What do you do when you hit a road block in the writing? First off, odds are you read. And the great thing about that is as writers we learn from everything we read. If it’s poorly written, we see what doesn’t work. If it’s written well we learn. Even when we don’t consciously analyze what we’re reading, on some level the brain seems to take it in.
Or we do research. Lots of us love research—sometimes too much.
What else do you do? Is it something creative? Over the years I’ve learned that if I do something creative—whether it’s knitting or sewing or artwork or whatever—it seems to help. For example, at one point, when I was stuck on a manuscript, I started knitting a sweater—one of my own experiments in design. Trouble was, I’d barely knit a row and suddenly an answer would pop into my head for what to do with the story I was writing. Took forever to get that sweater finished but it sure helped with the writing!
In a way, it’s as if by doing something relaxing and fun, the brain lets go of the anxiety about finishing the writing. And if the activity is creative, the brain seems to be able to draw on that creativity to work on the writing at the same time.
So...the next time you get stuck on a manuscript, do something else creative and see if it works for you as well as it works for me!
April
