How do you beat writer’s block?
Do you take a walk?
Do you make some tea?
Do you phone a friend?
Do you clasp your hands together, put them behind your head, and let out a frustrated sigh as you lean back into your chair, feeling completely dull and stonewalled both by infinite possibilities and personal limitations?
I may be having this problem right now. Maybe you are too.
A good solution is to free-write in the mornings! This can help wake up your voice. Mornings are also good times to start writing projects because it gives you time to chew on your ideas throughout the day. I have tried free-writing first thing in the morning a few times, but I have never committed to doing it daily. I will start tomorrow (I wrote it down so it’s official)!
I also believe that talking through your ideas with your peers and mentors is a good way to work through thoughts. I even talk aloud to myself so I can better hear how my words sound. Working on communicating through other mediums besides language can be a good exercise as well (visual art, music, movement).
Consuming writing is also important! We need examples of what works and what doesn’t. What sort of writing do we connect too? What kinds of content do we want to create? How can our work bring value to others?
In theory we want our own content to offer the same kinds of value that we receive from the media that we enjoy consuming.
Our creative voices take time to develop. It is only through conscious practice that we can hone our skills. Malcolm Gladwell’s claim that it takes 10,000 hours to perfect a skill may have been debunked, but it still paints a picture of what mastery is: time and effort.
“Man, sometimes it takes you a long time to sound like yourself.” —Miles Davis