Writer’s Block

Writer’s block is something we’ve all had to deal with before, whether it be writing an essay for an assignment or a speech, we all come across times where we just can’t come up with the right idea’s. Believe it or not, there are ten different types of writer’s block, according to Charlie Ander’s article called The 10 Types of Writer’s Block and How To Overcome Them.  Those types being:

1. You can’t come up with an idea.
2. You have a lot of ideas but can’t commit to any of them.
3. You have an outline but can’t get any further.
4. You’re stuck in the middle and don’t know what to do next.
5. You have a bad feeling your story took a wrong turn and you’ve hit a dead end.
6. You’re bored with the characters.
7. You keep imagining why people would say it sucks.
8. You can’t find the right words for what you’re trying to convey.
9. You had a good idea, now you’re turning into words and suddenly it’s terrible.
10. You’re revising your work and can’t get past the blocks of text you have already wrote.

The imaginary friends are the voices in your head that tell you what to write and help you overcome writer’s block, which at times can be hard to do. But there are many ways to deal with writer’s block. For example: Using trial and error. Trying to juggle possibilities of how you could phrase something usually ends in us repeating the same things over and over again; to avoid that you can make a list of alternate phrases. Another thing that often works is to wait for inspiration. A good site with tips on how to avoid writer’s block is writersdigest.com.

To avoid writer’s block, here are a few effective strategies I suggest to keep writer’s block from stopping you.  Take notes on phrases and ideas as they come to you.  Brainstorm and free write or just sit down for awhile and jot down everything that you can think of about your topic. If you can’t think of anything, write “blah, blah, blah” over and over. Distractions may be what is keeping you from being able to think clearly. If you continue to practice these techniques,  you will surely overcome writer’s block.