Tag: writer’s block

The Deadly Deadline

Tips for Writers

Sometimes you have to really bludgeon your brain to finish a job before it’s due.

It can be really daunting.  That deadline’s coming up, whether it’s a project you have to finish for yourself, art or writing you need to complete for somebody else, or just that baffling one word prompt you want to write about before you have to leave for work.

Mix that with writer’s block and you have one frustrating situation!

Don’t take a sledgehammer to your head though, just get around the writer’s block if you can’t get through it.  Think about something parallel to the subject.  Think around the subject, for want of a better phrase.  Start writing about something else, even if it’s totally random.  If you’re an artist looking for ideas, start looking at the world in some way you’ve never looked at it before.  Doodle.  Go get a cup of something hot and caffeinated, but only one, and try again.

The point is, so many times I’ve had terrible creative block that just blew away like a summer breeze when I started creating.  Even if it was something completely other than my main project, it was like my mental machinery warmed up and started creating ideas again.

You can do that too.  No bludgeoning required.

 

 

via Daily Prompt: Bludgeon

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/bludgeon/

13 Ways to Recharge Your Writing Batteries

Tips for Writers

via Daily Prompt: Recharge

 

Sometimes, we all run out of ideas.  We feel like a battery run flat.  At that moment, we wish we were like a cell phone – just plug a USB into the side of our heads and let the ideas flow in.  This is particularly bad if we’re working up against a deadline, or only have a little time to write, so we want to make it count.  Here are some ways to recharge!  Please add your own in the comments if I’ve missed something.

1. Meditate.  Totally relax, just for two or three minutes, and let go.

2. Write down ten ideas about something – anything – totally unrelated to your project.

3. Take a walk.  Let your mind wander.

4. Have a cup of tea. L-Theanine is good for your brain.

5. Take a short (no more than twenty minute) nap.

6. Exercise.  It sounds strange, but often exercise brings energy, not the other way around.

7. Play.  Preferably not with anything electronic.

8. Write down a list of things regarding your subject.  Odd little details, the nuttier the better.

9. Get yourself laughing.  Do something really silly, like juggling pants.

10. Blow the screen a giant raspberry and start writing anyway – one word at a time, it doesn’t matter where.  After all, you can always delete later.  The important thing is to get going.

11. Read a lot.  All subjects.  You’ll have more output when you have more input.

12. Keep a small notebook, write all your ideas down.  Look over that when you’re stuck.

13. Stay positive!

 

 

(And don’t forget to look at my last post, I really need reader input!)