My Case of Writers Block

This site was introduced to me through an on-line friend. I passed the link along to another very good on-line friend who has now published quite a few articles. I decided to take the plunge and here I am.

I have many ideas of what to write. I lay in bed at night and can form stories and poems in my head. When it comes time to place that on paper, well type in onto the laptop, I go blank. I can not remember how it started or what comes next. A complete blank. I have followed all the advice to try and record it when you think of it. It does not work for me.

Is this called writers block?

So this lead me to do some research to see if I can figure out what is going on.

One definition for writers block is that it is a phenomenon involving temporary loss of ability to continue writing, usually due to lack of inspiration or creativity.

It also states it can be closely related to depression and anxiety, two disorders that reflect environmentally-caused or spontaneous changes in the brain's frontal lobe. This is in contrast to hypergraphia, which is the over-whelming urge to write, is more closely linked to mania, in which the changes occur primarily in the temporal lobe.

Writers block can last for short periods of time or can be an ongoing chronic problem. An example of an ongoing chronic problem with writers block was Henry Roth, who suffered for 60 years with this problem.

There were a few strategies that could help over come writers block. Here are a few that I came across and thought I would share and may hopefully help a fellow sufferer.

- Brainstorming. Coming up with different ideas or coming up with an outline.

- Meditation. Take a break, meditate, do some relaxation or breathing exercises. Breathe deeply, close your eyes, stretch your muscles.

- Talk it out with a friend. It is amazing what talking about an issue can accomplish and maybe they may have some ideas.

-Go back over the story. Reread what you have written. See if it makes sense to you and if you like the way it is flowing.

-Make changes. If you do not like the way is is flowing, maybe you have written yourself into a corner.

-How do you want the story to end? Maybe you need to start there and work your way back. How does your characters get to that point.

-Make it a draft. Just write it out as it comes to you. Do not worry about mistakes, just let it out and come back and revise it later.

-Record it. Instead of writing, just tape yourself telling the story and then put it to paper once you are done.

-Ritual. Make a routine or ritual that you do before writing.

If all else fails, then take a break. Go for a walk, get yourself a snack. Maybe you only need a few minutes or a couple days. Whichever it is, just relax and clear your mind and relax. The more you worry about it and the harder you concentrate on it, may make it harder to get past this point.

After doing my own research and learning about some of the many things to try, hopefully I will be able to overcome my case of writers block and maybe helped someone else overcome theirs as well.