4 Ways To Battle Writer’s Block

In the process of writing The Veil (which has nothing to do with weddings) I ran into my first experience of writer’s block. I had heard of it happening to other writers quite often, but thought that this will never happen to me! I had written the beginning with ease, scribbled down an outline, which changed daily, and knew the direction I wanted to go with the story concept.

Then out of the blue…nothing. I let the story sit for a week.  I wrote the climactic ending of the story, and got that out the way hoping that it would spark something in my brain that had seemed to go on vacation without me.

My husband asks me occasionally, “How’s my Baby?” I said to him, “I’m stuck.” I explained my dilemma and he hashed it out with me for about ten minutes and then I was able to plunk myself back in the writer’s seat and continue with a renewed passion.

Steps you can take to unlock your creativity:

1. Brainstorm with someone who understands the problem: Talking it out helps to get your thoughts organized and be able come up with fresh ideas.
2. If the outline isn’t working, rewrite it: There’s no law saying you have to follow it to the letter.
3. Go backwards with your outline: Write the ending, then go step by step in reverse order.
4. Let your story simmer for a while: You may be getting bogged down too much with the bigger picture. Especially, if you’re putting a time limit on yourself to finish the story. Stress and pressure with seize up your creativity.

Unorthodox perhaps. But, whatever methods you can use to unleash the creative beast within you is never a bad thing. If you have had writer’s block and found a way to overcome it, please feel free to share your story.