Ah, writer’s block. Bane of every creatively minded person in the known universe, it stops your pen and leaves you cursing and questioning what you did to anger the literary gods. Whether it comes to you in the night, in the middle of a crucial chapter, or as you’re slogging through ten pages of mindless exposition, writer’s block is a hard enemy to thwart.
Though some people say that universal questions have no answers (“Why the heck can’t I write this one bit of dialogue?” “How do I connect these two plot items?” “Why doesn’t Taco Bell deliver?”), there are some steps you can take to kill the mind block dragon currently eating at your productivity. We promise that they’ll give your process a jolt to the heart and actually be fun!
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Have a snack
Aside from being one of life’s greatest pleasures, snacking can actually help you think better! Try some of these foods that research suggests may boost your memory and productivity!
It’s also a good idea to eat your eat somewhere else than in front of your computer. It’s bad for your digestion and Take some time for yourself to sit down, think about something else, and relax while you enjoy some tasty food. Props to you if you can find a way to combine all these elements into one (probably super weird-tasting) dish for maximum creativity-boosting effects.
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Try a new creative medium
When was the last time you finger-painted? Made a collage? Wove a basket? If your answer was anything other than “two minutes ago,” you should try switching it up! Exploring themes from your work in another medium is fun, and you might find that it may illuminate some elements of your story that you hadn’t considered.
Also, working with your hands is a nice way to change up the generally desk-bound occupation of writing in favor of a more hands-on approach (get it? HANDS on. Puns. We love ‘em). If nothing else, it will keep your muscles from atrophying. Here are some ideas to get you going!
Make a children’s book version of your story and use construction paper and glue to illustrate it. Be sure to tone down any inflammatory scenes to make it child appropriate!
- Macaroni art of pivotal scenes.
- Finger-paint an idea for your cover. Send this immediately to your graphic designer with the subject line “final cover draft idea” and watch them flip out (just kidding. Do not actually do this.)
- Go through a magazine and pull out images that inspire you and make a collage.
- Write a haiku about how much you hate writer’s block.
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Take a power nap.
Seriously. Take a nap. A ten-minute nap will improve memory alertness and result in minimal grogginess when you wake up. A 90-minute nap will put you through a full REM cycle of sleep and leave you better equipped for creativity and memory retention. It all depends on what you have time for, but try to keep it between 10-30 minutes or go all in for a 90-minute nap.
Prime napping times, research suggests, is between 1-3 in the afternoon, but be careful not to nap too late! A long nap past 4 in the evening can disturb your sleep cycle that night and keep you up.
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Go play!
A good burst of exercise can boost endorphins in your brain and increase your creativity. Whatever form of exercise you enjoy, take a thirty-minute break to get your sweat on. Even just a little bit of exercise helps. Play with your dog! If you have a cat, cradle your cat in your arms and try and make your cat love you. If that doesn’t work, go for a run or carry a bunch of manuscripts up and down your stairs. Just get moving!
Writers, what advice are you sick of hearing about writer’s block, and how do you beat the creative doldrums?
I find cleaning, gardening, or going through old papers (which need to be thrown out but haven’t yet) is not only effective but a productive way in curing writer’s block.