Overcoming Writer's Block

The one thing that all writers suffers from is the occasional bout of writer's block. Be they blog, novel, or script writers, we all go though the wretched curse of writer's block once and a while. No writer likes it at all. It is not a friend by any means and any devoted writer will curse it's onset.

Every writer has their own way of ridding themselves of such a nuisance. My own methods I suppose vary on the severity of the case. Sometimes, when I have been looking at a piece too long, I simply need to change my type of work for an hour or two and I'll find that it's enough to change my state of mind. Other times, when I'm truly stuck, nothing will do than to bury myself in a book or take a walk to clear my head. Oddly enough I also find a visit to a museum or coffee shop with paintings or pictures also gets my brain ticking. Though whether it's the coffee or the art in the latter case that gets me moving, I'm sure I don't know.

I have known a person or two upon occasion that swear that they can avoid the curse of writer's block. In practice I think that they are full of rubbish. I have never been able to prevent myself from getting writer's block regardless of what odd methods that have been recommended by friends. I think that if writer's block was more predictable. If it came every second Tuesday it would simply be a matter of keeping yourself busy for one day a month.

At times I do Google writer's prompts and try to do short spurts or sprints of writing. That has helped upon occasion but other times I think it only serves to divert my attention. At times the small snippets turn into some really nifty story ideas that make me want to turn them into longer pieces. In any case I tend to use either the weekly writer's prompts at Writer's Digest or the ones at the Forward Motion Idea Generator. Both are good and provide excellent situations. All of mine have been fictional prompts thus far and I can't tell you if you wish to write non-fiction if this will help you. I find them fun and they are excellent pointers but they remain just general enough that you have enough flexibility to do as you choose and make what you will of your characters. In any case I recommend them highly!

When It Rains....

It pours. NaNoWriMo started on November first. (For anyone who doesn't know what it is go here. For those of us crazy enough to do it, GET BACK TO WORK! LoL) I should do a little of what I preach right? Well here's a bit of news that makes me rather happy: as of right now I am a full day ahead of schedule! Go me! I have never been ahead by a full day that I can remember. By the end of tonight I hope to be two full days ahead!

What's my purpose to this insanity? For the past two years my hardest time comes in the middle of November. For some reason the middle of the month brings a major writer's block with it. For whatever reason all of a sudden I find myself searching for things, anything really, for my characters to do to try and get the story moving along. This typically happens to me near the end of the second week and lasts for a number of days. It stinks. My word count plummets and so does my morale. This year I am hoping to fight the inevitable by creating a buffer for myself. I figure if I can get ahead by a couple of days then the down turn in my daily word counts won't put me behind too much. Let's face it, it's hard during any project to see a significant downward trend. Between this writer's block and family obligations at Thanksgiving my chances in gaining my fifty thousand word count go from some to none.

Here's to winning this year, cheers! *shuffles back into her little corner and gets back to her characters held in suspended animation*