My Battle with Writer's Block by @DianthaJones
The following originally appeared on Diantha-Jones.com and is posted here with permission.
Writer's Block. The bitch that always stops by uninvited. Especially when it's time to send your manuscript off to the editor.
For the past few months, I've been suffering from it. Or rather, suffered (past tense) from it. I'm back in my groove now, but damn, it was a long time coming.
And it was bad this time guys, the worst I've ever had. I went days, sometimes weeks, without writing a single word. It was so depressing and I felt I was letting my readers down every day that went by and I didn't write. Forget me. It was all about them.
So after I realized my super powers weren't just going to magically appear, I took it upon myself to do a few things to jar them back to life.
I slept more. I think a lot of my block had to do with lack of sleep and flat-out exhaustion. I had to start taking naps (which I HATE), but did because my body just couldn't make do anymore. I also realized I was getting close to thirty around this time and felt positively ANCIENT. I know I'm not, but my bod thinks we're at least sixty.
Read more. One week, I read four books, and for me, that's unheard of when I spend most of my time writing. It was obvious I wasn't writing jack shit when I was able to pull this off. But it helped, and reading all of these great books got me excited to start writing again.
Ate better foods. I have horrible eating habits, where I kind of just eat whatever's available and convenient. Well, my crap diet was literally sucking the life outta me so I had to do better.
Got a little exercise. Living in a city like Washington DC, it's easy to get around without a car. I try to walk whenever I can (and when I'm not on a time crunch). Gives me a little energy boost, though I still need to get in the habit of exercising for real.
Worked on different books. I think I got a little burnt out with the Oracle of Delphi series, so I had to step away from it a lot and work on other projects. Smart thing I did. Not only did I come back to my beloved OOD with a few fresh ideas, but I also made good headway on my other books. It was a win-win for me.
When it comes to dealing with WB, I feel you just have to do what's best for you. There's no formula or magic cure (trust me, I searched all over WebMD). Who knows, next time it hits me (which it will), I may have an entirely new list of things I did to overcome it!
How do you deal with writer's block?
So after I realized my super powers weren't just going to magically appear, I took it upon myself to do a few things to jar them back to life.
Got a little exercise. Living in a city like Washington DC, it's easy to get around without a car. I try to walk whenever I can (and when I'm not on a time crunch). Gives me a little energy boost, though I still need to get in the habit of exercising for real.
Diantha
