Ten Ways to Beat Writer’s Block

with Erica Vetsch and friends!

Happy, happy birthday, SEEKERVILLE! There are so many things that make this place special, and I have to give a shout out to the original Seekers. You ladies are the epitome of what it means to be godly women. The love you have for one another, the way you support, pray for, encourage, exhort, and hold one another accountable, that’s true Christian love in action. And that you carry that out in discipling others in not just writing, but in Christian faith, shows your hearts. Ten years is something wonderful to celebrate, and I hope I’m around when you celebrate TWENTY!  

And now on to our topic for the day. 

Writer’s Block. 

UGH. Dreaded, obstinate, soul-sucking writer’s block. That wall you hit when you sit down to write and realize… “I got nothin’.” How do you break through it? Do you just wait? Is there a formula to follow, a button to push or key to turn?

I wish. 

There are, however, some things you can do to help alleviate the problem of Writer’s Block, and in keeping with the “TEN” theme of the month here on Seekerville, here are ten ways to beat the Keyboard Paralysis that comes with Writer’s Block. 

(Also, in keeping with spirit of #2 on the list, I consulted some of my favorite writer peeps who have lent their expertise to this thorny issue. At the end of the post, you will find their smiling faces and links to find them online. Seriously, check them out. They’re AMAZING authors and even better people!) 

Ten Ways to Beat Writer’s Block

1) Do Something Else/Walk Away

“When I’m stuck on a plot, I go do something else, something completely different from writing. Stroll the farmer’s market, watch birds, bake a pie, do a little cross stitching, pick some wildflowers, solve a logic problem—and let your mind wander.”  Susan Page Davis
“Quit writing. I know. Sounds stupid, but seriously, sometimes you need to take a break. I'm talking short break here, not years. Take a day or two off to regroup and put your mind on something else. Visit a museum. Bury your face in a book. Get outside and go hiking. Sometimes all it takes is a little space.” Michelle Griep 


“Practically speaking, if I need to write and the words seem to be stuck, I try to shake them loose with a little activity. Maybe it’s a walk (I’ve heard that green and blue are creative colors) or just dancing around my house or even doing the dishes. A change of location and some motion can get the creative juices flowing.”  Liz Johnson


“The first thing is to "step away from the computer/laptop/tablet." Just walk away. Even if you're on deadline and the book is due in two hours!  Go for a walk, put on some music that inspires you, and get outside. There's something about the out of doors that sweeps away all those cobwebs in my brain. While I'm walking, I pray for God's help, and then listen to music and think about my storyline and characters. Usually, somewhere after the first mile, I get the inspiration I need.” MaryLu Tyndall

As you can see from the number of replies on this one, it’s a very popular method. Sometimes we need to let our story breathe, let our brains percolate on the problem, and ‘turn the channel’ for a while in our heads without stressing. 

2) Brainstorm with Someone 

“I like to brainstorm one-on-one with another family member. My grandson Caleb is high on my list, along with son Jim, daughter Megan, and husband Jim. I tell them where my plot is bogged down, and they usually have some ideas on how to get things rolling again. I don’t always use their ideas, but it gets the juice flowing again.” Susan Page Davis

“Talk it out--One of the best ways I've found to clear plot hurdles is to leave my own personal brainstorming session and get others involved. It can be your critique partner, your writing mentor, even a supportive family member or friend. Share your story problem and listen to their suggestions, even if they're different than the direction you intended to take. Sometimes, non-writers come up the best ideas!” Amanda Barratt

I love to brainstorm. My daughter is usually my sounding-board in this, as well as a couple of writing friends. Face-to-face brainstorming is always best for me, but in a pinch, email/messaging/face-timing works, too. There’s something about tapping into another person’s creativity that helps release my own.

3) Focus on the Emotions, yours and your characters’

“Focus entirely on emotions, my own and the characters. Nothing about plot, only how I feel, and lay that on top of my character. This usually gets the creativity juices flowing.”
 Peter Leavell 

Even though Peter is the only one to voice this particular method in my entirely unscientific and random-ish poll, I think he’s hit on something vital here. Readers read fiction in order to have a powerful emotional experience. Often when we face writer’s block, it’s because we have either sucked all the emotion out of a scene or story, or we’re too scared to write the emotions we know the scene needs. Either way, examine the emotions in the scene. Tap into the emotion, and the words will come.

4) Kill Your Inner Editor

“Kill your inner editor. Go ahead. It's not a felony. Most often when I can't seem to put a word down on the screen it's because I'm afraid to. I want to put out genius prose and words that make people weep. I expect perfection out of myself. But doggone it, no one is perfect and neither are our words. Just getting something down is better than nothing because you can't edit a blank page. Use your editing time for polishing up those sentences.”  Michelle Griep


Oddly enough, I blogged about this very topic once here on Seekerville here.  

