7 Ways to Beat Writer's Block

By Patty Smith Hall

You’re plugging along on your manuscript, everything is going great and then all of a sudden, you hit a brick wall. Every ounce of creativity has suddenly dried up! If you’re like me, you go back a few pages to see where your story was going and it all seems okay but you just can’t figure out what to do. That’s okay. Maybe you just need to rest on it.  Only it’s the next morning or a week later and you still don’t have a clue what to write next. You, my friend, have writer’s block. So what can you do to get your novel back on track? Here are seven tips that have helped me in the past.

 1) Keep writing—I know. If you could write, wouldn’t you be doing that already? But writing something that you know is not your best beats writing absolutely nothing any day. Even writing that stinks up the room is better than nothing at all because you can work with it. Mold it into a fantastic piece. This is the time to remember that editing is our friend.

2) Work on another project—I keep a folder of ideas I’ve put aside for that day in the future when I’m ready to write my next book. Or maybe there’s a blog post I need to do or a verse of Scripture I read that I’d like use in a devotional. There are some of my projects I work on when I’m having trouble with a story. That change of direction can jolt my creativity in a different direction so that when I do go back to my original manuscript, I’m seeing it in a different light.

3) Change your location—When I was younger, I struggled with depression at times. During one particularly bad episode, a very wise man told me I needed to change my vocation and my location but I’ve discovered that even doing one of these can make the world of difference in my outlook. The same holds true in my writing. While I can’t change my vocation (writing,) a change of scenery does wonders for the imagination. Personally, I go to a nearby park, but I know of writers who frequently write at Starbucks or another coffee place. One writer I know writes her books in the parking lot of a local McDonalds. Being out in God’s creation helps spark our own creativity.

4) Offer to brainstorm with a friend—I love to brainstorm a new story with a friend. All those fresh new ideas being thrown out there, some good, some awful but lots of fun. And the amazing thing? I always walk away from one of those sessions with new ideas for my own work!


5) Take the day off—Sometimes, your brain is just a pile of mush and what you really need is some downtime. I always try to take Sunday as a day of rest but even that might not be enough. So take a day for yourself. Grab a book off of your to-be-read pile and sit out in the sunshine. Go to the movies. Have lunch with non-writing friends. Give yourself a break. Recharging yourself will get the ideas flowing before you know it.

6) Clean your house—This may sound crazy to you but I swear, this really works, especially if you’re like me and have a cleanliness-is-next-to-godliness way of thinking. So when I get bogged down with a storyline, I grab my cleaning supplies and start scrubbing. It never ceases to amaze me the ideas I come up with during that time, especially when I’m cleaning all things porcelain. I believe it’s because God loves a humble spirit and there’s nothing quite as humbling as scrubbing a toilet.

7) Pray—Every morning before I start writing, I try to spend time with the Lord. It doesn’t have to be long—just ten or fifteen minutes, but I find that on those days, I generally don’t have trouble blowing pass my word count. I truly believe it's because I’ve turned over my writing to Him—it’s His to do with as He wants, to use me as He sees fit.

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Why Can’t I Go To A Conference?

By Michael Ehret

After a solid decade (almost) of regularly attending writer’s conferences, this year I’m not able to. Let me correct that: I’m probably able to, but the door to attend one has not opened for me this year.

My conference of choice, American Christian Fiction Writers, is even meeting within driving distance of my home and the keynoter is one of my favorite authors: Ted Dekker. But it’s not happening this year and I vacillate between being OK about it and being pretty ticked off, truth be known. Can you relate?

At last year’s conference, I got what I considered a pretty clear message from God about my writing. (See the details here and here.) “I’m inviting you into a new season of writing.”

Surely that would include attending my favorite writing conference? Seeing my favorite writing friends? Surely? Apparently not—and don’t call me Shirley.

Feel like this guy because you can't attend
a writer's conference?

Despite my efforts to pry that door open—or to find that ‘promised’ open window God provides when He closes a door (you know that’s not biblical, right?)—there’s no conference in my year.

Are you there too? Are you feeling left out? On the outside looking in? Not one of the cool kids? Bring your pocket-protector self over and have a seat. OK, you’ve got three minutes to cry and fuss and whine. I’m setting a timer. 3-2-1 Go!

Feeling better? No? Well, me either, but here are three things you can do if you’re not attending a writer’s conference:

1. Buy yourself a much-needed or long-desired writing resource.

One of my favorite
fiction craft books

One of my reasons for not being able to go this year is monetary. That may be a reason for you, too. And it’s a valid reason. Even though we’re writers, we still have responsibilities that we can’t just toss away. Am I right?

So, instead of buying a conference (easily upwards of $1,500 with registration, hotel, plane ticket, etc.), treat yourself to some resource you’ve been wanting and putting off. Maybe that’s a craft book. Maybe that’s a writing assist program like Grammarly or Scrivener. Maybe it’s a framed inspirational quote to display in your writing corner.

