Sometimes you get stuck on a piece of writing. Here are ten methods to help you to break the block:
1. Talk to yourself about the piece of writing out loud; record yourself. This provides a feedback loop, which often gives you fresh ideas.
2. Write down five reasons you WON'T complete the piece of writing. This is of course a psychological trick, but it's a useful trick. If you find yourself labeling the writing, or making judgments, you'll realize that this is what you're doing. For example: I won't complete this piece of writing because _____
it's a piece of cr*p (any writing)
the product is useless (copywriting)
Once you realize you're judging, it's often enough to break the block.
3. Write an email message to yourself about the writing, just describe it, mail the email. This is a good way of getting the work out of your head -- seeing it in an email message often breaks blocks.
4. Go for a walk, or go watch a movie.
5. Complete this sentence (write it down, or talk it into a recorder): "If I were a better writer, I would complete this by _________"
6. Quit. Sometimes it's easier just to cut your losses. Don't delete the computer file, just move it to an archive. It's difficult to give up on a piece of writing that you've invested time and energy in, but quitting the project often shows you how you can complete it. Yes, it's another trick.
7. Get feedback from someone you trust. This is easy if you're writing copy (send it to the client for feedback) or are under contract (send it to your editor or agent), more difficult if you're working on your own project. This may be the time to find a writing buddy. :-)
8. Take a complete holiday from writing for ONE WEEK. This is a complete holiday. No writing at all, not even email. Book yourself into a health spa. :-)
9. Start something else -- a completely new project, not something that you're working on and that you've shelved. Set a ONE day time limit for this. In one day, you need to get the new project out the door.
10. Write it anyway. This is the brute force method. Even if you think you'll be physically ill, put one word in front of the next. The writing can be as cr*ppy as you like, just write one word, then another. You can include swear words. :-) Although this is HARD, look at it this way. If writing is what you do, it's what you do. Have you ever heard of plumber's block or bricklayer's block?
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