Solutions to Writer's block

Written by Sarah Acham 

As I lie on this bed right now, I am beginning to practically feel drained feel drained, because I have been writing since without taking a break. If I attempt to write another article after this one, I will join the line of writers experiencing writer's block. You don't want to fall into writer's block soon and neither do I, so let's list down the ways of avoiding writer's block.

1. Take breaks while writing.

Inorder to stop your brain from freezing, you need to take breaks. It is important to refresh your brain so you are able to generate a new writing idea or next chapter, or episode. Take a walk around the garden, close your eyes and imagine the most beautiful roses, then come back to the computer.

2. Get a therapist.

Not every one needs a therapist but I am talking about people who are depressed, having OCD or the rest. It is very important to heal before you write because disorders can affect the impact of your work. Some man once couldn't write about love because he was terribly heart broken. He didn't know he needed a counsellor until he found one, now he's well and producing master pieces

3. List down your writing techniques. 

Before starting to write, you must list down the techniques you will use in writing your book so that when you fail to write the next paragraph, you çhoose a technique and write basing on what you chose. For example creating a conversation in the next paragraph when dialogue was one of the techniques you listed.

4. Get to know the best writing time for you. In the previous article, I wrote about writing time. It is important for every writer to identify the active time for his brain so that when writing the plot, everything flows

5. Learn to be calm 

Take your time and come up with something nice instead of coming up with some junk piece of work because you want to write as fast as what I don't know. We understand you want to come up with a book so fast so that we sing Alleluia and celebrate your achievement but hey you need time. Panic mode will jumble your work up and you end up being stuck

 

6. Do enough research before you start writing.

I once wanted to write a history text book because I admired to be called an academic scholar hahaha. Now at that moment I thought of what I would write and I had already forgotten about the French revolution, all I remembered was the storming of the Bastille. Imagine I had jumped into writing the book without enough knowledge. I wonder how many writer's blocks I would have experienced. The idea of being recognized is often attractive but it is just important for us to do research and have enough knowledge about the subject before writing

7. First finish writing before you edit.

While editing, new ideas often pop up because our brains are fresh, a reason why we shouldn't edit before finishing the work. Let's imagine this chapters in our book

When writing

First chapter

 " Joseph loved singing so much. He used to make his grandma sing because he knew it was good for her health..................

Second chapter

Joseph hugged his grandma for she had bought him the best gift ever, a violin THE END"

When editing

First chapter

 Now while editing we come up with this  " And Joseph was an Engineer who loved singing so much , he blended singing and fixing machines. He was often found singing with his grandma for he knew it was good for her health. Joseph's dream of traveling to China to work as an Engineer had come pass. The sight of the plane he was in flying made his grandma get shock and die" 

Second chapter

Writer's block(⁠･ั⁠ω⁠･ั⁠)

When we compare the first chapter while writing and the first while editing, it's a whole mess because the plot has changed in the edited version and we have ended up in writer's block because grandma died yet in actual sense she was to give Joseph a gift

Stories often get jumbled if we edit while writing but if we finish then edit, then we have a full thought of the story and will hardly tamper with it.

8. Believe in yourself

Many times we get demoralised because of low sales and because of opinion. People give opinions for many reasons. Some ar jealous, others are genuine, others don't want to be challenged. Some old man once called my article rubbish and I felt I wasn't a good writer. But I soon gathered myself and believed I was a good writer. Get to also know that making sales takes time. Be patient dear writer, you will make it

9. Stop mixing writing styles. 

If you are a beginner or even an advanced writer, focus on one writing style. Let first person be first person. If you mix, you will end up in a ditch

10. Put yourself in the writer's shoes and imagine scenarios. If the next chapter has failed, imagine you were the one.

Writer's block and the writer

 Written by Sarah Acham 

Writer's block has become a song in the lips of every writer. It is normal to experience writer's block but don't make it part of your daily life. Try hard to avoid circumstances that lead you to it.

When I had just began writing, I didn't know what it was really about for all I had to do is write down a few pieces of poetry and let my neighbor in class smile; what else would  a 17-year-old do. But soon I started feeling; practically when I started writing plays; apart from coming up with attractive names for my characters, I didn't know what should happen or what they should even say next and so pieces of my books stayed in the case but with tender care; that's probably when the calling to be a librarian began. 

