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The Art of Overcoming Writer's Block (and other mental blocks)

Guest post by: Jeneth Blackert

Article Overview: What do I write? Where do I start? Grrrrr... that paragraph doesn't look right! I've been doing this HOW long? I only have one page finished? I'm never going to get this finished." Does this mental chatter sound familiar to you? If you find yourself struggling with writer's block, this could be the answer for you. Many times the reason for a mental block is a mind with too much clutter and lack of consistent focus. We have so much going on these days, that when we have to sit down and force ourselves to write nothing comes out. We find our thoughts drifting. The following techniques are sure to snap your mind into focus and allow your creative writing juices to freely flow, and ultimately breaking you free from writers block! Woo Hoo!

The Art of Overcoming Writer's Block (and other mental blocks)

What do I write? Where do I start? Grrrrr... that paragraph doesn't look right! I've been doing this HOW long? I only have one page finished? I'm never going to get this finished." Does this mental chatter sound familiar to you? If you find yourself struggling with writer's block, this could be the answer for you.

Many times the reason for a mental block is a mind with too much clutter and lack of consistent focus. We have so much going on these days, that when we have to sit down and force ourselves to write nothing comes out. We find our thoughts drifting. The following techniques are sure to snap your mind into focus and allow your creative writing juices to freely flow, and ultimately breaking you free from writers block! Woo Hoo!

1. Research - Before you start writing your article or book, take some time to read and research work from authors you enjoy and respect. Take note of the things you really like, and the writing style you wish to capture in your work.

2. Set a distraction free time - Schedule a time you would like to spend working on your project. Ensure you will have a distraction free, comfortable environment you feel great in.

3. Reflection Time - 15-30 minutes before you plan on starting your project, take some time and reflect on what the purpose of your article/book is. What are your visions, who are you trying to reach, what is your message? Think about these questions, and really get into a great energy and emotion regarding your work, and what you hope to accomplish.

4. Creating your work - When you are ready to write, find your comfortable distraction free work area. Write the old fashion way, pen and paper. You will find your thoughts will flow a lot easier as writing by hand allows your mind to continue to flow as you write. Often times, if we write directly on the computer, we are not only thinking about our story, but also paying attention to the computer and the program we are using. This prevents the creative natural flow you will find in writing by hand.

5. Type, Edit, Add - Finalize your work, and type it up. This is a great time to edit, or add more thoughts to your work.

The combination of research, reflection and no distractions will allow you to have full use of your relaxed, focused mind. You will find ideas and creativity will flow effortlessly. Instead of feeling frustration over not knowing what to write, you will feel joy in the discovery of a new quality of work you will received from placing yourself in the right environment. Your work will be a higher quality. You also will get more accomplished in less time, all by allowing yourself full focused, coupled with bringing a great energy to the table for your new creation.

Related Articles
  Use Your Subconscious Mind to Remove Mental Blocks
  Removing Mental Blocks that Keep You Stuck
  Get Your Creative Juices Flowing When You\'re Up Against a Wall
  Overcome Writer's Block: How to Cure this Common Ailment
  Overcome Mental Blocks

Article Tags: 30 minutes, article book, clutter, consistent focus, creative writing, distraction, emotion, free time, juices, old fashion way, paragraph, pen and paper, reflection time, visions, writers block, writing style
Referred by: http://www.brandu.com/rd.cfm?id=743



Related Forum Posts
Consult your customers before you change your procedures.... - Not sure where this topic should go, but... I just finished reading a rather funny series of posts on MySpace. I belong to a group called WritersCafe. This group also has a webpage, where people post their stories and poems for other people to critique. Apparently, today, the Writers Cafe website has undergone a complete makeover...and its users were taken completely by surprise - apparently no one in charge at Writers Cafe bothered to tell anyone that the format would be changing, or asked for any input on what the changes should be. So there's over 2 pages of complaints on the Writers Cafe group message board, with people saying they can't log in, they dont' like the new design (it looks too "girly" - whatever the heck that means!), and other complaints. And while this only happened today, I have seen other instances of this. Every once in a while yahoo.mail or google groups implements a change in design - and it is never as good as it used to be. Then of course there's the IMDB (internet movie database) which also recently changed its design without telling anyone first or solicting input - and the new design stinks. Fortunately there's a button so you can use the old design, which is what I do... But in all these experiences, the main point of irritation is that no one in "charge" ever asks the people who use their site, if they want changes made and what they should be. It's like they've got all these programmers on staff and have to justify their salaries, so they have them work up "improvements" - but these are techheads who probably don't use the site, so they just do what they like, rather than what users like. The fact that it happens continually, across various businesses, is a rather disturbing trend.
Re: What Do You Outsource Mostly? - Writers are my biggest OS cost, but also have software developers and a marketing team.
Re: THE Most Important Concern At Startup - All of these things are necessary, but I think the first thing you have to check for is PASSION. If you are passionate enough about what you want to do and you've done the research (like we've mentioned above) then you'll have the intestinal fortitude that it takes to get around the road blocks that may get in your way of success. If you don't love what you do you are less apt to fight for it.
Re: Time to get rich in real estate? - House prices, like a lot of the economy in Japan, have been pretty stagnant. Hiroshima is no exception, at least on the secondary market; Apartment in new apartment blocks are more attractive to people who buy for residential purposes.
Re: Would you pass on a media opportunity? - I think you shouldn't let an oppurtunity like this pass, since I must say, this is very very rare and you are lucky enough to be a recipient of one. By short notice, I think you should try to review the basics of the business or whatever it is that might be a possible question that the interviewer will ask you. Aside from this, I think you should relieve yourself of all stress that can really cause you nervousness or what is very foreboding: a mental block.


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