It is often assumed that writer’s block comes from a lack of or a freeze of ideas but in most cases it comes from a topical overdrive and an anxiety about what ideas to keep and what ones to lose that create that dreaded literary gangrene.
I used to think that making tedious spelling corrections as I wrote drafts were counter-productive to free writing and creativity: just the opposite. It is the mechanics of writing and editing while still at the creative process that keep the mind moving, thinking, free of blocks--so I turn off auto-correct.
Our Ideas Have Hierarchy
The selection process is key:
If we think of writing as architecture, Vitruvius (c.80 BC) the Roman architect/engineer had a stellar model and it can be applied to writing:
Firmness: sound idea, relevant
Commodity: useful, practical and logical
Delight: enjoyable to read. Anyone can deliver content, what makes your delivery a more enjoyable one?
Selecting your idea: steal your own passion strategy:
Level of passion: do you delight in your idea?
Relevance: the who cares test. Will others delight in your idea?
Commitment to the idea: does it make you wake up at 3 am?
Your idea or topic is either a subject that everyone is talking about that you can convey most distinctly or your topic is something that no one is talking about that you can bring to light.
Two Block Busters:
Your title is not only a good trigger for your writing but a great exercise in summarizing the piece. Can the spirit of your main idea be captured in the title?
Your cover image: This is your theatre. A cover image is a stage prop, it should have purpose, meaning and capture your readers to meet their curiosity.
Diversify Your Methods
Listen to your work as you write. Record yourself reading the piece. You will discover new ideas, semantic range, phrasing and cadence; the music of writing is the antidote to writer’s block.
Hand-write your work. The process of hand-writing is your literary circulatory system. After you hand-write your work in progress, type it— live in both worlds. You will see your work differently and it will be very clear to you what is unnecessary.
READ. READ. READ.
You are only as good a writer as you are a reader. Read great writers, listen to the music in their phrasing. As you hear their voices you will archive for yourself a chorus of thinkers, composers, architects and masters of the art of writing.
In Conclusion
Embrace the technical and the mundane, as there is freedom in structure. All aspects of writing are part of the writer’s subconscious and have a role to play in drafting and realizing.