Now let's stop the me , my play manuscript story and point out the causes of writer's block 

1. We don't point out the techniques we are going to use.

Techniques are methods we use for writing a book. Without them it's a whole mess

Every writer must note down the techniques to use. Don't be like the 17-year-old me who wrote her first play without thinking of techniques. Techniques help in creating chapters , and paragraphs and a whole lot. If Joseph is our first person in the book and we are stuck on what he should do next after he has entered his bed, then we should make him dream about being in his favorite bar in town drinking Champagne. Why would we do that? because we earlier on listed dreams as one of our techniques. If another of the techniques is biblical allusion, then we shall say that " The enticing taste of the champagne made Joseph regret why he woke up and yet giving up alcohol was one of his yearly goals. "A little wine is good for your health" he spoke to himself, got up and went to the bar 

2. We don't put ourselves in the shoes of the characters.

 Have you heard one of the writing phrases " you must enter in the book" When you put yourself in the shoes of the characters, you easily come up with scenes because you imagined it was you and at the end you come up with solutions to wat to do next. Most of us don't put ourselves in the shoes of our characters, we just write , write, write about Susan and the pet and end up getting stuck.

3. We are driven by emotions. 

This is an actual reality. So many writers have had a bad past and writing about a topic related to that is just a whole mess. Have you come across someone whose son committed suicide and writing about death is a problem. Every time the person attempts to write down a chapter, tears roll. A reason why manuscripts rot in garages , end up in dustbins

4. Writing at the wrong time. 

When we talk about time being wrong, we have to know that every body has a wrong and  right writing time because brains actually differ. I actually write best around 4a.m or evening hours, that time doesn't work for every one, some people dread it, they prefer afternoon yet afternoons are worse for people like me. I actually switch off at midday. 

When we write at the time when our brains get demand, we end up getting stuck over and over again because our brains can't process the right information

5. We are just demoralized

As writers we are bound to come across so many obstacles in life. Sometimes low book sales are a cause, other times it's lack of encouragement from the people we love and a lot more. Why wouldn't some one whose book didn't sell fail to write the next chapter

6. We edit our work while writing

When you write and edit at the same time before completing, you just jumble it up by all means; because you will be coming up with new beautiful ideas which disorganize the whole plot.

7. We are anxious

Anxiety can be part of writing especially for first time writers who just can't wait to see their book put up on Amazon. At the end of the day being stuck is the daily meal because less thought is given while writing

8. We are mixing writing styles 

Let's do it this way " I wanted to feel the breeze for my life had been a mess over the past years. Mary had really suffered a lot" What do you think about that sentence? Those are two writing styles . There is first person and then second and the whole sentence doesn't really make sense. It makes us believe we are talking about two people yet it's one person. At the end of the day we are stuck 

9. We haven't even done enough research.

This one mainly goes to writers of text books , articles etc. Most subjects need research. By the way I respect text book writers a lot because they use a lot of brain energy. If you don't do research on " the French revolution" you will end up being stuck on the French revolution

10. We are not fine 

Mental health is a key element in writing. Imagine being depressed and you are writing or probably having OCD and you are writing. Do you think you will come up with something good. 

There are a lot of causes of writer's block but those are just a few. Come back again next time so we can identify the solutions to the writer's night mare, writer's block. 

#writer' block

Best techniques for writing comic novels or stories

Written by Sarah Acham 

 Hi, I am so excited to share with you some of the techniques that aid you in coming up with a nice comic story or novel. "We don't want Writers block anywhere close"

1. Humor. 

This has to be the obvious one because first we are writing a comedy and humour has to be present. If it isnt then it's a complete mess. We don't want fold our cheeks coz the comic book is sad, we instead want to widen our cheeks instead " she poured a whole bucket of water on him, provoking him to take off his shirt. As she amazingly stared at his broad chest, he teasingly started pulling off his pants. The site was a bit scary, and so she ran away like a headless hen. Roberto laughed  " Don't tell me this girl is still a virgin. She is too loud mouthed to be a virgin"

2. Dialogue 

A dialogue is a conversation between two or more people in simple terms. Conversations bring books to life. They practically make us understand comic stories better 

3. Descriptive narrative

"The blue red eyed dog 🐕 loved stealing chicken mash at night for he knew it was a secret supplement given to the loud mouthed birds. He was just simply jealous. The hens decided to hold a meeting in order to find a lasting solution for Blue Bum" description can be crazy and remember a little craze in a comic story creates drama 

4. Proverbs 

Proverbs are natural and have been part of human life since the beginning of time; they have a hidden meaning that turns out humourus at the end of it all. "A lie travels around the world while truth is putting her boots on" how does that sound? You better think of adding proverbs to your story

5. Omniscient narrative

As authors, we have to know our characters and as well take up their positions while writing. We have to know that Mary used to pluck chicken tails ever since she was 3, a reason she became famous for chicken fattening "

6. Dreams 

Why not place a funny dream in your story to add flavor to it.

What else can I say?

I could speak lots and lots of techniques that can help you come up with a comedy but let me end here. Comic books always sell and I think it's high time you plan to write one. 

Keep following me for writing advice. This is a place for you