Three Tricks to Conquer Your Writer's Block

If there is just one trick that you learn from this article, let this be it: play tricks on your mind. The number one reason NaNoWriMers cite for being 'stuck' is the pursuit of perfection. The idea that you should be writing well, the idea that this garbage you've been spewing is worthless, the idea that you might as well give up if this rock bottom is where your talent's at - these ideas are enough to cripple any aspiring writer's word count. So what can you do?

Answer: Mindgames. And the best mindgame of all is speedwriting.

Step 1: Get your kitchen timer. Or get your cellphone out, and find the stopwatch function in it.
Step 2: Set the timer for fifteen minutes.
Step 3: Write. Until the timer goes off, write at top speed. Most people should be able to manage 400 words, though I've seen some people crank out 800 words in 15 minutes!
Step 4: STOP. You don't get to write beyond your allotted 15 minutes, even if your fingers are itching to continue. You need to be able to trust yourself the next time you say, I'm going to write for 15 minutes and that's it.
Step 5: Put away your work. Do not read it. Do not try to edit it. Do not even think of it.
Step 6: Do this exercise four times a day. That's it: just four times a day, every day, 15 minutes at a time. You'll hit your required wordcount with your eyes closed.

2. Murder

You've heard the old adage: if your plot is stuck, bring in the man with the gun, and have him shoot somebody unexpected. A murder is a surefire way to wake up your sagging story. It gives your main character a reason to care about what's happening around him. It gives you a slew of characters to work with: the dead woman, the murderer (and how she manages to evade suspicion), the prime suspect (and his real secret), the witness who is lying, the REAL witness who actually saw it all (and why he's not telling), the man who confesses (falsely - but why?) and of course, the detective or police officer who is going to figure it all out.

You don't have to be writing a murder mystery in order to have a compelling murder propelling your story forward. Even an attempted murder can be a great catalyst to put your real story in motion. For example: remember Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather? He doesn't die in the assassination attempt, but the attempt itself sets the story in motion, making Michael Corleone realize that he loves his family more than he hates the family business.

3. Mystery

So you're all set for speedwriting, except you have no idea WHAT to write. One simple trick you can use to get your story moving is introduce a MYSTERY.

How do you do that? Well, your main character could meet someone very mysterious, who refuses to say why she's here, where she came from or what her business is. But still, she keeps dogging your protagonist's footsteps. How does your protagonist react? Does he let her tag along, ignoring her? Does he call the police? Does he threaten her with violence if she doesn't stop stalking him? Not only does this character add plot to your story (what is her secret? What is her agenda? Who is behind her, holding her puppet strings?) but also allow you to explore your protagonist's character more deeply.

Or you could have your main character find a mysterious object. An old diary. A lost photograph that seems to be some sort of riddle. Even a nondescript stick of lipstick, found in the right place - or rather, the WRONG place - could be your object of mystery.

And what about back story? There is no more powerful driver for your plot than a secret series of events in the past. Now your protagonist not only has to overcome the obstacles facing her NOW, she also has a driving need to discover what really happened all those years ago, before she was born, that made the villain into an evil person.