Getting Rid Of Writer's Block

It happens to everyone. You can't form a single sentence to save your life, even in the middle of a brilliant idea. Things just don't seem to connect and you're rethinking the entire plot of your story. Writer's block is seemingly inevitable, and who knows how long it will last? But no worry, there are some exercises you can use to help get things going again.

The best thing for a writer to do is to keep the pencil moving, no matter what. Sometimes this means resorting to writing about some fairly mundane things. However, if done properly, this can be quite an interesting experience. The first step: go outside.
To the park, a bench on the street, or anywhere else you feel comfortable. I find that a place with fewer people works best for me, that way I can focus on one person without having others get in the way. Make up a story for this person. Where is (s)he going? If you see a jogger, you could think "Who is he running from?". A business man with a briefcase: "What kind of secret device is ticking away inside of it?". These are the kinds of questions that get a story going.

This method also develops your skills in character development. What you're given is a gender and an appearance. You have - for the most part - a clean slate to work with! Let's use the "jogger" example from the last paragraph. We'll call him Daniel. Daniel may run every day because he's also psychologically running from the health problems his father is having. His father may have shut Daniel out as a child for not being the star athlete he wanted. This hurt Daniel psychologically, and now he's trying to make up for it while his dad is in the hospital with a heart disease. It's important to create these "problems" for your character - nobody has the perfect life. These problems will do three things: 1) make your character believable, 2) engage the reader in your character's life, which will 3) make your reader side with the character, hoping (s)he'll pull through and find a solution.

Going out and creating these stories is much like using a writing prompt. Writing prompts present a scenario, and leave it up to the writer to branch off of that idea to create a story. While it may seem like plagiarism on the part of the writer, it's a completely harmless way of drawing inspiration from a source and continuing on with the idea - that's what these prompts are made for! (Check out the Writing Prompts page to find some interesting prompts right here on Art Help Online!) If you've never used a prompt to help rid your writer's block, try one out and see what happens. After all, the writer who can't write shouldn't refuse any opportunity for a good story. Keep an open mind, and take a notebook with you wherever you go!