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Any writer that tells you that they don’t suffer from ‘writer’s block’ is lying. They may have discovered a few tips and tricks to help them shoot this problem down with a draw quicker than The Outlaw Jose Wales, but they still have moments where they stare at the blank page like a prison cell. It is only natural. It is sometimes inevitable. But, as the great Charles Bukowski so aptly said, writing about writer’s block is better than not writing at all. Amen.

 

With this thought treading water in our frontal lobes recently, we went and spoke to a handful of writers and asked them how they get themselves back on track and get the creative juices flowing once more.

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Do Something Else Creative

Pick up a paintbrush and start splashing color around. Take on some poetry. Try your hand at graphic design. Go and dig out your old photos and make a gorgeous collage out of them. Go and build something in your shed or whittle something out of wood. Whatever takes your fancy, so long as it stirs your imagination. Just step away from the page for a bit and find a well of inspiration to get you going again. It could be a few minutes break or an hour, maybe a few days or a week. It doesn’t matter. Just step away and refill.

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The Art of Freewriting

Writer’s block tends to creep into our being when we are writing something that has a purpose. So why not write without a purpose and start writing whatever comes into your mind. Start a sentence with the word ‘camembert’ or the name ‘Isaac’ and see where the pen takes you, see where you go. Don’t even concern yourself with grammar or punctuation, just write anything that comes to your head, and write as freely as possible. You’ll find that this freewriting exercise will inspire new ideas. Don’t ask us how just know that it will.

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Your Body Was Made To Move

That is a fact of life, so why not allow yourself the chance to let it move. Go for a walk, climb the stairs, do ten minutes of yoga or take on a thirty-minute bike ride. Put on some music and dance. Even a simple stretch will do. Just make sure you move once in awhile. When your body starts moving and flowing so will you mind, and that is where words follow suit. It is to do with the endorphins that get released. They make you creative, and that’s what you need to beat back the blank page.

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The Early Bird And All That

The mind can do amazing things when it is still half asleep. It latches onto the pattern of your dreams and that encourages you to be more creative and in touch with the subconscious, from which some of the most astounding results will fall onto the paper. Try it. Try getting up at 4 o’clock, or 5 or 6 o’clock, and see what your brain churns up while still unsure as to why you are awake at this hour. You’ll be surprised at how quickly any notion of writer’s block disappears.