Jumpstarting Your Work

Dreaded writer’s block. Your muse has left you for another writer, the empty computer screen mocks you every day with it’s silent emptiness. Horrible, huh? Well, I have a confession to make. I know nothing about it, because it’s never happened to me. I’ve gotten too busy to write, or distracted with other things, or just been too out of it to get anything accomplished. But days on end where I can’t write anything? Nope. So here are a few suggestions to help on those days where your current WIP feels as though it’s actually gotten shorter since this morning.

• My most full proof weapon is: stop writing. I know this seems odd, but it truly works for me. If I stop fighting it, give myself permission to think about something else, and go off and do dishes, generally within fifteen minutes I’m back at the desk, sudsy water and all, writing. Try it. Pressure isn’t good for anything, especially not creativity.
• Take a busman’s holiday. Save your stubborn WIP, close it, and do a simple writing exercise. I know, I know, you are far past that, right? Wrong. Go to Google, type in “writing prompts”, and check out a few of the gazillion hits you get. Then try a few. Thy are fun, they are easy, and they truly do get your muse primed for work.
• Write something totally outside your comfort zone. Usually write mysteries? Try romance. A dyed in the wool essay writer? Try science fiction. Always use third person? Give first person narrative a try. Anything that makes you see writing as new again is a good thing.
• READ. Not just your favorites, either. Read anything and everything you can get your hands on. A scientist who didn’t know the work that came before him would be doomed to repeat that work. So it is with the artist. How can you be original if you don’t know what that means. Read, read, read.
• Go surfing. Web surfing that is. There are a million very cool sites out there, and they all make me want to write. Try Oddee.com, nationalgeographic.com, post secret.blogspot.com, 2leep.com. Search Google for things like “ghost stories”, “crypto zoology”, or “unexplained murder”. Give yourself a time limit so you don’t spend 42 hours strait on there, and the web becomes your friend.
• Take a trip. While it would be great to hop in your car and head off to Texas, that’s not what this has to mean. Go outside. Take a hike. Go swimming, biking, foraging, or play catch with your kids. I have some of my best AHA! moments when doing other things. Especially if there’s no pen and paper handy. Try to carry some, so you don’t forget stuff, like I do.

That’s all I have. There’s more, but you’ve heard them all before, so I won’t repeat them. Feel free to share your best advice for getting unstuck. Thanks!