How I Avoid Writer's Block
I've never had writer's block. I don't allow myself to believe in it. I tell myself I am too busy to waste my limited writing time NOT putting words on the page.
I turn off the TV. I close my internet browser. I go to a quiet place in the house.
I keep book and story ideas in a spreadsheet and use it when I need inspiration.
I have days when the words don't flow as well or when I've written myself into a corner and don't know how to take the current scene into the next one. I've also had days when I write complete garbage that has to be deleted and redone.
I resolve this by either (1.) writing something completely new. (2.) skipping over the current problem scene and starting with the new scene. I know I'll have to come back at some point and resolve the problem, but by then, I'll have been thinking it over and will have some fresh take on the scene.
I also think it's important to my creative process to read. Not just romance novels, but newspaper articles, nonfiction, books outside the romance genre, and magazine articles. It keeps fresh ideas in my head.
What ways have you found to combat writer's block? What do you do when the words just aren't flowing?
I turn off the TV. I close my internet browser. I go to a quiet place in the house.
I keep book and story ideas in a spreadsheet and use it when I need inspiration.
I have days when the words don't flow as well or when I've written myself into a corner and don't know how to take the current scene into the next one. I've also had days when I write complete garbage that has to be deleted and redone.
I resolve this by either (1.) writing something completely new. (2.) skipping over the current problem scene and starting with the new scene. I know I'll have to come back at some point and resolve the problem, but by then, I'll have been thinking it over and will have some fresh take on the scene.
I also think it's important to my creative process to read. Not just romance novels, but newspaper articles, nonfiction, books outside the romance genre, and magazine articles. It keeps fresh ideas in my head.
What ways have you found to combat writer's block? What do you do when the words just aren't flowing?
I'm like you, I don't believe in Writer's Block. I believe in Storyteller Stumpers. If I can't write, it's because I don't understand something about the story(like when the characters pull a fast-one on me and take a scene a different way than I'd intended). Figuring out the stumper is the key to being able to write.
ReplyDeleteAnd I believe in Shiny Object Syndrome. The other main reason that slows me down when I'm knee-deep in a story: needing to quiet my environment and my brain down enough to focus on the story. I meditate for at least 20 minutes(with instrumental music on the earbuds) before I writing. Lyrics interfere with obtaining a quiet mind, and then there may be no focusing ADD brain.
I like the idea of doing some meditation before writing! I'll have to try that next time a scene gets out of control!
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