Writing Crumbs #4

I’ve heard so many bad advices against writer’s block, considering how you should do literally anything that’s not writing or just wait until it passes. That’s how you end up sitting for months thinking you should write but you don’t want to, filling your everyday life with misery.

A much better option is to re-experience the enthusiasm you felt when you started the project. I personally know at least two failsafe methods for this.

First, chat with someone who loves your work, about your work. Chat with a beta reader who freaking loved that part when those things happened and ramble on for hours about how and why that scene was awesome. No advices, no critique, just plain glorifying of a few good points of your text, no matter how much you’ve written already.

The second is, try and entice a friend who’s interested. Ask around in your group chat or something who would like to hear about your story, and if someone’s up for it, speak about the plot, the characters, the world and what you’re trying to tell with this story. Get together in a bar or a park and just flood your unsuspecting but hopefully supportive friend with tiny details you’re proud about what you created.

If you do it right, I guarantee you’ll feel a rush of enthusiasm about that thing you made up from nothing. A surge of “hey, that’s actually kindda good”. If you do this enough, you’ll be barely able to wait until you can finally sit down and write more things you can chat about. That is the best recipe for overcoming writer’s block: taking a few hours to rediscover what made you love your story, and not taking a few days not even thinking about it.

Dar