The Writer's Pulse

Image: Valeriana Solaris

Writing is just like any other skill: you have to practice to get better. You have to exercise. And if you don’t keep up that exercise, you’ll find your ability slowly wasting away. Read the rest of this entry »

Image: kyknoord

I think there’s a point in every aspiring writer’s life when he or she finally “gets it.” Not in the sense of a sudden, crystalizing moment or an epiphany, but a gradual realization of who they are. Read the rest of this entry »

"What's in there?" "Only what you take with you."

Star Wars probably isn’t the first source you’d turn to for writing advice, but a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a couple Jedi masters shared a few words of wisdom with their padawan learners that may also help you on the path to becoming a better writer.

So grab your lightsaber and power-up your protocol droid. Let’s see what they have to say. Read the rest of this entry »

Tips are opinions. No matter how many blogs or magazines you read, the advice you get is never guaranteed to work for you, because we’re all different.

None of that stops people like me from posting opinions and tips, occasionally laced with fact, but I thought I’d take a moment to state the obvious: what works for me, or what I think might help you, is ultimately a shot in the dark. I try to help but I’m only human, you know?

All of that said (and now you’re wondering what my point is), here is my number one tip for anyone who comes up against writer’s block or, my latest discovery, Blogger’s block:

Turn off the television, log off the computer, and put down the writing advice book.

Clear your mind.

I’m not crazy. In fact, you’ve heard this before, but usually only as a preamble to entering the writing process. Don’t ignore it as a legitimate way of tackling writer’s block.

Think of it like this: over time, through work and over-exposure to the media and the fast, busy world in general, our minds get overloaded. Stressed out. Fragmented. When you hit a creative obstacle, many times it will be due to over-thinking. You sit down to write, but it’s difficult to concentrate and you have so much left to do and your mind begins to drift away. You’re stale and your imagination is blank, except for the images put there by the daily grind. So what do you do?

You stop.

Not only do you drop whatever you’re working on, but you take a break, however short, from watching the talking heads on the news, browsing the Internet, cramming your head full of writing advice and the habits of successful authors. You chill, you go for a walk, you relax. You take a vacation away from all of those distractions.

A million tech junkies and, let’s face it, modern human beings are screaming in horror at the thought of giving up the Internet. TV? Maybe. Self-help books? Sure, why not. But the Internet? I’ve got to check my e-mail and Twitter and Facebook and MySpace and BlogCatalog! Maybe buy some things on Amazon, send out some text messages, download a new iPhone app. And I’ve got blogs to read! Blogs!

That disclaimer at the top of this post is there for a reason: this advice clearly won’t work for everyone, and even if it did, most wouldn’t want to take it. Many couldn’t simply due to their careers.

The point here, however, is not to “give up” anything, but simply to leave it all for a day or two or however long it takes for your mind to defragment. An actual vacation, in fact, is the perfect opportunity to leave the Internet and television behind.

Clear out the clutter, drop whatever artistic endeavors you’ve been failing to accomplish, and allow yourself to reset, just as you’d defragment or restart a computer that has been doing too much and running too long.

This overworking of your mind (emotions included) can drain your creativity and suck your inspiration dry. Sure, it’s not always the cause of what we call writer’s block, but it’s worth a try to just take a break if you feel your writing is becoming forced, or if you can’t muster up the will to write at all.

Here’s something I think you should do if you haven’t already: create an idea folder.

Newspaper and magazine clippings, passages from books, pictures, observations. Snippets of your own writing, or incomplete ideas. An idea folder is filled with things that interest you, things that in the future you may turn to for inspiration.

The folder can be real or digital, and keeping it will give you something to turn to when you feel creatively drained or out of ideas: just reach in and look through all the various things you’ve collected.

It’s very similar to a writing journal, or those things writers use to scribble down their musings on story ideas and characterizations. But an idea folder is meant to be more visceral, more intuitive. Bits and pieces of the world that you pick out one by one to save for a rainy day. Don’t think too much about it but, when you find something inspiring, add it to the folder.

As a side note, I personally prefer something tangible. As great as the digital age is, there’s something about actually holding an object in your hand that computers will never be able to emulate (well, not yet, anyway). The bit of paper from a fortune cookie, an expired concert ticket, an old bus pass. Things that might remind you of something that happened in the past, all waiting to be used as great ideas in the future.

So create your folder, in whatever way suits you, and add to it when you find something unique and inspiring. It will be waiting the next time you feel the dreaded block heading your way.