If you have ever had writers block then these suggestions by Katherine Bacher will sort you out. Please make sure you check out Katherine’s blog http://katherinebacher.wordpress.com

1. Change Projects.Not to say, “abandon ship” on your current project. Take one hour to gaze outside your window, stare at your goldfish, or whatever view that relaxes and assists with spacing out. Take that single hour to jot down new ideas. Create new characters, or take a previously known ‘background character’ whose personality might be worth expanding. Think about different environments you haven’t explored. List personality traits or life experiences you haven’t touched on yet. Sometimes focusing on new ideas snaps you back into the “writing zone.”
2. Music Soothes the Soul.Perhaps you’re having difficulty writing a scene that is driven by a specific emotion. Find some music that would match the tone of your scene and get lost into the song for a while.  If you’re describing a scenario of terror, think of melodies from your favorite thriller. Is the scene calling for anger? Throw heavy metal or punk rock into your player-of-choice. Does the scene take place in the mountains? Try some good, old-fashioned country. Setting the mood for yourself can place you in the right frame of mind for getting that creativity flowing.
3. Go Back To The Beginning Sometimes reflecting back on your favorite author’s works inspires you to continue with your own. I am not talking about plagiarizing. My meaning is, if you’re writing a mystery, go back and re-read some Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Maybe it’s period romance, so find Jane Austen’s work. Sometimes re-reading favorites help tap into your love the genre.
4. Fresh Perspective. Maybe the reason writer’s block set in is due to a problem you can’t solve. Bouncing ideas off of fellow peers in the same genre can open a wealth of information and points of view setting off that, “Aha!” moment. Real conversations with real solutions are sometimes the best medicine for fictional problems.
5. Get Out. As one of my favorite TV personalities, Alton Brown would say, “Walk away. Just walk away.” Stepping away from the monitor can be an asset to inspiration. For my genre, romance writing, my primary goal is to make the finished work about the character development. What are their dreams? What are their flaws that hinder those dreams? Who have they become by the time the reader reaches “The End?”  But, how can I possibly write about the human experience, if I’m never around people? People watching can be an amazing motivator. Whether it’s their nervous ticks, how they interact with family versus their friends, all of that can be channeled into your work. Try something new. For the tame, try a cooking class or take a drive to a city in your home state you’ve never been before. For the more adventurous, try a new sport or something daring like skydiving. Having new experiences to fill the blank page of your life is just as necessary to successfully filling that blank page on your monitor.

Hope you have enjoyed these excellent suggestions. You could be next! Please feel to write some and drop them to 5thingstodotoday@gmail.com.

David

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