Today I would like to welcome guest writer, Natasja Eby. Enjoy!
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Writers in the wild have few natural enemies: criticism, self-doubt, and impostor syndrome, to name a few. But there is none greater than writer’s block. Yes, the bane of our existence, the one single thing standing between us and the end of our books.
The biggest question on every writer’s mind is, “What can I do to get over my writer’s block?” First, recognize that writer’s block is psychological. Much like stress, it can be caused by a number of things and gets worse the more you dwell on it. Instead of thinking about how bad your writer’s block is, try one of these helpful tips instead:
1. Get physical. Exercise will get your heart pumping and hopefully those brain juices flowing. Take a walk, go to the gym, or join an amateur sports league. You might even find inspiration in any of these places.
2. Write something new. I know you want to finish your WIP, but maybe you just need to take a break from it. Writing something new has many purposes: it keeps you writing, it helps you practice, it gives you something else to focus on, and it keeps you from rereading your WIP over and over.
3. Determine whether there’s an underlying issue with your WIP. Maybe you got to a key part of the conflict too early or too late. Maybe your characters fell in love too quickly (been there, done that). Maybe the MC’s long-lost cousin just showed up out of the blue—and you don’t even know their name! Try looking at your story from another angle to see if you can rework or reorganize it to get it back on track.
4. Do another creative activity, like crafting, painting, singing, or knitting. Take a break from writing but not from being creative. You might need a break from writing to avoid burnout, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still exercise your creativity.
5. Are you just stuck on a transitional scene?I struggle with those scenes where I need to get characters from point A to point B. Lately, I’ve using “FILLER” as a placeholder so I can move past it and think about it later. As it turns out, going back to those scenes makes them seem far less important, and I can breeze by them easily.
6. Write. I know, I know—that’s the whole issue! You can’t write! But actually, you can. You’ve done it before, and you’ll do it many, many, many times in the future. This is the hardest piece of advice I have for any writer or aspiring writer. Just. Start. Writing. I’m a notorious perfectionist and the only thing that helps me get over a block is to stop trying to be good the first time around. So, write something bad! That’s what editing is for.
Hopefully, trying some of these tips will help you get back into the swing of it. Once you’re writing again, make a promise to yourself—you’ll write every day (barring any emergencies) whether it’s one sentence or 100 sentences. At the end of the day, don’t be too hard on yourself for having writer’s block or simply not knowing what to write. Try something new, take a deep breath, and… write!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Natasja is a librarian and the self-published author of the Swapped Lives, the Knockout Girl series, and the Onepian Chronicles. She is an avid fan and participant of NaNoWriMo and has completed several novels over the past few Novembers.
In 2019, Natasja received two Indie Original awards for Knockout Girl, one for Best New Author and the other for Best Young Adult Novel.
When she's not working on her many unfinished novels, she can be found playing video games with her husband and two kids, singing, or curled up with a good book. Natasja lives just outside of Toronto–close enough for good shopping and far enough to avoid the traffic.
Website: http://natasjaeby.blogspot.com/
You can find all Natasja's novels on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Natasja-Eby/e/B07HYY597B