How do you overcome writers block? You always find something substantial to say! –@markmccarthyUK
I have a post coming on this next week but I can tell you the two most important things (it will be a “list post” so be careful):
- Start in the middle. The other day I was having trouble writing an intro to a post. No problem. Skip the intro. Start in the middle. When you rewrite you will probably delete the intro anyway. So, for instance, lets say I was going to write “How to save the United States”. And let’s say I was having trouble with the intro. Do I look at it from a personal perspective? A patriotic perspective? Do I throw in some experiences?
Assume I can’t figure it out. I’m blocked.
That’s ok. I’ll go right in the middle. Lets say I have 10 solutions. I’ll start with number 5. “Sell off all the federal highways and use the proceeds to pay down debt.” Now its easy. I can give my justification and reasoning. Now I’ve got a paragraph or two. Then I go onto #6. “Pull the military out of the 130 countries we are in.” Now I can give more justification and reasoning and personal experiences if I need to.
And finally at the end, I can write the intro and outro. BAM! Writer’s block solved.
But what if you can’t come up with an idea. This is harder. Wait for post next week on this.
But I did promise 2 reasons so #2: Read writers that inspire you. When I first started writing this blog I would read and re-read the 20 or so writers that inspired me. And then, mid-story or book, I would get a flash of an idea and I would walk over and start writing.
But that technique doesn’t quite work for as well anymore. I’ve run out of the authors who have really inspired me and I’ve read their books ten times over. So I have to tweak this trick for myself.