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Are You Stuck With Your Writing? Try This To Help You Get Going once More!

By on December 7, 2016
Are You Stuck With Your Writing? Try This To Help You Get Going once more - writerslife.org

There is nothing worse than midway through a piece of writing coming to an abrupt standstill. You think you are progressing, have really got into the swing of things, are sticking religiously to your writing timetable and then, all of a sudden, you just run out of steam.

It’s happened to all of us at some point during our writing careers and can be very frustrating. It seems as though your energy has just gone out of the window, you get distracted, you procrastinate, and when you do finally sit down to write you can’t seem to get the words to flow out.

However, all is not lost! It’s unlikely that you will remain this way forever anyway, but if you want to kickstart things again, then there are some things you can try to give you that boost that you need to get back into your writing again.

Free-writing

This is a simple writing technique that is used by many writers who get stuck in their writing. Free-writing is where you simply sit down and start writing, about anything at all. It doesn’t have to be to do with your current story, in fact, it doesn’t even need to make sense (!). You can write down stories, sentences or just a list of words. The point is that you just write, uncensored for as long as you need to until you get back into your writing rhythm. A lot of writers find free-writing helpful when they are trying to come up with new story ideas too. When looking back over their notes often they find snippets of gold in there that they can use to create new ideas.

Write questions

Another helpful way to kickstart your writing again is to ask yourself questions. If you have become stuck halfway through a story, sit back and write down all the questions that need answering. Try to keep them specific rather that an open-ended ‘what happens next?’ kind of question. Of course, you don’t have to ask questions related to your novel or story. They could be about anything at all. Any exercise that gets you writing again will free you up, boost your creativity and help you focus once more.

Interview your characters

Sometimes we get stuck because we can’t figure out what our character is going to do next, or how they would react to a certain scene. Perhaps this is because we need to get to know our characters better. Write down a list of questions to ask your character. Make them as detailed and obscure as you like. Then answer them. Doing this will help you understand your characters better. We need to know our characters inside out to help make them authentic and to help us know, almost instinctively, how they would react to any given situation.

Read more

Getting inspiration from other writers can be very helpful. If you are feeling really stuck with your writing, then set it aside. Get some distance and use the time to read more books in a similar genre. This can inspire you and help you to understand where you need to take your story next.

Take a break

Sometimes we do just need to distance ourselves from our writing, gain a clear perspective and start again. Don’t beat yourself up too much if you want to pause for a moment. There is plenty else to get on with that can help your writing such as doing research or going back over what you have already written and doing some editing. Often re-reading the story so far can help jolt you back into action once more.

Getting stuck in your writing is tough for any writer. But remember that it happens to the best of us, so go easy on yourself, try these tips and see if they can help you get going once more!

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

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