"Talk to a monkey"
I actually never get writer's block; I'm happy to keep churning out garbage, pedal to the metal, which I figure the editors will clean up later. (They rarely do ... which explains the majority of what I've published. Blame the editors, not me; that's what I pay them for.)
But if you do occasionally find yourself looking at a blank monitor or blank page, blood pressure rising, while you try to put down that first sentence (which you keep erasing), 43 Folders offers a list of ways to hack your way out of writer's block:
Strategies include,
- Talk to a monkey - Explain what you’re really trying to say to a stuffed animal or cardboard cutout.
- Do something important that’s very easy - Is there a small part of your project you could finish quickly that would move things forward?
- Try freewriting - Sit down and write anything for an arbitrary period of time—say, 10 minutes to start. Don’t stop, no matter what. Cover the monitor with a manila folder if you have to. Keep writing, even if you know what you're typing is gibberish, full of misspellings, and grammatically psychopathic. Get your hand moving and your brain will think it’s writing. Which it is. See?
- Take a walk - Get out of your writing brain for 10 minutes. Think about bunnies. Breathe.
- Take a shower; change clothes - Give yourself a truly clean start.
... and many more. Check the site. (Beats staring at that flashing cursor on a blank word-processor window.)
[via 43 Folders]
Posted by johndan at November 27, 2004 12:17 PM
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