How to Write When You Can’t

January 15, 2008

There are times when even a prolific writer finds it impossible to put down a single coherent sentence.

And I’ve been in such a miserable condition a few days ago.

When I tried to write after long sickness and a period of two weeks when I didn’t write anything at all, I was stuck for words and ideas. I even thought I may not be able to write at all for the rest of my life (Yes, that’s what happens when pessimism overcomes you).

If you ever go through such a situation, don’t lose hope. You’ll be back to writing and kicking arse after doing a bit of exercise!

Your writing muscles act like your other muscles. They get stiff if you don’t use them for a too long. So you need to do some exercise to warm them up.

But this exercise is not physical, it’s creative.

Creative exercises to loosen up your writing muscles

Make up your mind - Tell yourself that you want to write, and tell the nay-sayer inside your head to shut up.

Read a book - Read a book that is written in plain language and that is about an ordinary topic. Read with the intent of getting motivated and read till you start getting excited.

Read your own posts and other related blogs - To get in the mood of writing about your blog’s topics, read your own posts and some other posts on related blogs.

Leave comments on blogs - Go to blogs in your niche and write some comments. This will help you get your thoughts focused.

Create mind maps - Create mind maps of the ideas that may have occurred to you so far.

Write!

Now you are ready to write again. Don’t worry if you leave a post in the middle, start a new one. This is all an exercise.

And remember, don’t edit yourself.

I’ve taken the same steps, and now I am back into the writing mood. Oh, and if you have been wondering, I laughed away my suggestion of never being able to write again.

Tags: creativity, ideas, inspiration, writing

12 comments so far and counting

Aaron StroudJanuary 15th, 2008
That is great advice Mohsin. Do you write your initial drafts in English, or do you find your native tongueÂ facilitatesÂ creativity better?Â
MohsinJanuary 15th, 2008
Nah.. I think as well as write in English. If you speak more than one language, you must know how difficult it is translate from one language to another without losing the real spirit of ideas in the process of translation.

Anyways, I haven’t written anything in my native language (Urdu) for ages. I used to do poetrey in Urdu, but I have discontinued it because of my obsession with computers. It’s kind of hard for my geeky and poetic sides live in harmony with each other.
Ricardo BuenoJanuary 16th, 2008
I hate experiencing moments of writer’s block! If you blog often enough it’s common to experience these moments…What makes it easy for me to recover is (1) reading a book, and (2) reading other blogs. Reading a book will give me an idea to blog about as will other blogs. Sometimes a comment is what inspires a new blog idea; your essentially carrying the conversation over to your home blog.
MohsinJanuary 16th, 2008
Ricardo, it’s the other way round with me. If I blog more often, I stay in my creative zone, but if I take a long break, the words refuse to cooperate with me.
Wayne LiewJanuary 16th, 2008
The hardest thing about writing is thinking about what to write. To avoid this, I always bring along a notepad and will jot things that I can come across my thoughts while I was not with my computer.Another thing is for sure, get rid of laziness if you don’t want to get caught up with the writing backlog.
MohsinJanuary 16th, 2008
Wayne, although I don’t carry around a notepad, I admit that the best post ideas occur to me while I am away from computer, especially when I am trying to sleep..

What do you do if an idea comes to your mind when you are lying warm and cozy on the bed? Do you force yourself get up and jot down the idea or you simply curse the wrong timing like I do?
Muhammad SiyabJanuary 16th, 2008
Mohsin I know how writing Urdu poetry is! Used to do that back in classes 6,7,8,9. Man it was tough! I get my best ideas after a nice nights sleep or when in the shower… and when I sit to put them on screen, I forget them…. But since then I’ve started carrying a notepad around, and this has noticeably lessened my forgetting of the ideas. but you cant carry a notepad everywhere! Like in the shower! ;)
MohsinJanuary 16th, 2008
Siyab, carry a chalk in the shower and daub your ideas on the wall.
Wayne LiewJanuary 17th, 2008
Good question indeed! Well, I sleep beside my study table in my room, which means I can simple take something from my desk easily when I wanted to. I guess this answers your question.It is hard to resist the coziness of the bed, especially during late night when I am so tired. However, I do have the same brain as yours in some way. I guess at the end of the day, everything slowed down and nothing is in our minds, this is why ideas come in.
FahadFebruary 1st, 2008
Nice post. Although I have only started blogging for a couple of months now, there have been a couple of times when I have gone through this type of a problem. These ideas of yours should heal away this sickness quickly!
btw I have bookmarked this post, so that I can look back to it in the future!
Nathan HillMarch 22nd, 2008
Yeh I know what you mean when you get serious writers block it feels like you wont be able to write for ages. What I sometimes do is just force myself to write - even if it is just random thoughts. Just open MS word and type what you’re thinking and then read through again and you will often find a few ideas that you can expand from.