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Let's face it, most of us are not born writers. Many of us spend much time just to come up with one sentence, not to mention writing a whole book. What's worse, there are times when nothing comes to your mind even you have spend hours researching on a topic. If this happens to you, you are probably having the most common problem that plagues writers one time too many, Writer's Block! Writer's block is absolutely, undeniably, scientifically proven to be impossible to overcome. Well, I am here to tell you that WRITER'S BLOCK CAN BE OVERCOME. There are several ways to trick this nasty demon. Pick one, pick several, and give them a try. Soon, before you even have a chance for your heartbeat to accelerate, guess what? You're writing. Here are some tried and true methods of overcoming writer's block: 1.Be prepared. The only thing to fear is fear itself.(I know, that sounds like a cliché but as soon as you start writing, you will realize writing is not something to be afraid of.) If you spend some time thinking and researching on your project before you actually sit down to write, you may be able to over the crippling writer's block. 2.Forget perfectionism. No one ever writes a masterpiece in the first draft. Don't put any expectations on your writing at all! In fact, tell yourself you are not going to care about how your draft turns out. Your focus is to get your ideas down. 3.Compose instead of editing. Never, never write your first draft with your self-editing machine turned on making snide editorial comments over your shoulder. Sit down at your computer or your desk. Take a deep breath and blow out all your thoughts. Let your finger hover over your keyboard or pick up your pen. And then put on a pretense: appear to be about to begin to write, and at the same time, flick that little annoying self-editing voice. Then start writing quickly. Let everything loose, as long as you do it with a pen or your computer keyboard. 4.Forget the first sentence. You can sweat over that all-important one-liner when you've finished your piece. Skip it! Go for the middle or even the end. Start wherever you can. Chances are, when you read it over, the first line will be blinking its little neon lights right at you from the depths of your composition. 5.Concentration and focus. I find this the most difficult to do. There are so many distractions offline and online which can take your attention away. How about thinking about your writing time as a little vacation from all those annoying daily worries? Create a space, perhaps even a physical one, where nothing exists except the single present moment. If one of those irritating worries gets by you, stomp on it like you would an ugly bug! 6.Stop procrastinating. Write an outline. Keep your research notes within sight. Use someone else's writing to get going. One technique is use a starting paragraph from a book on a similar topic and continue writing the following paragraphs. Then, come back and replace the starting paragraph with your own. Babble incoherently on paper or on the computer if you have to. Just do it! (I know, I stole that line from somewhere?). Tack up anything that could possibly help you to get going: notes, outlines, pictures of your grandmother. Put the cookie you will be allowed to eat when you finish your first draft within sight but out of reach. Then pick up the same type of writing that you need to write, and read it. Then read it again. Soon, trust me, the fear will slowly fade away. As soon as it does, grab your keyboard and get writing! |
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