Make Writers Block a Thing of the Past
Is writer’s block preventing you from getting your posts and publication out there? Leaving you with permanent marks on your forehead from banging your head on your desk? Even writing this blog right now, I can assure you there will be some writer’s block going on, but there are some helpful tips and tricks that can make our lives much easier and save you some future anti-wrinkle treatments.
The three main causes of writer’s block are timing, fear and perfectionism. We are all short on time and pressure can really block those creative juices. A no pressure environment, ample writing (& research) time or even trying to write something different can help move your brain into the zone you need it in, to create beautiful words that will reach out to your audience. However, we can sympathise with the feeling of having writer’s block and to help save you from its grasp here is some tips we came up with while procrastinating report writing.
Fear and perfectionism always hurt our creativity, both in and out of the work environment. We all fear the critique of others and it can seriously hinder the creative process when writing! But whether two or two thousand people like what you write it’s important you get your view point out; everyone deserves to be heard. Argh yes, we all like to be perfect, but perfection is overrated! Everyone prefers real, so be your authentic self and see how people start relating to you on a much more personal, real level. The best way to do this is to get out of your head, it can be as simple as listening to music (something that we do a lot of in our office), walks, brain teaser games, reading a book, moving to a different environment, having some coffee and creating bullet point lists of ideas to expand on are often helpful in breaking through the wall. Our favourite method to overcome the perfectionist trap is just to ‘spew’ everything on your mind onto the page and then going back and editing and rewording until the bulk of the text has been re-written and your ideas have transformed into well thought our points. Setting a timer to see how much you can write within a set amount of time, such as 15 minutes, could help you, as sometimes, time pressure causes you to write a lot more in a shorter amount of time.
Our next tip is for those with little to no self-control. Eliminating as many distractions as possible, TV shows or movies playing in the background, going on personal social media, procrastinating online by doing BuzzFeed quizzes are probably not going to help you figure out how to write what you want to write, no matter how fun or interesting it may be to discover what 90s hairstyle you would be. Websites and apps such as SelfControl (yes this is no longer just something you have), StayFocusd and Anti-Social all help you block these online distractions while you are trying to get work done. These websites/apps often have timers, only allowing you on blocked sites after the allocated time you have selected is up.
Visuals baby! Our last golden tip is to get visual. Collecting images to go with your writing can help you push through a block. Having a visual aid can help you formulate what you want to say, and later on it will help the reader. Images help draw readers in, stimulate you and make what you are writing seem a whole lot more interesting.
In the end, writer’s block is always bound to happen and it’s always going to be annoying. Hopefully, these tips and tricks will help alleviate some of the stress, but it is important to not get too down in the dumps when it does happen, because wallowing around and procrastinating will only make the block worse. Have fun, don’t think too much and allow the flow to happen on it’s own, and worry about fine tuning it later – Happy writing!
