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.