Just buy it. Feel guilty later if you must, but console yourself that (whatever it is) it’s far less than the cost of the conference you’re not going to.

2. Consider, oh, I don’t know, writing?

Wilma Rudolph, an American Olympic track and field sprinter who won three gold medals in 1960, once said: “Believe me, the reward is not so great without the struggle.”

You get that, right? The struggle is what makes the reward, when it comes, so sweet. So persevere in your writing. Take the time you’re not going to spend at your preferred writing conference, put your butt in your chair, and write.

Honor your gift and your calling—and, for your own sake, get lost in your fictional world. Bring life where there is no life. And if your sadness is overwhelming, choose to write the scenes where your hero and heroine face their Black Moments—and all seems lost.

All is not lost for them. You know it, as the creator, but they don’t. They are just living the day-to-day lives you, their creator, wrote for them … You’re getting the point right? You don’t need a hammer on the head, right?

3. If you can’t write, then pray for your writer friends who are attending conferences.

No, I’m not kidding. When you’re locked in a pity party, the best way to break free is to do something nice for someone else. So, if you can’t be there…then be there for your friends who are there.

Hold them up before the Lord. Pray for encouragement. Bravery. Their emotions. The editors and agents they’ll meet with.

Pray for the casual, unplanned for meetings around meal tables. The overwhelming feeling of the introvert writer who just can’t face another class or another “thank you, but this isn’t right for our house” appointment.

Be Aaron to their Moses.

If you do these three things, you’ll find the time goes much quicker, you’ll feel more productive, and you’ll be a blessing. And isn’t that better for everyone, including you?

____________________________________

Michael Ehret has accepted God's invitation and is a freelance editor at WritingOnTheFineLine.com. In addition, he's worked as editor-in-chief of the ACFW Journal at American Christian Fiction Writers. He pays the bills as a marketing communications writer and sharpened his writing and editing skills as a reporter for The Indianapolis News and The Indianapolis Star.

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Thoughts for the Journey from Bill Myers

As an author and film producer, Bill Myers’s work has won over 70 national and international awards including the C.S. Lewis Honor Award. His books and videos, which include Eli and McGee and Me, have sold 8 million copies. His most recent book, The Jesus Experience - Journey Deeper into the Heart of God, explores how he went from a burned-out evangelical to someone head-over-heels in love with his Creator. www.billmyers.com

VICTORY THRIVES IN DARKEST PLACES

“Mr. Myers, as our director, on the first day of filming, you will be required to burn incense and sacrifice a pig to our local gods.”

I looked at my producer and blinked. “You’re kidding, right?”

She shook her head. “You Westerners, in your arrogance, trample all over our gods and beliefs. As a result, during the filming, someone is always hurt or killed. If you do not perform the ceremony the cast and crew you see before you will not work for you.”

The room grew silent. Tomorrow would be our first day of filming in Hong Kong. Tens of thousands of dollars had already been spent in preproduction. If I did not comply, the movie would be over before it started.

                 

Somehow, I nervously and gently explained that as a Christian I couldn’t perform the a sacrifice.

        

My producer smiled. “This I know. That is why your assistant director will do it for you, instead.”

Talk about being in a jam. If I said “yes,” I’d not only betray my faith, but I’d be dedicating the film to other “gods.” If I said “no,” my cast and crew would walk.

I stared down at the table, silently praying for any suggestions. Then, “out of the blue,” a thought came to mind. It wasn’t much, but it was all I had.

I looked up and said, “First of all, you need to know, I don’t doubt these gods you’re afraid of exist. But we have another name for them.” I swallowed hard. “We call them . . . demons. But you also believe Jesus Christ is a god, don’t you?”

                 

“Oh, yes. Absolutely. One of the top 10. Yes, a great god.”

        

“And if push came to shove, He could probably take on those smaller gods you’re so worried about?”

                 

“Oh, yes. He is a most powerful god.”

        

“Well, He and I are pretty good friends. What if, instead of offering a prayer to those little gods we know He could beat, what if I offered a prayer of protection to Jesus, instead?” I saw the crack of light and pushed on. “Better yet, why don’t we do it together, every day . . . you know, just to be safe?”

                 

Ever so slowly, they began to nod.

        

The results? No one was killed. Not a single person injured. And, by the time we were done, at least two actors, along with their families, put their faith in Jesus Christ. It’s also the most powerful film I’ve directed. I recently spoke to a missionary from South America who said he’s still showing the film, and after 25 years, it’s still bearing fruit.

Why? Because I’m such a genius director? Hardly. Because I’m such a mighty man of God? Guess again. It was simply because I took God at His Word. God never plays defense. He only plays offense. As a sovereign God, if we trust Him, He’ll always flip things around for the good. Maybe not by our standards or by our time frames, but as Paul says, one way or another . . .

