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What About Writer's Block?

Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, blockage begets blockage.


Our internal critics—vital in the editing stages, poison while drafting—show up and start yapping out of turn (i.e.: "it's trash" or "it's perfect").


Writing and editing both fail when we engage them simultaneously. Remember the old Saturday morning cartoons when a character's angel whispers in one ear and devil whispers in the other?


Here are three proven tricks:


  • Walk away. If you have the ability to put your scene in a literal or figurative drawer for a time, do it! A month, a week, even just a day can make a difference.

    The trick is to really get away. Do no writing on the scene, even in your head. Don't obsess. Forget it exists.

    When you come back to it, write it fresh, comparing the drafts later. Your brain will have been lulled into believing it's writing a new scene.


  • Free write (with a twist). Like the "walk away" suggestion, this one requires the luxury of time.

    Take 10 minutes every day for 30 days to write whatever comes to mind, focusing on the scene giving you trouble. Write nonstop until the timer goes off.

    Stop writing immediately. Do not review anything you've written until the 30 days are up; then, review the free writing all at once.

    You'll discover nuggets and threads that interest you, while pushing through writing paralysis. (You can work on other sections in the meantime outside those 10 daily minutes.)


  • Sneak up. Go stealth mode.

    Approach the scene from a different character's point of view, or in another verb tense, or within an unusual setting, or using the style of a writer you admire, or or or. Remember, the change needn't be (and probably won't be) permanent. It's just a tool. Even if you keep the scene with the original choices intact, this exercise often solves problems by opening up avenues past the blockage.




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