For days I've wrestled with a couple of chapters in my novel. Sitting in front of the screen my mind would go everywhere but where I wanted it to. Before I knew it I had frittered away two hours playing solitaire, word bubbles and chatting on Facebook.
This afternoon my husband came home early and suggested we take a Harley ride. 80ยบ and sunshine made it a hard offer to refuse.
Two hours on the back of the bike, coupled with the sites and sounds of spring blew out the cobwebs. As I enjoyed the scenery I crawled inside my head and let my characters take over.
This is nothing new for me. It's just been a while since the weather's been warm enough for a comfortable ride.
So I'm curious. If you're a writer and reading this blog let me ask a question. What is your way to break up writer's block?
Great question, Rochelle. I usually close the piece that's giving me trouble and open a new file to start a completely different story or essay. If I take my mind somewhere else, it will react and get to work, then after an hour or ten, it'll tell me it wants to return to the piece that was giving me trouble. I end up keeping several projects in the works at the same time. I have the attention span of a three year old and I think if I work on only one thing, I simply get bored.
ReplyDeleteI go outside and brush the horses, check the eggs, or ride. Or I play a game of pool. But since doing the 100-word thing every Friday I haven't had writer's block at all. Maybe it's just in remission, though, LOL. Or maybe it's just an exercise that helps. When I need a new story idea, I'll grab one of those flash stories and flesh it out. If I'm stumped in a current story, I use the technique I use to write the flash even when I have no ideas. I just write the most absurd thing I can think of that the character could possibly do. That usually breaks the silence.
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