How to Overcome Writers' Block

Copyright © 1998 Karleen Bradford

You're off to a great start, everything is going along fine, but suddenly the words stop coming. You know where you want to go-- but how are you going to get there? What do you write next? You've ground to a halt. You're out of ideas. You're stuck!

There's a name for this. It's called "writers' block" and it hits all of us sooner or later. I know, because I've wrestled with it many times. I sit down at the computer and just cannot think of what I want to say next.

There are lots of ways to deal with this, however, so don't despair. Just consider yourself in the company of most of the writers in the world and learn a few tips from them.

The first thing to do is to sit down at that desk! If you walk around saying, "Oh, I just don't feel like writing today. I'll wait until I can think of something," that will be the end of your story. I've read dozens of articles by well-known and even very famous writers who say that the hardest part of writing is actually sitting down and getting to it. It's even harder when you know you're stuck.

I've been known to wash the kitchen floor in order to avoid my computer on some occasions, and if you were a member of my family you'd know how much I hate that particular chore. In fact, my son came home from school once, walked into the kitchen, and said, "Uh-oh, Mom must be stuck with her writing again. The kitchen floor's clean!"

Sitting down at that desk when it's the last thing in the world you want to do--when you're afraid to sit down at it--is called discipline. That's a word that's far more important to writers than the word "talent." You can be the most talented writer in the world, but without discipline you'll never get anything finished.

Once you're sitting at that desk, what do you do? You could start brainstorming again. What if this happened...? What if that happened...? Start scribbling down any idea that comes into your mind that might solve the problem. Just the act of writing will generate more ideas. And if it doesn't work, it's not written in stone. You can toss it out (or press that handy delete key) and try again.

Another trick is to start moving your character around. Make him or her do something, even if you don't think it has anything to do with your story. I got stuck quite early on in my book about Lady Jane Grey. (The Nine Days Queen, Scholastic Canada Ltd.) I'd written the first chapter, got Jane and her family to London, and was all set to write about the young King Edward's coronation. Then I stalled.

How was I going to get them to the coronation? What should they do next? I sat and stared at the blank piece of paper with "CHAPTER 2" written on it and bit my fingernails. That wasn't very productive and it certainly wasn't good for my fingernails.

So I bustled Jane's nurse into the room without the slightest idea of what she was going to do--and suddenly I thought of clothes. Of course! Jane and her sister Katherine would have to have something to wear to the coronation.

The nurse immediately whisked over to a trunk, opened it, and took out Jane's and Katherine's best dresses, which they hadn't worn for a year. Then, of course, Jane's dress would be too small for her, so that would create a problem. Then, of course, Jane would be dejected because her younger sister was so much prettier than she was and looked as if she would be so much more at home at court than Jane would be...and so on and so on. I ended up changing and shortening what I wrote--a lot of it just blathered on--but the exercise got the creative juices flowing and I was writing again.

Something else that works: if I'm well and truly stuck, I'll take what I've already written and rewrite it. It's going to be rewritten anyway, so it's not time wasted.

Again, just the act of writing and getting your mind involved with your story will likely carry you past the dead spot. I often find that by the time I arrive at the point where I'd stopped writing before, I'm ready to sail right on.

In short--hang in there! The story that never gets finished will certainly never get published.

This is an excerpt from Chapter 8 of Karleen Bradford's book, WRITE NOW!, How to turn your ideas into great stories, Scholastic Canada Ltd., 1996). Karleen (karleen.bradford@sympatico.ca) writes fiction and non-fiction for children and young adults and has published 16 books and many short stories and articles. The books include contemporary, fantasy and historical novels. As well, she has published two non-fiction collections of true stories of animal heroes.

Visit Karleen's web site at www.karleenbradford.com.