What are some good ways to get over writer's block?

Question

I'm an aspiring writer always looking for new ways to summon my muse. Did you know that Victor Hugo wrote naked when he had writer's block. Tell me some stange, unique, and effective ways to get over the dreaded BLOCK[].

Answer 1

Here are some things I do. But then, I almost always write naked anyway! =)

Write anyway, then crumple each page and throw it away. But, wait, you sometimes find yourself thinking... there's something there I can do something with.

Go for a walk. Pick up something you find. Force yourself to work it into your writing.

Do exercises, like in a thousand writing books or the links below. It never hurts to go back to the basics.

Write or type a single letter or word. Go do something else, but something quick, like washing one dish. Come back and add another. Rinse. Repeat.

Write while standing. Don't stop until you complete a page. It's irritating.

Find a poem in a language you don't understand. Just from the shape and sound of the words as you see them, translate it.

Go somewhere where you can watch people being themselves. I think I'm always myself when I'm eating or when I'm in the loo. I would pick eating. Make up their stories... this is just for fun, after all, and you can make them whatever you like.

Leave a banana on your writing desk until you finish a project... oh, this can make me work fast.

Cut up a page and draw the words out in random order, but force yourself to make a story of them in that order... you may add other words to help it along.

Answer 2

For me the best way to get over writer's block has been to start everything that I write as a letter to someone. When I'm writing just to get something down on paper, I have had trouble getting it to flow. But recently I've been writing to someone, and that's doing the trick. For example, if I want to write a description of a location, I start with, "Dear Martha, you should be here! The crisp country air has cleared my head so that I can see things more clearly....." etc.etc.etc. When I take off the "letter" phrases, I have some fairly well written prose with which I can now work.

Good luck

Answer 3

Take a day off and do something spontaneous. Go visit a relative or friend you haven't seen for a while. Or go to an amusement park and ride every ride (even the kiddy ones) at least once. Go lay out in a field and try to make shapes out of the clouds. Or do my favorite...

Tack up a large (wall sized) piece of crate paper, get some cans of paint (different colors) and throw paint (with you hands) at the wall until your arms are tired. Walk away and wash your hands, then come back and see if you can see shapes and objects in the paint splatters. You can't help but be creative after that.

Answer 4

Well, free writing might be a helpful tool. Just write anything that comes into your head no matter how stupid, irrelevant or bizarre it is. Start by writing I hate writers block and then just write anything from there. Let your thoughts flow keep writing. After about an hour if you don't feel you've come up with what you need to write next, go for a walk. Talk out loud to yourself about what you'd like to write on your walk (you can tape yourself if you want to make sure you don't lose your ideas). When you get back, start writing.

Answer 5

hemmingway said that writing is getting up every morning and "fighting like hell" to write anything. When you are done writing at the end of the day, stop in the middle of a sentence. Also, just free association. Get anything down and go with it. Review your rambles and usually something strikes your fancy. It is work and it requires self discipline. Get off the AIM and don't go net surfing because you will get distracted and find you've spent two or three unproductive hours. Just do it.

Answer 6

Some writers would say find a quiet place and find the words.What always works for me is going to crowded places and absorbing the people and energy around me.Going alone and jotting notes.For some reason the day after I cant stop writing.
Good Luck!

Answer 7

Try answering some questions here on Yahoo Questions. It will make you think and write.Just doing it (taking an action) is the key to getting over any block. Once you are "on a roll" writing about anything at all, you'll be able to get back to your project.

Good luck!

Answer 8

Just write. Even if it is gibberish, just write or type whatever comes to your miind like this when i'm listening to Bob Dylan's book camera in the stamp section with the kirsten dunst pictures cut out next to the scissors and the stack of Atand T phones that I have to sell for chuck on eBay. I also wish I could get some more crown royal bags for my collection, right now I have name tags in one crown royal bag and some bottle caps in another. I sent out a whole bunch of collection containers to different bars a few months ago but no one has called me yet telling me that they have bags for me to pick up. Looking at my wall I see two newspaper cutouts of Lebron James, lucy in the sky with diamonds.


^^^Not exactly prize-winning fiction but it will get your brain to work.

Answer 9

Go take a breather. Go to a place you've never been before, talk to old friends and to some strange faces too, paint a picture, play with kids, try some sports.... There is always something in the outdoor that helps you feel alive!

Answer 10

When I was into that, I always found inspiration in talking to someone who had a mysterious quality about them, that made me think and want to talk. That was an excellent ignition.

Also, clearing my mind of my daily routine and focussing on inspiring people, things, nature, feelings, etc.

You may also find inspiration in (I'm not joking) role-playing a made-up story with a kid. Innocence doesn't doesn't hinder your creativity.