{"id":280,"date":"2015-11-04T21:38:47","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T21:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marcbilgrey.com\/marcbilgreyblog\/?p=280"},"modified":"2017-07-11T21:12:25","modified_gmt":"2017-07-11T21:12:25","slug":"writers-block-what-to-do-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marcbilgrey.com\/marcbilgreyblog\/writers-block-what-to-do-about-it\/","title":{"rendered":"WRITER\u2019S BLOCK AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/a> \"marc<\/a>This is not a definitive list nor a guaranteed cure. These are 12 suggestions that have worked for many writers and may work for you. Try them and see what happens. You have nothing to lose but a blank page and lot of frustration.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Write what you love. \u00a0It\u2019s been said many times before but is worth repeating. \u00a0Pick subjects, characters, places, that you love and write about them. Also pick genres you like. Don\u2019t force yourself to write something because you think it might have a better chance of selling. The more you love your book the more readers will too.<\/li>\n
  2. Forget about the market. Easy to say and hard to do. If you keep thinking about everything else that\u2019s out there it will only make you freeze up. It doesn\u2019t matter what\u2019s selling now. That changes all the time.<\/li>\n
  3. Stop caring what other people think of your work. That is very difficult to do but nobody said any of this was easy. Are you writing to please other people? Or are you writing to please yourself figuring that by pleasing yourself eventually other people will also be pleased? This is the challenge.<\/li>\n
  4. Write for fun. Write for the sheer enjoyment of it. But wait, you say, I\u2019m trying to turn this into a business. And your point is? Isn\u2019t the whole idea that a reader of your books is supposed to enjoy him or herself? Well, then, why should your reader be entitled to have fun but not you, the writer of the book? If you don\u2019t have fun writing it, no one will have fun reading it.<\/li>\n
  5. Write a lot and often. If writing is a constant habit then it will no longer seem so monumentally important, something that you have to do perfectly. Also, if you can, write your first draft quickly. That will help you get your ideas, thoughts and feelings down, and take some of the stress out of the writing process.\"monarch-typewriter<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. Stop worrying about succeeding. What kind of crazy advice is that? It\u2019s actually Zen advice. The less you care about hitting your target, the more likely it\u2019ll be that you\u2019ll hit it. If you don\u2019t care if you\u2019re going to be published you\u2019ll be surprised how freeing that is. Also, leave open the idea of self-publishing your work. That\u2019s total freedom. Think about the writing itself not what you will or won\u2019t do with it after it\u2019s finished.<\/li>\n
  7. Stop judging yourself. You can be the worst critic in the world. Shut off that part of your mind. Look at small children drawing with crayons. They don\u2019t rate their own drawings, they just draw. Aspire to be like the child you used to be.<\/li>\n
  8. Stop comparing your writing to other people\u2019s writing. There will always be people who write better or worse than you. (Though ultimately, it\u2019s all subjective). You are you, not anyone else. Forget about them, and concentrate on you. The more you write, the more you will find your own unique voice and style.<\/li>\n
  9. Write what you like to read. What type of novel excites you and keeps you turning the pages? A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, science fiction, historical, mainstream, literary? Or something else. That\u2019s the one to write.<\/li>\n
  10. Don\u2019t talk about your story with anyone before or during the writing process. If you talk about your story it will dissipate and vanish. Just write it. Then you can talk about it, but be careful who you speak to. Stay away from anyone who\u2019s negative about you or your writing. Surround yourself with positive, supportive and encouraging people.<\/li>\n
  11. Don\u2019t show your work to anyone except a professional editor or another writer who has more knowledge and expertise than you and is willing to give you constructive help. Don\u2019t let your non-writer friends, family, or anyone else see your work. They are not qualified to judge your writing and will not be able to help you edit or fix any problems you may be having and they may end up discouraging you.<\/li>\n
  12. Be kind and gentle with yourself. Writing is like raising a child. You must be patient, loving, and nurturing toward it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This is not a definitive list nor a guaranteed cure. These are 12 suggestions that have worked for many writers and may work for you. Try them and see what happens. You have nothing to lose but a blank page … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[53],"tags":[82,55],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marcbilgrey.com\/marcbilgreyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marcbilgrey.com\/marcbilgreyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marcbilgrey.com\/marcbilgreyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marcbilgrey.com\/marcbilgreyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marcbilgrey.com\/marcbilgreyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.marcbilgrey.com\/marcbilgreyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":641,"href":"https:\/\/www.marcbilgrey.com\/marcbilgreyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280\/revisions\/641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marcbilgrey.com\/marcbilgreyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marcbilgrey.com\/marcbilgreyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marcbilgrey.com\/marcbilgreyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}