Chlosuniblog Easy steps to fill that blank space
I was really happy to find people starting to read and find my blogs useful. A comment on one of my previous blogs “Thoughts on writer’s block” made me want to give more insight to how I battle writers block and try get my 10% gold out! Go read it if you don’t know what I mean!
Writer’s block is the worst but remember this is only temporary! It’s a period of time and that’s it. I am sure if any of you ever experienced it, the ideas will come through eventually. If you are having trouble with a blank mind recently, here are some ways I personally use to get out of the cycle.
1. Free-writing on anything
The thing is, if you have nothing to say or think you have nothing to say, it can feel like there is no point in actually writing anything. But don’t be down about this – everyone experiences this – I’m sure even Shakespeare did at one point!
The trick is to keep writing even if it’s physically writing down that you have no idea what to do. It could be on anything. Once I couldn’t think of anything and I chose the first thing I could see and did free writing about a lemon… I know, a lemon! It doesn’t mean that I did an amazing creative piece about a piece of zingy yellow fruit but I was keeping up the practice of writing and this then helped me get back in the swing of writing and eventually give me the push to carry on.
So really writing about whatever makes your practice constant and you will squeeze out the 10% of gold. And if you think about it, you have to squeeze a lemon to make lemonade – just like squeezing out any ideas at all even if it isn’t very interesting.
2. Clustering
Clustering is an amazing way of getting out random ideas. It can also be known as word-webs. You start of with any word – if it you need to focus on s something in particular then take the most important word and start there. for example, I could stat of with blue. This could then web out to water, sea, waves etc. Below is my example, starting with the root word as “spring”.
You can watch my process in a video on my instagram @a_little_insight.
3. Getting some fresh air or change of scenery.
This was just personally a good one for me. When I have writer’s block I tend to want a change on scenery to spark change in my brain to reach new or just interesting things. Of course this isn’t practical to go on a 2 hour walk every time you have writer’s block, but once in a while I like to go on a walk or quick stroll, even writing in a different place.
4. Word association
This is similar to clustering but in a different format. It is more like a quick fire list. I give myself 30 seconds to a minute long to jot down all he words I can, one relating to the one before. Its interesting to see the difference in your r starting word and your end word. This activity simply gets your brain active and can give you ideas or imagery to fill the blank space in your mind. Here is an example list, the start word being LIFE.
5. Don’t wait and don’t be scared.
By putting off writing because you feel you have writer’s block will make it worse. Don’t be afraid to push yourself into it – what is the worst that could happen? You could write something that you don’t like or never use. But this wont make you a bad writer, it will get you one step closer to your 10% gold! And on the other side, what’s the best thing that could happen? You could write something completely at random that leads you to an idea that creates a fascinating portion of a poem, short story or piece of fiction, even something to use in a piece of copy later on. Push yourself, even if you hate it and it makes you feel uncomfortable – after all if it doesn’t get you on the edge of your seat, will anyone else be on the edge of their seat whilst they read? A lot of emotion and anticipation is put into the art of writing at both spectrums.
But you shouldn’t wait to feel inspired or be scared to be perfect.
Getting writer’s block, is just like hitting a brick wall – although frustrating, is just part of the process and you have to smash through it and by doing these exercises it may help to overcome your blank space.
Writing is a practice, an art and can be difficult sometimes. But isn’t that the beauty of anything? The challenges help us to become better at our practice and that’s just how it is.
Keep pushing yourself for your 10% gold.
Of course, there are multiple ways to create ideas, these methods work for me – what are yours? Comment the ways you use to get out of writer’s block or find inspiration!
This is really interesting and great advice – I think You have inspired me to start jotting and writing when I feel inspired
Thank you! I’m glad – good luck! x
You’re a very good writer. You write with so much clarity its great and insightful.