Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Squeezing Out The Ideas
There are a lot of professionals out there that will tell you that a real writer never get writers block. They'll also tell you that there is no such thing as writer's block. Well, they're wrong. I've been writing for more than 20 years and this post is seriously kicking my butt. Not because I'm not a real writer, but because of trying to come up with something to write about that's different than everything else I've written in the past.
I could very well give myself all the free publicity in the world right here. And I'd like to thank the head honcho here for allowing me to do so. But I'm not going to do that. Not in this post at least. Why? Because I'm going to challenge everyone that reads this to come up with their own writing ideas. This is an easy exercise and one that everyone should be able to do when they get stuck.
First of all, shut off the TV., the radio, click off of Facebook and/or MySpace. Get rid of all the distractions that we are all guilty of using. Now, either open up your word processing program or grab a piece of paper and a pencil. Now just write. Don't think about it, just write whatever happens to come to your mind.
As you allow your mind to wander think about the weirder things that run through your mind. Is there an article there? Is it the basis for a new story or maybe your brain works in rhythm and you've just created a brand new poem. Whatever the outcome, keep writing and don't stop. Free write for a minimum of 10 minutes non-stop. Why? Because it allows your brain to kind of shake out the cobwebs. You've been trying so hard to come up with a viable idea that everything's kind of gotten jumbled up. Think of it as defragmenting your brain.
Ok, now that you've finished all that, go back and see what you've got. In all that writing, there has to be something that can be turned into a great article, or story, or whatever. It will probably have to be reworked and refined, but it's there. A diamond in the rough. You might even spark several ideas that you didn't even know you had in you.
Give it a shot. Shut off all the other distractions and just write. Don't worry about criticism, don't worry about right and/or wrong, don't worry about the outcome. Just start writing and let the words and ideas come as they may.
By: Christine Senter
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
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Not the Facecrack!
ReplyDeleteWhen ti comes to writer's block, I have to say that I tend to wait for lightning to strike, so to speak. I have a lot of ideas and I tend to hang on to them until something "clicks."
ReplyDeleteReading a lot sometimes helps, but it also sometimes clogs-up the process. Still, I tend to remember some key details about the things I've read and I'll read or see or experience something different and everything clicks into place and the story kind of writes itself.
In the meantime, I blog which keeps me regular (so to speak) and try not to rush it all. There is definitely something to be said for forcing yourself to work despite not being "inspired," but sometimes it's just spinning wheels.