Last Updated on February 24, 2024
Creative or academic writing is as tough as a task can be. Be it a student or a content writer, poet or a lyricist, novelist or a researcher; it is not your fingers that do most of the work but your brain that gets exhausted running thought after thought.
Sometimes, an idea sparkles in your head and you set right to it but after a while your mind starts to wander, your pen stops and you lose track of time. It is a common problem among all the writers, which is getting an idea that writes for itself.
Sometimes, all we need as writers is a nice enough idea which we can write about, that is most difficult part in writing; not the words you write, not the number of pages, but only the thought or idea. Referred to as a creative block, a writer’s block, or a mental block if you wish to define it simply; it can be a hard thing to pass through.
Here are a few tips and tricks you can use to get the thoughts come pouring in and your brain to work.
1. Reading and Talking
These two activities are really underestimated when it comes to removing that block in your creative mind. When you are suffering from a block, all you are doing is biting the end of your pen or tapping it on the page; you can’t keep hold of a thought, so you close your eyes and sit back trying to focus but it just wouldn’t do.
The more you think about it, the more you try to concentrate; it only ends up frustrating and disturbing you. At this time, if you take a break and start reading books, articles, journals, poetry, and even the newspapers; a thought can just strike in your head because you might have found something interesting that gets you thinking and might inspire you to have an idea.
Another way of getting back your focus is talking to people; it doesn’t have to be about your writings in particular, any topic will do. Samuel Johnson, the great English writer, once said, “The happiest conversation is that of which nothing is distinctly remembered, but a general effect of pleasing impression.”
All you need is a break from the work, and a good conversation is a great way to keep your mind relaxed and refresh it.
2. Take time out for your favorite activity
It might be anything, from playing cello to going for a ride on your bike. It does not have to be anything specific, just any activity that pleases and makes you happy. Alejandro Inarritu, director of ‘The Revenant’ and ‘Birdman’ has a thought on what inspires creativity, “The creative process is mysterious; a conversation, a ride in the car, or a melody can trigger something.” It gives an idea of what would make your mind tick, any activity that is pleasing or relaxing; it might just remove the block and gets the pen a tighter grip.
3. Give rest to it
It may happen that you have tried all these things but you still cannot get your head to it. It might be because your brain is tired and exhausted; I suggest you go get a cup of coffee or tea to refresh your mind. If that doesn’t happen, you should sleep it off. A tired mind is a dull one, so you need to take rest and sharpen the tool that is your creativity. A good night’s rest might be all you want and need.
4. Meditate
A lot of people you meet have tried meditating for peace of mind and do it on a regular basis. For some people, it gives them clarity of thoughts; for others, a blank and peaceful mind. Meditation has a lot of mental health benefits and also helps a person keep his/her emotional health in check.
Whatever may be the reasons for a person meditating, it has proven to have many health benefits. A block can be helped by peace mind or clarity of thoughts, you need both to get rid of a mental block. I suggest you try meditating if you have tried the above mentioned points.
5. Take Help
You can talk to other writers about how they overcome a creative block. Everyone has different routines and tricks to help them write. It is not a singular activity that does the trick, so you can talk to writers around you or on the internet and take suggestions for it.
Creative writers do weird things to get them to write. Hemingway and Lewis Carroll used to stand upright while writing proclaiming that it helps them write. You can also go to various websites such as TFTH asking for help with your creative block.
1. Freestyle writing
Much like the warm-up before a football match, you can try writing freely about absolutely anything that comes to your mind; no matter how absurd or idiotic it may come out to be, it will help you get into flow and get your mind right to it. This one is a habit that helps writers, writing about something entirely different just to get the ink flowing on the page and getting you into groove.
2. Academic Help
This one is for the academic writers, scholars, researchers out there. Those require a much more formal and strict sense of writing, where you are not asked to be creative but to be really informative when putting an idea and writing in a way that shows a clarity of thought. You can download manuscripts and instructions from TopAssignmentExperts to see how one should proceed with academic writing.