Breaking through the Barriers of Writer's Block

Writer's block occurs when we lose our train of thought or have seemingly run out of ideas. When this occurs it is only natural to increase your determination to get the writing process back on track. Actually this can make the situation worse since it introduces more pressure which further constricts your ability to develop new writing ideas.

What to do?

Here are 3 tips to use for idea generation or to recapture your train of thought when the writing process for you comes to a grinding halt.

Review What You Wrote

This often can help to get your thinking back on track. When you lose your focus the best thing to do is 'retract' your previous steps to pick back up on your trail of thought. By reviewing your most recently documented content you can determine what your point is and the direction you were taking it. This can be a very effective way of snapping out of the writers block that has stalled your efforts.

Leave Your Work Station

Changing environments often accomplishes two things. It reduces the pressure and frustration that was building upon you to produce while sitting at your work station. It also presents new scenery which is helpful for idea generation. Sometimes it can take the most insignificant 'nudge' such as seeing a bird in flight or hearing a comment in passing to help you regain your momentum.

Also helpful when you are 'stuck' for the right words are to verbalize what it is you want to say. Your thought flow more clearly when you verbalize them because you are NOT trying to ALSO focus on documenting them at the same time.

Start a New Task

Starting on something new allows you to continue to make progress by actually accomplishing something else. This also will once again alleviate the stress and mounting frustration building in you from the writers block. Once the pressure has been relieved your thoughts will tend to flow more freely allowing you to recapture your lost momentum. At the very least you are making progress on another task so your time is not being wasted.

There is never a good time for writer's block to strike but it is inevitable that it will affect you at some point especially if you write a lot. Nothing can be more frustrating than having the writing process disrupted by an inexplicable loss of ideas. Whether you are trying to generate new writing ideas or simply recapture a previous pattern of thought writers' block can be difficult to overcome. The 3 tips suggestions above are effective for either idea generation or to simply regain previous patterns of thought. By taking a break or moving on to another task you immediately remove the building frustrations you are experiencing. By doing so this results in less pressure on you which than allows your creative thoughts to flow freely once again. At this point you can now 'pick up' where you have left off and finish that brilliant composition you were working on!