Ah, the age old dilemma that every writer has experienced: writer’s block. This lack of new inspiring thought can seemingly put a halt to your writing career. So what can you do to overcome writer’s block and reactivate your imagination?
To answer this question, I went to the experts and looked up some interviews with writers to see what they did to fix their writer’s block.
From discussions with Mark Morton and Alain Johannes, one of the interviewers from Songwriters on Process found that they have ways of finding inspiration in their daily lives. Granted, these men are writing songs not books, but the idea remains the same. How do you instigate new thoughts? They found nuggets of gold in their everyday activities that they could then write songs about. They took pleasure in the little things and then translated this joy over to their music. Here is the link to the article and Youtube interview video if you would like to check it out for yourself: http://www.songwritersonprocess.com/blog/2019/5/22/markalain
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote to his daughter about finding inspiration to write and his technique was investing his strongest feelings into his writing. He even said “you have only your emotions to sell” when speaking to her about drawing in an audience and being able to make writing a lucrative career. Here is the article where you can read a couple of the letters Fitzgerald wrote to his daughter: https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/01/08/f-scott-fitzgerld-on-writing/
I think that both the songwriters and Fitzgerald had good ideas to cure writer’s block, but in order to suit my own personal needs I would have combine some of each of their ideas. I do draw heavily on my personal experiences when writing, like Morton and Johannes, and I also write based on emotions I have felt, like Fitzgerald discusses. However, I have trouble writing about a scenario that does not fit my current situation. For example, it is hard for me to write about saddening and angering events when my life is going well at the moment. I have noticed, however, that if I engage in an activity that I am passionate about or that incites stronger emotions, I am more likely to be able to write. This is why watching old western style movies helped me gain motivation and inspiration to work on the novel I have been writing, because it is set in the same time period. Watching these movies along the same theme has helped me envision my own story and bring it to life through the stories I am watching.
I would say, therefore, that the key to curing writer’s block is to involve yourself in activities that you enjoy, that motivate you and inspire you. The emotions you begin feeling from these activities can be channeled onto paper and you may even stumble across some new, wonderful ideas!
Clarity with Clara 