write.

I don't care if it sucks or if it's stupid or if you hate it. Just put pen to paper, or hand to keyboard. Just start getting the creative flow going. Write anything. Write a monologue, write a conversation between two characters, write your main character's diary entry, etc. Just write.

3. Research.

Maybe you're stuck, because there is something you can't figure out. Or something that doesn't sit well with you. Start reading about your subject. Are you writing about a dystopian future? Do research on what would happen if there is a WWIII. Research chemical warfare or about a town that has been ravaged by a tsunami. Read about things that are directly connected to your subject and indirectly connected. Interview people who have lived through events similar to the ones that happen in your book. Read a medical journal that covers the disease that your main character has. Get new realities and that will hopefully lead to new ideas.

4. Read a blog or watch an interview with your favorite author.

Listen, lets face it I wish I was Ilona Andrews, Jane Austen or Julia Quinn. Just last week I read Ilona Andrews' blog and she is struggling with her latest Kate Daniels book. It's shocking. You'd think after a bunch of your books have been published, you'd be a well oiled machine. Nope, even your favorite writer's hit a wall. That's why reading a blog post or watching an interview about them can help.

Books by my favorite authors make me feel amazing and just thinking about their work makes me want to create my own. And it is my dream to make someone feel the way they make me feel. They inspire me to write more and maybe your fave author will inspire you to write more.

5. Turn off the TV. Shut down your wifi. Close out of tumblr. Turn your ringtone off.

Whatever distracts you? Get rid of it. Focus. Make your document, notebook, whatever...your only focus. Don't let anything else grab your attention. When I studied screenwriting in Dublin, a bunch of us had our computers breakdown. We spent the last few weeks writing in the computer lab and I remember the times I would jump onto facebook and turn around and find my classmates on facebook. It was a joke and we'd all laugh at each other, but at the end of the day we had to just lock it down. Had to lock down facebook and our email and just focus on writing. We had to get our scripts done. So get rid of everything that is a distraction.

6.Write just do it.

Yes tip 6 does look an awful lot like tip 2. Don't convince yourself you don't have anything. Just write your character getting up, brushing their teeth and putting on boots. Write their dreams. Write their nightmares. Write about them having sex. Whatever gets you there.

7. Don't force yourself to write

If you force yourself to write it will come out horrible. No matter how skilled of a writer you are, it will come out horrible.

8. Find some inspiration

My favorite place to find inspiration is Tumblr. Just search "picture prompts", "fantasy", "Science fiction", or something else like that. I have a lot of ideas from tumblr and I'm working on stories about then now.

In my humble opinion to get through writer's block is the way you get through hell...keep going.

Good luck!