Baby Step Around Writer's Block
Remember the movie "What About Bob?" In it Bill Murray practices his psychiatrist's therapeutic technique of "Baby Steps". The neurotic character "Bob" is anxious to ... do anything. If he were a writer, he would have the biggest block, Writer's Block I mean, of all time. He would fear inserting a page into the typewriter (he would be too afraid to own a computer)! "What About Bob?" is a very funny movie with a seriously useful, if subtle, message about overcoming obstacles.A writing block can occur at any point in a project. The newer (to you) or larger the job, the more likely it will rise up near the start of the process. More experienced writers are often bogged down in the middle when everything seems in chaos, and it is, and they wonder if they'll ever be able to sort it out. Writers who fear failure or success, whether they know it or not, will balk towards the end. They edit or rewrite endlessly or complain, "I can't find a good ending."
Baby steps, very small actions, can move you toward a part of your creative enterprise. Baby steps also build good writing habits. Examples of baby steps that a writer can take:
Have you tried taking baby steps to successfully walk yourself through a writing project? Feel free to share them with us.
- prepare a 30-90 seconds description of your project
- write in a different format
- outline or write a synopsis
- organize your material
- write a "trial" part
- brainstorm with friends
- write in increasing time increments
Labels: writer's block
posted by Georganna Hancock M.S. | 8:49 AM
3 Comments:
Thanks for your suggestions.
I came up with another one:
Do something else.
Here are the thoughts you sparked off:
http://www.freelance-writing-career.com/baby-steps-to-overcome-writers-block.html
Alexander
Thank you for your visit, comment and link, Alexander, but I can't see how doing something else is a baby step toward blocked writing. The idea was to keep on writing AND continue moving forward to accomplish the overall job. Your kind suggestion is more of a diversion or a distraction, good for relieving tension and overwork or recharging creative batteries, if that is the problem.
As a baby's goal may be to reach the front door to greet Daddy coming home from work, she first toddles to the coffee table, then to the easy chair and from there to the door, accomplishing the huge task in ... baby steps.
I'll be more specific then:
Write on another project.
I admit, it has nothing to do with baby steps, but it works for me.
Somehow it frees up the blocked energy and suddenly things flow again. And then when I come back to what I was did originally, it suddenly flows as well.
Have you ever had that?
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