“All things work together for the good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purposes.” Romans 8:28

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Thoughts for the Journey from Bill Myers

As an author and film producer, Bill Myers’s work has won over 70 national and international awards including the C.S. Lewis Honor Award. His books and videos, which include Eli and McGee and Me, have sold 8 million copies. His most recent book, The Jesus Experience - Journey Deeper into the Heart of God, explores how he went from a burned-out evangelical to someone head-over-heels in love with his Creator. www.billmyers.com

RE-IGNITING OUR LOVE

I fell in love with my wife by listening and talking deeply with her. She fell in love with me because she has no taste (but that’s another matter). 

Falling in love with God, or re-falling in love, is the same principle. I talk to Him through prayer, praise and singing. I listen to Him mostly through His word . . . but not quickly or superficially. I didn’t fall in love with my wife that way. Instead of plowing through the Bible in a year, I’ll spend time each morning reading just a few verses, chewing on them, meditating on them, sometimes discussing them with Him. In our hurried culture, this gives my soul time to hear, understand and adore Him.

“Be still and know that I am God . . .” Psalm 46:10

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How a Boy Named Mouse Taught Me to Pray

By Marcia Lee Laycock

When I first became a Christian prayer was something I knew very little about. It was what I did on those rare occasions when I thought I needed something from God (like the time I fell off a cliff and screamed, “God, help me,” as I flew through the air). I’ve been a Christian for over thirty years now and sometimes, I’m ashamed to admit, I still use prayer that way. It’s easy to slip into the “genie” method. Give me this, God, and I’ll give you that; I need this God, and you promised to help me, right? Yes, God wants us to ask, but I’m pretty sure he’d prefer it if we got to know Him a little as well. 

I confess I have fallen back into that ‘genie’ method at times in praying about my writing career. That’s why I like to remember a boy named Mouse. 

I met him not long after becoming a Christian, way back in 1985, sitting in a theatre watching a movie called Ladyhawke. It was a touching love story of mythic proportions, full of medieval scenery, chivalrous knights and beautiful horses. The cinematography was stunning and the characters captured my heart.

But I still think of Ladyhawke as the movie that taught me to pray. Just a few days before, I had come across these verses in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 

I was especially struck by the phrase, “pray continually.” I was wondering what that meant exactly, what it would be like to do that. Then I watched Ladyhawke and met that boy named Mouse. They called him Mouse because of his ability to get in and out of places through small holes. You see Mouse was a thief. 

The movie opens with him escaping through the sewer system of a medieval prison. As he is quite literally worming his way through the pipes he prays and bargains with God. He promises that if God gets him out, he’ll never steal again. He ends up in a river – yes, God gets him out – but it isn’t long before he breaks his promise by stealing a man’s money pouch, apologizing to God as he does so. We follow Mouse as he continues to find a way to survive. 

And all that time, he is talking to God. 

And that’s how I learned what “pray continually,” or “without ceasing,” as the King James version says, really means. God was so real to Mouse that he conversed with him about everything, as though He were walking beside him, traveling with him every moment of the day, even as he continued to get into trouble and out again.

I don’t recommend bargaining with God, or apologizing to Him as you disobey Him. But it was Mouse’s sustained faith in God that impressed me. Even though he was a rather unrepentant thief, his belief in a very real God who could and would help him in spite of all his failings, stirred my heart. 

So I began to try to practice what Mouse taught me. 

I began to talk to Jesus as though he were standing beside me every moment of the day, not just to ask Him for something, but just to talk. Like Mouse, there have even been times when I’ve had to be careful that I wasn’t talking out loud, lest someone think I was a brick or two short of a full load. 

That practice, teamed with the other parts of that verse, being thankful and rejoicing always, has brought God close, shown me such stunning answers to prayer that I could barely breath and taught me that Mouse was right. Jesus hears you as clearly as someone who is walking beside you. He will stay with you, even when you fail continually. 

That practice keeps me from falling into the ‘genie’ method. Having a conversation with the Lord about my writing takes me deeper, makes me more thankful and willing to rejoice than a million whiney prayers that just ask Him to bless my career. 

It’s a practice worth taking the time to develop. For this is God’s will for us all, in Christ Jesus.

****

Marcia Lee Laycock writes from central Alberta Canada where she is a pastor's wife and mother of three adult daughters. She was the winner of The Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her novel, One Smooth Stone. Her second novel, A Tumbled Stone was recently short listed in the contemporary fiction category of The Word Awards. Marcia also has two devotional books in print. Her work has been endorsed by Sigmund Brouwer, Janette Oke, Phil Callaway and Mark Buchanan. Abundant Rain, an ebook devotional for writers can be downloaded here. Visit Marcia’s Website

 

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