 Years ago, when I first attended a local NaNoWriMo group, the leader had us do the most ridiculous exercise that I felt at the time was an awkward waste…and yet, it turned out to be awesome. We were told to draw a picture of our inner editor on a 3x5 card, then seal it into an envelope (duct tape works great!) with instructions to not let that little monster out until after NaNo was over! As goofy as this sounds, it works! Try it! You have my permission to put your inner editor into a soundproof jail until you have that first draft done.

5) Recognize Your Writer’s Block as Writer’s Fear

“Fear of failure. Anyone who’s ever done something creative has hoped it would be well-received and feared it wouldn’t. And sometimes that fear becomes so overwhelming that the words stop coming altogether. When fear blocks my creativity, I remember one crucial truth. No failure is final. Max Lucado wrote about that, and he would know. Just ask him about the 14 publishers who turned down his first book. But he didn’t give up. He kept trying. And the 15th publisher offered him a contract and changed the landscape of Christian publishing forever. He kept trying, and I will too.” Liz Johnson

This is HUGE! So often, when I face writer’s block, it’s because I am afraid. Afraid that I have written myself into a corner I can’t escape. Fear that people will finally realize I’m a fraud who can’t write her way out of a wet tissue paper bag. Fear that the story is too big, the emotions too grand, for my abilities. Fear that I can’t meet deadlines or reader expectations…fear, fear, fear.  That will stifle your writing quicker than Sugar won the Derby! And most of our fears are lies anyway. Stop listening to lies. Preach the truth to yourself. You are a writer. You are creative. You are able to produce excellent fiction. There. Now go do it!

6) Stop Comparing your work/results negatively with others’

“Sometimes writer’s block comes from comparison, especially when I compare my writing process with how my friends craft their books. Somehow my methods always seem to fall short, and I worry that I’m doing this whole writing thing wrong. And that’s when the words seem to stop. And when that happens, I try to focus on the parable of the talents. Jesus told the story of a master, who gave each of his three servants a different gift. And he expected each servant to use the talent given him. So I remember that my job isn’t to use my friend’s gift. It’s to use mine.” Liz Johnson

Or you could take a totally different spin on comparison… (Trust Peter to do it backwards!)
“I pick up a book I know I’m going to hate. The writing is terrible. The plot is horrid. The characters are insipid. And I read until I fling it against the wall, knowing I can do better. Then I write.” Peter Leavell

Negative comparison will create a desert in your creative soul. You will become a dry, barren, thirsty land, craving what you don’t have. Stop. It. Right. Now. The way God deals with someone else’s words and writing career are HIS business. Carping and whining about it won’t help you. Root out envy. Celebrate with your fellow authors…put yourself in their place only long enough to ask yourself what would you like to hear from others if that writing success milestone was yours? Then go do that thing. Send the congratulatory email, put that ‘props-to-you’ post on Facebook, then get your little hiney back to work on your own project, knowing that God can do great things. Even for you!

7) Quit Stalling

"I don’t believe in writer’s block. To me, calling a problem “writer’s block” is another excuse for stalling—for not writing. I find that putting my butt in the chair, opening the file, and placing my fingers on the keyboard, makes the words come. They don’t always flow like sparkling gems, but words come, and words written are words that can be edited. Coming to a snag in a scene is like finding an unexpected detour while driving. You’re forced to take an unplanned turn, which makes your navigation system recalculate. A technique I use when I’m stuck in a scene is to type a couple of asterisks and move on to a place where I know what’s going to happen. Forward motion is the key. Later, after I’ve had time to think (and I’ve put some space between myself and the page), I come back and reevaluate it. Usually by then I’m ready to move forward." - Cheryl St. John, Write Smart, Write Happy, Writers Digest Books 2/17

Are you paying attention here? Because this is a shaft that drives straight to the heart of a lot of ‘Writer’s Block’ issues. It’s called stalling. Because we don’t want to do the hard work. Because writing is supposed to be FUN, right? And it is. It’s fun, and it’s pea-pickin’ hard work. A lot of people I encounter love being part of the writing world, but they don’t actually write. They talk about writing, they spend money on writing-related things, but they don’t write. They want to ‘have written’ more than they want to write. And they often claim they’ve hit a patch of ‘writer’s block’ because that sounds so bohemian and artsy and writer-ish…but it’s really just another excuse. Don’t be that person. Put your tookis in the chair and put some words on the page!

