Buh-Bye, Writer's Block!

Every writer has those days when it seems like no ideas will come. Your mind is as dry as the Sahara Desert. You are stumped and frustrated with nothing to write about. Well, you are experiencing something that every writer -- even professional authors like Steven King and J.K. Rowling -- have to deal with: a mind blank known as "writer's block". But don't worry, it won't last forever. And with some of the following tips that I will be adding to every month, you will be sure to get past that icky writer's block and be filling up pages in no time!

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Writing from a Picture

I'm sure we've all heard the famous quote "A picuture is worth a thousand words." Why don't you be the one to write those words? Look through your own photo albums, magazines, postcards, etc. and choose a photo or picture that really strikes you. Study the picture for a few minutes, and then jump into it, walk around it in, imagine as many details as you can. If there are people in your picture, become one of them. What are you thinking and feeling? What are you doing? What just happened?

Try writing from different points of view: the third person ("It was a beautiful day at the beach and Megan sighed with pleasure as the cool ocean breeze caressed her cheek..."), the first person ("It was such a beautful day that Mom took us to the beach. I stood there looking at the waves and felt the cool ocean breeze caressing my face and I couldn't help but sigh with comfort...") or both! Some surprising things might surface -- I think you've got the beginings of a great story!

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"Happily Ever After"?

Have you ever read a book or seen a movie and wondered what happened to the characters after it was over, or before it started? Now it’s your chance to find out, because YOU are going to write it yourself! What was the Beast like before he met Beauty? What was Shrek like as a baby? What if Ariel realized she really liked being a mermaid after all and wanted to go back and live in the sea? The possibilities are endless!

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Smell-o-Rama

The sense of smell has been proven to be the quickest path to memory. So why not take a trip down memory lane, via the spice cabinet in your kitchen? Sit down with a few spice jars and a pen and paper and smell the contents. Choose one and get lost in the memories or images that come to you. Write about what the smell reminds you of and before you know it a poem or a memoir will start magically forming as the scents waft around you. (This prompt was taken from the book "So, You Wanna Be a Writer?" by Vicki Hambleton and Cathleen Greenwood.)

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The Following Prompts Were Taken from "The Writer's Idea Book" by Jack Heffron:

You are afflicted with a rare (and getting rarer) disease in which you can only tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Now introduce yourself to someone you don't know. Tell your whole life story if you want to.

Begin a story with a scene in which a character enjoys (or suffers) a public moment. Take time to fully develop the scene and try to avoid narrative explanation. Really delve into the character's thoughts and emotions.

Write about something that happened to you and made you angry at the time, but when you look back on it now it seems funny. Recall the event in as much detail as possible... try writing it from different positions, such as your point of view right after it happened compared to how you think back on it today.

Write about a lie you told. Did you 'fess up later? Were you caught in the lie? Did it get you into an even bigger mess? What were the consequences?