If you have been staring at a blank screen, with the next American best seller right there on the tip of your fingers and yet you cannot figure out how to bring it out, you might have writers block. Do not panic, all writers experience writers block at some point in their careers and most writers experience it frequently. Try any or all of these top ten tips for pushing past writers block and figure out the best way to get your novel done.1. Stay Focused-Eliminate Distractions,
Are you spending more time on Twitter, Face book, MySpace, or checking your e-mail than writing your novel? What about watching television or flipping through radio stations? While some writers find that it is easier to write with the music playing in the background if you are spending more time flipping stations trying to find the right mood music try turning off the radio, turning off the distractions and focus on the writing. If you spend a great deal of time using social media you might need to turn off your computer and write long hand for awhile just to get focused and eliminate these distractions from your life.
2. Set reasonable Goals
Think about your writing goals, if you want to get your first novel finished in a year then you are going to want set some reasonable goals for getting your novel finished. You can start by setting a word count goal. NANOWRIMO is a famous writing contest that takes place in November and offers writers a chance to write 50,000 words in 30 days. In order to do this the website offers up tips on how many words a day you will need to meet your goals. You can also set page goals, to figure out how finish your novel in a year. Just remember that these goals need to be reasonable. With the right idea, NANOWRIMO proves that anyone can write 50,000 words in thirty days, so keep your goals reasonable and you will be able to achieve them.
3. Take a break
If you are sitting there staring at the blank screen get up, walk around. Take a long walk, or bike ride. Take a shower, eat a snack. You aren't procrastinating as much as you are clearing your head. Once your mind is clear go back to the screen and see what you can come up with. If you've already started your novel you might find with a clear head that the ideas flow more easily and you can pick up that thread. So take a break, and get away from your project for awhile, just don't forget to come back to it.
4. Start a New project
It's okay to start something new. If you are having writers block with your current project start a new one. Maybe write out an outline for a new novel, write a short story or article. Anything to get your mind off of your current project, then when the new ideas come in for the novel that you are feeling the writer's block with, write them down and finish up your project before you go back. You might find that is all it takes to restart the battery and get back on track for finishing your novel.
5. Do some research
Another reason that you might be facing writers block is that you simply do not know enough about the topic you are writing about. While it is common for someone to procrastinate by doing too much research if you have started the novel and suddenly feel stumped ask yourself if you know enough about the topic you've chosen, or if that could be the problem. Do some more research, re-read through your notes, or dig a little bit deeper and see what else you can find out. If you feel confident about your topic it will be easier to write about it and you will be less likely to experience writers block.
6. Brainstorm
Try brainstorming new ideas or new avenues to explore your current idea. If you are writing a thriller brainstorm different roads to take, all novels, whether they are thrillers, romantic comedies, chick lit, have to have conflict in order to work, so brainstorm different conflicts, or what the story would be like without a character. Maybe your main character gains a new friend, or lover, no matter what you can brainstorm different scenario's and while they might never make it to print this action can help you break through the writer's block and get back on track.
7. Interview your character
Maybe you have an outline, maybe you don't. Either way sit down one on one with your character and ask them some questions. Write down a list of things that you think your readers will want to know about the character and then ask away. Pretend they are right there in the room with you, and hold on a conversation. Pretend you are a famous news anchor grilling your character on live television, and ask them all kinds of personal questions. You might be surprised what you learn from this character and how it will affect the overall story. Write it all down to, the questions the answers, and specifically who the character is so that if you decide to interview another character in the same story, or even another character somewhere down the line you can do so without having to worry about what to ask.
8. Read something new
Reading can help you break through writers block, whether you read a magazine article, blog, website, or novel. No matter what you read it can help you get back on track with your own writing. It might bring up questions that you can explore with your writing, offer suggestions, or just get you to relax enough that the ideas start flowing again. No matter what, all of the experts agree that reading is one of the best ways to overcome writers block, so find something to read, even if you are re-reading your own work looking for new inspiration.
9. Discuss your ideas with friends and colleagues
If you have friends and colleagues that like to write discussing your ideas with them can help you brainstorm. If your friends don't like to write chances are they will still like to read and so talking with them about your ideas can also generate new ideas and get you unblocked. The only people you do not want to talk to are the negative ones, if someone tells you that you cannot write, or cannot make a story idea work then don't talk to them about it. Avoiding negativity is very important when it comes to pushing through writers block. So talk to people who are positive, and who will offer up solid good advice and avoid people who aren't.
10. Try some simple exercises
Whether you are doing mind exercises or physical exercises, doing simple exercises can relax you and get you back on track. So get up stretch your body, go through some simple physical exercise that will get you limbered up and feeling more alert, and then do the same thing with your mind. Play around with brain teasers, and mind exercises. Read through some spelling exercises, exercise your brain and your body, and you will find the writer's block literally melting away.
While not all of these tips work on everyone, at least one of them should work for you. If not spend some time thinking about ways that do work, then write them down and post the tips somewhere near your computer so that whenever you experience writers block you will know how to get through it. Remember the most important thing of all is that every single writer, whether they are famous or not, has been right where you are now, and
it is so important to not give up.
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