Take a break      Get the words out       Helpful sayings

It happens to anyone, at any stage, and can last five minutes or two years. It can happen in the middle of an exciting project or in a dry patch when there's not an idea in sight. Everyone dreads it - but actually, it's a trivial little obstacle like the common cold. Your talent won't die. Your writing will work.

Usually, you know in your heart whether you need to force yourself to write or take a break and seek some inspiration. These are my techniques for both…

Take a break

• go for a long walk - every day
• collect an image-bank: brainstorm key words and spend a few hours googling and collecting pictures around each one
• collect a music-bank: make playlists to write to - a different playlist for each project
• try a different art form: sewing, painting, drawing, sculpture, music, graphic design…
• clean your house: set an alarm clock and spend ten minutes whisking through each room
• read some non-fiction - fill your head with interesting information
• make your writing space magical: candles, incense, fairylights, flowers, music… Clean it before you want to write, so it's an inviting space to be in.

Get the words out

• switch into italics and type highspeed what you want to happen, without worrying about style
• change location - go to a coffee shop with a pad of paper, and write longhand
• stop thinking about your audience, publication, possible film versions - write it for yourself
• write high-speed, by hand, for 30 minutes every morning - this is just skimming the rubbish off the top of your head, not a place to produce great prose. It's also a great place to explore your fears.
• all procrastination is fear: what are you afraid of, in this story / idea / book / poem? Write down your fears and the opposite positives
• go with it and see where it leads you
• in a book, stop each session while you know what happens next - mid-scene, even mid-sentence if necessary. Leave yourself a few notes of what will happen to kick-start your next session.
• close down all other computer programs, email alerts, blogs, and so on - go somewhere without wi-fi
• don't google every detail - you can get the precise information you need later. Just add square brackets [like this] and keep writing.
• give yourself a two-hour time-block during which you WILL stay at the computer / writing table, and you WILL produce words. Sometimes it's ninety minutes before it starts coming fluently, but by the two-hour mark it usually is.
• don't delete your false starts - just press enter a couple of times and start again or carry on.
• write helpful sayings and stick them above your desk, so when you stare up you see those reminders.
• stop reading, watching TV, and listening to radio talk for a week. It's hard, but without the babble your own voice starts speaking again.

Helpful sayings

• Everything can be changed, reshuffled, deleted, enriched, or pruned later. Just write what you want to write.
• Stop while you know what happens next.
• I can do anything with the alphabet.
• I am a channel for [your deity/the universe]'s creativity and my work comes to good.
• [Your deity/the universe]: I'll take care of the quantity - you take care of the quality.
• Whatever I want to write is right.

Take a break      Get the words out       Helpful sayings