8) Go Back to the Beginning and Work the Plot

 "There might be a hundred different reasons the words don’t flow. Maybe you didn’t plan the story well enough, so you don’t know where you’re going. Maybe you failed to create enough inherent conflict to sustain the plot. If the story isn’t working for you, take it apart, analyze it, and put it back together. See it as a challenge, a place to improve the story. It’s not time to stop simply because it’s hard. Writing is always hard." - Cheryl St. John, Write Smart, Write Happy, Writers Digest Books 2/17

Often when I hit a sticky patch when words aren’t flowing, it’s because I have sucked all the tension out of my plot. There’s nothing driving the story forward. That’s when I go back to the last place in the story that made sense, that felt right, that had me on the edge of my seat, and I search for where I got off track. This is hard work, because sometimes I have to axe a TON of words, but it is worth it. Once I stop dodging the tension, stop coddling my characters, and really put them through the wringer, the words flow!

9) Do Something Else Creative

“Give yourself a creative boost- When the deadline approaches and you're pushing to get words in, sometimes it's easy to let the creative well run dry. Pick up that new novel by an author that inspires you (extra points if it's in a different genre than what you write in.) Watch a movie or TV show that you wouldn't usually pick. The relaxation of focusing on another person's creative output instead of your own, plus immersing yourself in a different media experience, can get those creative wheels rolling smoothly again.” Amanda Barratt 
“I read or watch an entirely different genre than I write, and stumble across a plot line I’d like to incorporate into my work.” Peter Leavell

“Try listening to an audio book. Not just any audio book, but a book you love, a well-written story that moved you.” MaryLu Tyndall

I employ this one, too. In my case, I crochet, sew, cross-stitch, scrapbook, or quilt. I do something creative that is not writing related, and that often triggers a fix to a plot problem or refills my creative reserves. Sometimes I read history books. (Yeah, I know, but for me history books are exciting idea factories.) If you’re feeling creatively exhausted in the word department, get out some colored pencils and a coloring book. Dig out that needlepoint project you buried in the closet. Watch that movie that always makes you cry or laugh. Fill up the tank again.

10) Pray for Inspiration

As mentioned in MaryLu’s advice under point one…prayer. Praying for inspiration and help is never wrong. There are a lot of things that contribute to writer’s block, and some of it has nothing to do with writing at all. Real life can intrude. Family tragedies, natural disasters, financial struggles. And we pray about those things, naturally and with regularity. But God doesn’t want to be God of only part of your life. He wants it all, including the writing. And not just control of the results, but also of the process. That means He wants to hear from us when we’re struggling. Pour out your heart, your desires, your willingness to be led to God. He will hear. You will cast those cares upon Him, knowing He cares for you. Ask Him for fresh words, and then sit down and do the work.

 So, there you have it. Ten ways to beat the dreaded Writer’s Block.  I encourage you to click on the links below and visit the fine authors who helped with the information of this post, and I’d love it if you’d visit www.ericavetsch.com and sign up for my quarterly-ish newsletter! 

Visit Susan here.

   

Visit Michelle here.

  

Visit Liz here.

Visit Cheryl here.

  

Visit Amanda Here

Visit MaryLu here.

Visit Peter here.

I would love to hear from you on how YOU conquer this awful beast called Writer’s Block. 

And I’d love to give away a “Hot off the Presses-Not-Yet-Available-to-the-General-Public” copy of A Child’s Christmas Wish to one commenter! (Winner announced in the Weekend Edition.)

Seekerville wants to thank Erica and friends for joining us today and we'll be giving away an additional copy of A Child's Christmas Wish (when it becomes available) to a second commenter because it's our birthday and we can!

A Child's Christmas Wish

A Baby for Christmas 

The only Christmas gift Oscar Rabb's four-year-old daughter prays for is one the widower can't provide: a baby sibling. And when his neighbor's house burns down, he's willing to open his home to pregnant and widowed Kate Amaker and her in-laws—but not his heart. Even if his little girl's convinced Kate's unborn child is the answer to her wish. 

Kate quickly sees the generous but aloof Oscar has little interest in growing closer to his houseguests. Still, she intends to make the coming Christmas a season to remember for his daughter. And as Oscar starts to open up to her, Kate can't help picturing just how wonderful the holidays—and a future together—might be.

Best-selling, award-winning author Erica Vetsch loves Jesus, history, romance, and sports. She’s a transplanted Kansan now living in Minnesota, and she married her total opposite and soul mate! When she’s not writing fiction, she’s planning her next trip to a history museum and cheering on her Kansas Jayhawks and New Zealand All Blacks. You can connect with her at her website, www.ericavetsch.com where you can read about her books and sign up for her newsletter, and you can find her online at https://www.facebook.com/EricaVetschAuthor/ where she spends way too much time!