Tips on getting through writer's block??

[Space Cadet]

Focusing and Organizing:

 

This is the phase where you pick out your favourite ideas and decide how you are going to use them. You want to come out of this stage with a primary objective or thesis statement, a general outline for what you want to do, a specific outline of the work you want to do and the rules you want to work within, and a "to do" list of the next steps you will need to take to be ready to start writing or creating.

 

This is the first phase where you can start asking critical questions about what you are working on so that you can make creative choices about how to spend your time. If you want to fill out the middle of an album, maybe make a list of what sort of songs you want in the middle and decide that one should be slow, one should be happy, and one should be loud, or something like that. Pick your topic ideas that go with those ideas and then start making an outline for the individual songs. If you are working on an assignment, look up what the rules for that assignment are and decide how your ideas will fit.

 

You might say I want to write a song in iambic pentameter about my roommate's cat. That's your objective. It needs to be specific. Then you might say I want it to be fast and silly and about 3 minutes long. I want it to have three verses for a beginning, middle and end because that's how many ideas I have for verses, and I want a chorus and bridge. Now you have a skeleton of an outline. Now what should happen in those three verses? Now you have a specific outline of what you need to write. Use bullet points in this phase so you don't get bogged down by details.

 

Now you need to ask yourself what you need so that you can start working, and what you need to do next. This creates your todo list. So in this case you might need to take some pictures of the cat to use as a reference. You might want to make a list about how the cat makes you feel. You might need to look up what iambic pentameter is, how it works, and some examples of how it has been used.

 

With the outline and objective in place, you shouldn't need to sit in front of a blank page wondering what to do, because you already figured that out, and a todo list should keep you moving by providing specific tasks to do next. (For the record, for essays that need a thesis statement, I find it's best to write a general objective for the paper and a specific thesis statement once it's pretty much done and I know what I'm saying, but that's me.)

[Space Cadet]

Research

 

This is the phase where you go through your to do list and collect what you need to start working. Gather the information you need. Make sure you have the tools you need. Go back through your notes and make sure you have any notes or inspiration pieces you need available.

 

This is also a good time to do some creative exercises like writing with a timer so that your brain will be ready to go.

 

Action

 

This is the part where you finally get to sit down and do the thing. Remember that for writing this is a first draft, so the point is to get the body of your work down on paper as quickly as possible without any worrying about how it looks. Criticism isn't useful here.

 

You should be fleshing out the outline you wrote earlier, based on the content from your brainstorming sessions, so you should have lots of pages covered in things to keep you from worrying about the blank page in front of you. That said, don't get too stuck on the exact details of the outline and notes, since sometimes fresh creative decisions can emerge at this point and change the shape of what you're working on.

 

If you are getting stuck here, then this is the point where creative block busting tips can come in handy. First I would say review your output from the earlier stages, in case you missed something or you don't have enough content to work with yet.

 

If you are really getting hung up on something, then take a break and give your mind a rest. Go for a walk- they help your brain process what you're working on. Get a glass of water. Set a 20 minute timer and keep going. If you're getting distracted by intrusive thoughts, try writing them down and setting them aside for now. Try changing your medium- sometimes pen and paper is better for thinking than a computer. Or maybe vice versa. Get a crayon if you have to. If you're having trouble making creative decisions, review your objective and ask how the decision is related to the objective. Or sometimes work won't flow because the shape of the piece wants to be different from the shape you are trying to force on it. Make sure you take care of yourself. Sleep and food can be important for your brain function. If you are having trouble with motivation, ask a friend if they will hold you accountable for your work.

 

If you're getting hung up on emotional causes for your block, then maybe pay attention to your emotional state and talk to a friend about it.

[Space Cadet]

Refining:

 

Now that your idea is all down on paper, you can go back and check your work for a second or third draft. Try to be constructive with your criticism though- when something isn't working ask yourself how you can make it better.

 

Finalizing:

 

Remember that creative work is never finished, only abandoned. You will never get it perfect and perfectionism is the best way to keep yourself from ever finishing anything. Bring it to a state you are happy with and then let it go. You are going to notice all of the flaws. They probably aren't obvious to anyone else, so make peace with them. Just don't be George Lucas about it.

[Space Cadet]

Now emotional causes for creative blocks, when you know you have everything you need, are a whole different ballgame.

 

I struggle with anxiety more than anything myself and I'm all ears for suggestions for dealing with that one. I have heard it said that creative types are extra prone to anxiety because it's easy for them to imagine the worst-case scenarios very vividly. This can make them unconsciously avoid tasks that remind them of those scenarios leading to procrastination. I guess the best thing is to ask yourself how likely any scenario you are imagining is, and to set it aside until later. Or try visualizing yourself succeeding instead. Try practicing deep breathing or meditation to clear and focus your mind. Get a glass of water. Talk to a friend about your fears or try writing them down so they're out of your head. Go for a walk-movement helps. Keep yourself grounded by reminding yourself about other things in your life you're grateful for.

 

Perfectionism can lead to blocks and procrastination because no one short of a master is going to be perfect so it's an impossible standard to hold yourself to. I try to remind myself that the best way to get better is to keep practising.

 

Negative self-talk is a big creativity killer. If you keep unconsciously telling yourself that every idea is stupid or corny and then give up on them, then you're not going to be able to refine any of your ideas out of their corny phase. Sometimes stupid ideas lead to the biggest leaps in creativity and every great new idea started out stupid because no one had proven that it could be good yet. Everyone has that little voice in their head telling them that they're not good enough. Learning to notice when it is saying negative things and either confront it or set what it is saying aside is a skill that takes practice. I think one of the biggest reasons creative types are somewhat prone to substance abuse is that some of the substances can shut that little voice up for a while and let them get out of their own way. My personal opinion is that you're much better off in the long term learning how to recognize and shut that voice up on your own since sobriety can give you a lot more control over your ideas.

 

I have heard it said and noticed myself that the critical mindset is the opposite of the creative one. When you're being creative, you need to be open to all sorts of possibilities and trying things out, while criticism- even positive criticism- looks at details and measures their worth. Criticism is fine once a work is mostly done, but until that time, it will only get in your way, leading to writer's block.

 

So the biggest thing for me when I'm not dealing with structural blocks, is to try to pay attention to what is going on in the back of my mind and to try to identify some of the ways I might be emotionally sabotaging myself.

 

Anyway, that's what I've got. I warned you it was long winded. ;)

[guy42]

Wow, a lot has been said here so far, but I literally just got a video in my feed that I want to share with you. Here it is: