"...everything in life is writable...if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt."..... Sylvia Plath

Monday, January 3, 2011

Writer's block: Can't think of anything to write about?

It doesn't matter what you write about. You have to just start writing anything. Don't worry what it's about or if it even makes any sense. The more you write, the more you'll come up with more ideas for what to write about. Start with the rain, the sun, the paperboy, your favorite food, your annoying neighbors, anything. Once you see those words on the paper, you will want to make them better. Rewriting is the goal, at this point.

Writing is a process. The beginning is where you just slap those words down on the paper (or computer screen). Don't worry about spelling or grammar or anything except telling, describing, reviewing or suggesting, whatever! Let the words flow. Do this, freely, unencumbered for a period of time.

Now read it over. Move stuff (ideas, words, paragraphs) around on the paper or screen. Rewrite. Throw out what you don't like. Add more to it. Walk away from it. Come back and read it again. Rewrite. Love what you're doing. Make a game of it. Wallow in the process.

Don't worry about how much time you're spending. Unless, of course you're getting paid and have a due date. If so, you probably already are familiar with the process.

BTW, do you read a lot? If not, make it a practice to do so. A lot of ideas for what to write about can come from or because of something you read. Good luck!


if you enjoyed this post, feel free to leave a comment

7 comments:

  1. I think you're right. Just start writing and something will come out of it. Perhaps not that day, or even in a week, but the seed you've planted will eventually bear fruit.

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  2. It has always worked for me. I seldom have writer's block ("knock on wood")

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  3. Well put. I also use stream of consciousness... I find that just writing continuous, often disconnected thoughts as they play out in my head will generally result in threads of ideas that I return to. For me, imagery is important too, so I try to picture what I am writing and try to imagine what day/month/season the idea would thrive in, what colour it is, and what it might wear :)

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  4. I rarely experience writer's block. When I do sometimes I just start writing as you suggest. But I do have several specific strategies I employ for breaking through writer's block and they are found in the post titled Blogging through writers' block on my blogging tips blog.
    Best wishes :)

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  6. @Photodiction: Wow! Good suggestions. Do you mind if I quote you in the article?...not everybody reads the comments. What you've said could be very valuable to someone. Thanks for the detailed response

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  7. @timethief: Guess you and I are just lucky that we can think of something to write about most of the time. I hardly ever have writer's block either. Thanks for commenting....most appreciated.

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