Freelance Copywriter: - Dealing With Writer's Block

Dealing With Writer's Block
By: Kenneth R. Eaton

So I'm three or four chapters into a new novel. I wake up early one morning eager to get started on the next one. The wife and kids have all gone to work, school, friends houses, wherever. The point is, I have the house all to myself. I've had my first cup of coffee and even went outside to get a deep breath of the fresh morning air. I come back inside, sit in front of my laptop and stare at a blank page. All of a sudden I'm lost. I realize I have nothing-not a damn thing in my head. No thoughts, no visions, no hope at all of getting anything from my brain to that blank page staring back at me. So what do I do? I do the only thing a man in that situation could do, panic. It has been weeks since the house was this quiet and I have really been looking forward to taking advantage of it. But no, I've been cursed-cursed by that little thing called writer's block. It has a hold of my brain and won't let go.

What's a writer to do?

Glad you asked. Here are a few things that I find helpful.

Take a Break: often, I find that I am much more productive with the pen, when I've taken a few days, or even weeks off. I come back and read through what I've already written and get excited about it all over again. Usually, I more than make up for time lost because now I'm revitalized and have new angles to explore, new character situations to try out.

Move Around: walk, run, crawl, and roll on the floor if you'd like, but move around. Sometimes I find that by just walking around the house, I get an idea for a twist in the story, and often, that's all it takes to get going again. I get so caught up in character building at times that just the thought of starting something so mundane turns me off. But coming up with a zesty little twist in the story gets me motivated to finish the boring stuff so I can work on the good stuff.

Go Back in the Story: go back, re-read a previous chapter. I do this a lot and I always find that it wakes me up and gets me going again. I usually find better ways of saying things. Sometimes I find dialogue between characters a little, ah, too made up-a little too perfect. For example, two gang members are likely not going to greet each other with ''Hi there fella, how are you this morning?'' Changing things opens new doors and gives me new direction. It allows me to slap myself for that last piece of dialogue and substitute it with the appropriate level of slang.

Talk it Over with Yourself: you'd be surprised at how helpful it can be to talk to yourself. Back in the day, actions like that might land you in the pokey, but nowadays, we are so busy, people talking to themselves seem normal. Okay, some of them are on hands-free cell phones. Since my days of fast driving and loud music are over, I find that driving gives me the perfect opportunity to talk out ideas for taking a story in various and exciting directions. Don't be afraid to ask yourself questions. Hell, you can even answer if you want. If in public, most people will think you're on a cell phone anyway.

Change Location: I write everywhere. I used to write only in my office, using my desktop PC. It became a chore to even go in there and I often found myself staring at a blank screen. One morning I took my laptop out on the patio and was amazed at how many thoughts flooded the old brain. I started writing and couldn't stop. I'm not a very good typist and I simply could not keep up with the thoughts. Now whenever I get stuck, the very first thing I do is move from wherever I happen to be. Changing locations always helps me.

These are my tricks. They work for me. There are any numbers of things you can do to make yourself forget about that blank page. Somewhere in your brain was an idea or two before you sat down to write. The trick is to find a way to make those ideas come back. I use the things I've talked about here and most of the time I can count on at least one of them working. I'm sure you'll find what works for you as well, but if not, feel free to use some of these.

Kenneth R. Eaton is a published author and web columnist. He writes suspense/thriller fiction novels. To learn about his latest works, or to just read more articles and writing tips, visit his website.

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