The Reporter and Writer's Block

Oh, it's there, lurking in your mind. You're at the computer, trying to avoid it, trying to pretend it's not there. But you know it is, and not thinking about it is only making the problem worse and worse. What I'm talking about is the all pervasive, every expanding writer's block that's formed in your head. Try as you may you can't escape its power. For those writing as a hobby, this problem will eventually go away and will not effect your income. However, for reporters, the longer the problem persists the less of a paycheck you're getting.

Can I guarantee that you can stop writer's block? No, but I can give you some advice to write through it.

First off, I would look toward my friends. Non-writer friends are usually best, since those outside the world of the written word can have remarkable ideas that you never thought of. Perhaps it's because they aren't limited to writing, or because they are so outside that world that they can have great ideas without thinking about it, but nonetheless ask them for ideas. What do they care about, or what do they want to know? These alone can spring forth ideas for you to write.

When or if that fails, go to your editor. Surely s/he will be able to tell you what type of story they are looking for, how they want it slanted, or at the very least what is interesting the public.

Look toward old magazines. What was an interesting story a few months ago? Latch onto it, and look for a new angle. Everyone knows about tornadoes and how they effect the land, most people, wild life . . . but how does it effect middle school students in Kansas? What can parents do to help quell fears, or inform their child of natural disasters? Soon ideas will boil until you can't stop writing.

Or if you can't think of a new angle, think of a way to update the story. What hasn't been said, or what are people thinking now that whatever the previous story was is now over? Have people forgotten it (if so, why?) or why haven't they? Or is there new information available that no one bothered to write about?

Once you start looking at it this way, you can easily defeat the "unstoppable" writer's block and continue making your usual paycheck. Worse comes to worse, you can always write about stopping writer's block, enough people fall into it, and another suggestion wouldn't hurt.