When Writers’ Block Knocks You Out by Linda S. Glaz

Your fingers are flying over the keys a mile a minute…and I MEAN a mile a minute. Have you seen some of these folks’ fingers flying?

Anyway, just as the ‘bad guy’ rounds the corner, feet from grabbing the heroine’s hair, she stumbles and…she stumbles and…she stumbles and…

What happens next?

Are you kidding me? She stumbles and what? He grabs her. No. He snatches at her, ripping curls from her head. Not only no, but NO!

He stops. She freezes. They both…absolutely not!

What’s going on? Why is this happening? I’ve written 10k this week with without so much as a glitch, and now—nothing.

It could simply be the 10k. You’re tired. The well’s dry, so to speak. Everyone has a method that works best for them, but what if this is your first venture into writers’ block. What do you do? Coffee? A nap? Rip up the WIP and start over? Tuck it in a drawer? Look in the mirror and give yourself a hard slap? Go for a 10k run? Triathlon? Pay a bruiser to sock you in the noggin to scramble the info for a fresh start?

Sometimes the solutions are a bit less drastic. While each person must find his or her own way to rekindle the juices, here are a few suggestions:

-walk away from it for a few days, or weeks if necessary

-check out a movie in the era or genre of your work

-read a book (let someone else’s finished product help inspire you)

-try naming your characters different names and put them in an entirely diff setting. You might find straying from their setting will get those juices going

-offer to help someone else by proofing a crit partner’s work

-ask your crit partners for suggestions

-and here’s one that really helps…write something else. Put away your WIP and redirect your efforts to a new work. A short story, a magazine article, or you might even outline a new novel

Whatever your block, don’t give up. The solution is right around the corner. Never give up. You’ll find a solution and your heroine WILL escape the mad man’s hands.