Ever had the fear that your creative juices would say good bye to you one day? Most of us have. But there is that temporary “goodbye” by our creative juices which most writers’ sometimes experience called the writer’s block. Seun Salami, at our 1st Writers’ Conference, explicitly stated that he does not believe in writers’ block while for some, they fear that writer’s block is the thing that can suddenly come upon them at any given point in time. Writers relate to this experience in different ways but I have come to ease your pain dear writer, for there are fun ways you can employ to put on the juices again.
1. Take a deep breath and tell yourself, “It is not the end of the world”: Atheist and Believers alike fear the idea that a time might come when everything we feel, think and see becomes nothing; that matter might disappear and all becomes nothing. Well, now is not the time. There is still matter. You can feel, see, touch, sense and taste all the beautiful magnificent things the world can offer. So start with that. Put down your pen and step into the beauty that is all around you.
2. Stop trying too hard: Probability falls on the fact that you have been pushing your creative juices too hard to the extent that they switch off for awhile. All writers have at one time fallen victim of this. What they do is that they stop trying too hard. When it feels unthreatened again, it will switch back on. Elizabeth Gilbert, author of “Eat, Pray and Love” proposes that when writers feel the need to produce something creative, they should place the pressure on the genius they have and not the genius they are.
3. Free write: If you won’t stop trying too hard, then don’t be too hard on what you write. You can free write. Free writing is a like having to warm up before getting to doing the real exercise. Free write for as long as you feel your writers’ block is still up without paying attention to spelling, grammar or topic. The end result is you will have a lot of material which might end up unused and written up but you would have in the process dealt with any feelings of apathy and self-criticism.
4. Do anything else that is creative: Have you locked up your colored pencils and your drawing pad in a store? Here is the time to get them out. You don’t have to really think about what you want to paint, let your hands do the thinking. Follow them as they move. You can also read that book you found interesting but you bypassed in the bookshop because you thought you wouldn’t have any time for it because you would be busy writing. Well, you are not busy writing now so you can go get the book. Do anything you thought you could not do because you thought you would be busy writing. It probably is why you may have the writers’ block.
5. Get your blood moving: Whenever I feel the writers’ block cloud on me, I feel also that my insides are locking up, tightening up and that I am closing up inside. It means it is time to do something fun to free the blood and the bones like dancing, jumping, biking, hanging out with friends e.t.c. If that does not work, although there is no scientific evidence to support this, I have found that taking a hot beverage while reading a book I find interesting eventually loosens those locked up areas.
6. Put on the music: Several researches have shown that music tends to soothe and reduce anxiety. Music is therefore appropriate in the treatment of worrying whether your creativity has ended. Think less about everything else and let your mind travel upon music waves.
7. Write daily: The best bet to sending that writers’ block cloud away from you is when you write daily. Find a writer who writes daily no matter what and you will find someone who does not really believe that there is a block in a writer’s creativity. Writing daily will discipline and adjust your brain to want to write and you become a proficient writer through repeated practice and perseverance.
