The procrastinator's guide to overcoming writer's block
Also for poets, creatives, and anyone needing a shot of fresh inspiration
Maybe tomorrow is a better day to write this piece.
…
…
Suck it up Roel and commit.
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Okay.
Truth is, I am currently in a writing funk.
See, I’m building a toolkit that helps ethical brands and entrepreneurs launch their products. It’s 10 years of copywriter wisdom condensed in a super-easy-your-dog-could-do-it-results-driven toolkit.
Needless to say, this is exciting.
The thing is, instead of working on that, I’m here writing a listicle like a true procrastinator and helping you, my fellow procrastinator-in-time, overcome writer’s block. While I buy myself another day.
Here are 7 over-the-counter cures for overcoming writer’s block.
When words don’t come to you, you go to them.
Step away from the keyboard and go on a wild goose chase.
Take a drive without a destination and start noticing the little gems in your surrounding. Inspiration might be hiding around the corner.Change the scene.
If you’ve followed the above recipe, then the next time you take a drive, bring your notebook.
Whether it’s sitting by a waterfall or discovering new spots in a city. It doesn’t matter. It’s about changing the input for your senses. See, hear, taste, feel, and smell what different environments do to you.
I’ve written my best stuff far away from my desk. Like this one.Kite Season was written on the same beach as the picture of these kite runners.
Short-burst writing.
Instead of trying to write War and Peace in one sitting, try writing in short sprints like Usain Bolt. Begin with a sentence. Write another. One more. Line break. Do it again.Read widely and often, like a bookworm on a sugar rush.
I find inspiration in the words of others.Writing exercises are like miniature workouts for your vocabulary.
With Voices Unleashed, our Unearthed workshops and Journey Through Expression retreats are full of them. All with the intent of guiding you to your truest expression.
Here’s one of my favourite tools: MindMap
Give yourself a prompt. A single word.
Take a blank piece of paper and write your word in the center. Draw a circle around it. Close your eyes for a second. Let every word or sentence that you associate with that word come up and write it down.
Now, from this jumbled mess, start creating a piece of writing. Poetry, prose, a newsletter, a shopping list, whatever floats your boat.Free-write to surface your subconscious.
Here in Bali, there’s this multi-disciplinary artist, Kamau Abayomi. He’s someone I deeply respect for many reasons. But to stick to the current topic he always comes up with new ways to explore our inner artists.
His Poetipassana for instance. Poetipassana is a guided exploration that combines poetry and vipassana. Silence. And writing. Here’s how it goes.
Sit down and meditate for a set time (15-30-45 minutes, however long you’d like). And then as soon as the time is up, you take pen to paper and do not stop until the same amount of time has passed.
Three rules:
1. set a timer
2. don’t let your pen come off the paper for more than a second
3. let go of a need to perform. Let your inner world out.
Here’s a piece that came from that poetry-vipassana day.Lower your expectations, like a really bad limbo dancer.
Allow yourself to write badly and just enjoy it. Have fun with the words that flow out. They’re yours. Who knows, you might just come up with the next bestseller about a talking cheese.
So maybe tomorrow it’s finally time to finish that toolkit.
Thanks for this extremely relatable and helpful listicle... Also best of luck on your toolkit, sounds like a great project!
I am 100% a bookworm on a sugar rush!!! I am gorging myself on books lately, and it feels extremely satisfying. I justify it with the claim that I'm simply in the "research and development" phase of becoming a writer. Reading brings me so much joy, and I've accepted that I don't HAVE TO write in equal proportion. Not yet anyway :)