Writers block...

Writers block…

Erm.. Writersss bloooockkk

Block, block, block

Block, like a block of cheese.

Cheese

Well now I’m hungry.

Eccchhhh

…

          

We have all been here, staring at the blank page slamming our heads against the keyboard hoping for genius, or in the case of some (maybe most) it is the night before and you are trying to write the best you can, while also trying to not vomit as the hours tick away. You’re not getting any sleep tonight and you know it.

 I have been here so many times. So many that I have tried countless tactics on how to beat the ol’ shield bump to the pen. Lets be honest, sure sometimes words flow out of you like a gosh dang river, but not always, sometimes writing is really hard and having writers block only makes me more difficult. Once you’ve got it enough you, you start to fight back; you find things that work for you to help. Here are a choice few of my (often) successful tricks.

• Have a tea bro, listen, hear me out, I know this sounds like hippie non-sense but trust me. Coffee is good, great, excellent, nectar of the gods, but with it comes a high caffeine content. You’re going to be awake sure, but it’s also a diuretic, so you’re going to be running to the bathroom a lot which kills all the time you’ve acquired from not sleeping.  Not only that but high caffeine can spike your stress levels, making those due dates even spookier. A nice herbal tea can calm you, and a cup of black tea can give you just enough caffeine without having you jittering off your chair.

• You have to have your body working as a whole, not just your head, but your heart too. You’d be surprised how much of an effect you can make on your writing by waking up your body, do some push ups, go for a run, boogie down, or just take a quiet walk, just make sure to get your blood flowing. Now that you’ve done that, have a little read of material you enjoy, maybe listen too some music while you do. This will get you primed and started up like a push mower. Remember though at the end of the day, your brain is a muscle don’t overwork it.

• Try your best not to force anything, sure it will get the job done and you might get and okay mark… while that’s okay I suppose if that’s all you want, but often when you force it, you’re not getting something you really feel or even like. You should like your work, especially if it’s a nice piece of creative writing that you want to pour your heart and soul into.

• With the previous trick in mind, this one is sort of the opposite. Try ink shedding, or ink bleeding. Just keep writing, for as long as you can, any idea that comes to mind put it on paper and try your best not to stop. This is an interesting trick in that it can go one of two ways, it can kick start your brain, or you could actually end up writing some great stuff, hidden in all the insanity mind you.

• Finally and possibly the most obvious, simply take a break. Come on, you deserve it, you’ve written a whole thirty-five words, but seriously, sometimes you’re just stressing it too much, and you actually need to let yourself calmly procrastinate. Watch a YouTube video, make a snack, play an instrument, think about Danny DeVito, go for a walk, or even play a video game. Any of these can keep your mind off only writing, and maybe start to move it to writing about something of substance. Just make sure to watch the clock; there is such thing as too much of a good thing.

I’m going to sign off with some wise words from a friend of mine. “If you want to cure writers block, simply fall in love, or, out of it.“

-Cheers, Tyler.