Guest Blog – Majik’s Thoughts

It has been a fair chunk of time since my last confession father. I have been having issues with my personal computer.

David from Majik's Thoughts contacted me quite some time ago asking if he could guest blog on this site. I said yes, although previously guest blogging has been by invitation only. He is a very social blogger who works hard at what he does. I think he sent this to me about a month ago and it has been gathering dust in my e-mail inbox. Apologies to David for my tardiness.

Better late than never, Majik offers his thoughts on writer's block.

Fighting with Writers Block

Some of you have come to know me as Majik from Majik's Thoughts. I actually have three different blogs; Majik's World and Earn Online with Majik but I was inspired but the theme of Tam's blog and I approached Tam a little while ago because I had an idea for a guest post that I thought would be good for his blog "Fighting with Writing." Sticking with the theme of his block I have given my guest post the working title of "Fighting with Writer's Block" I thought it would emphasize some of the most important barriers to overcome when wanting to be a writer. Please enjoy.

One of the hardest things to do in any writing career, whether it is brief and ends after high school or if you continue on is dealing with the blank page. There have been many times when I have struggled to write something down and ended up getting frustrated by the blank page. The hardest part about writing is getting started; this is where the omnipotent writer's block comes into play. You could have a hundred and one ideas but get stuck by your opening sentence. You feel as though there is a great big brick wall in your way.

Sometimes you could stare at a blank page (or more so in recent times a blank word processor screen) and get lost in the emptiness. There have been a few tricks that I have used to overcome this problem. When I first started blogging I would have to surf through a lot of pages just to come up with an idea or a premise to write about. After I found the right topic that got me fired up the first sentence was just a note about how I came across the topic. Usually I ended up rewriting the first sentence about three times before the words could flow properly to get my point across. But there is an easier way.

Even the best writers occasionally run into a wall and have trouble getting past the empty spaces. The best way that I have found to overcome the dreaded writer's block is to think of something silly and write it down. Usually when you read something silly you'll get a chuckle and a few more ideas surrounding the subject, write those ones down. After you have taken a second look at the space you have just filled in; take a few moments to think about the context of the words you have written. Is there any potential in those sentences? Probably not, but you are no longer looking at a blank page.

When you have both sentences try to think of another sentence that will go with one of the two you have just written and you have the beginnings of an idea. Once you have the beginnings of an idea, all you have to do is follow it through. You may end up with silly sentences strung together but writing just for exercise will just give you more ideas and the starting point you are looking for will just hit you.

What writing application does this work for?

The above is an example of a writing exercise designed to help you get past the daunting task of starting any kind of story. The silly phrase that I had started with when I began writing a web-novel was "I am going to write something." It was not the funniest trick but it gives you something to write until you have one of those eureka moments and start actually writing.

What did I use this method for? Why is it such a good trick?

There is a simple answer to both questions. I have used this method to start my creative writing and not just my usual posts from my main blog. What I started with was actually the prologue to the web-novel I have been writing. The line is "…And let the saga begin…" and so far I have quite a bit written and is actually becoming longer than any work I have done previously.

The reason it is such a good trick is because it is exercise for your imagination. Every good writer has to use their imagination to weave wondrous tales that catch our attention and can hold it for a long time. These tales can have the power to make you not want to put a book down until you have finished reading it. I have come across at least one book that I could not put down until I was finished reading it. Imagination is the key to writing and using your imagination to fascinate and have your reader drawn right into your work is an achievement that all writers strive for.

Whether or not you choose to use this trick to break through the wall of your writer's block is up to you. But if it does work for you please let us know and create the next best seller!

Hope you enjoyed that. See you very soon hopefully for some more posts on fighting with writing.