An Easy Fix for Writer's Block

            A lot of writers suffer from writer’s block. For me, it’s been a long time since I've had what I’d actually call writer’s block – I'm as close as I've been in a long time right now, but I'm still writing every day.

            Writing is an art. Because of that, most people wait for inspiration to strike to write and that makes it too easy for writer’s block to set in. That’s how I used to write and, because of that, I almost never got any writing done.

            Then I decided to put my nose to the grindstone and finish my first book. I decided that, to do that, I would write every single day. Six months later, I completed my first book. I kept writing, though, moving onto my next book. I'm on year six now, and I have written every single day (with the exception of one week in the first year when I was too sick).

            Now, that doesn't mean I wrote a lot every day. Sometimes it was just a sentence, or perhaps some editing. Sometimes, rather than working on my book, I worked on world-building – a very important part of writing.

            I think it’s easy to forget that, along with being an art, writing is a discipline. Most arts are. How do you get better at something? You practice. How do you make sure you complete a project? You work on it, even when you don’t want to.

            When I'm writing, I go through phases. Sometimes the words fly from my fingers. Other times, I struggle to figure out what happens next. The latter is as close to writer’s block as I get. Those are the days I write one sentence at a time. I keep writing and writing until my inspiration kicks in and my work takes off.

            Not only does the discipline of writing every day help me kick writer’s block, it helps me trudge through the parts of my books where I have no idea how to get from point a to point b. By forcing myself to write every day, I also force myself to create when I'm uninspired.

            After five years, I discovered that writing every day had become more than a habit. It has become almost an addiction. I was planning to take the year off from writing books to focus on further developing the world I write in. I very soon found myself wishing I had a book to work on.

            Then inspiration struck and I accidentally started a new book. I got through two and a half chapters before I hit the rough patch I'm currently struggling through. Yet, every day, step by step, I keep going.

            So, do you really want to kick that writer’s block? Start writing every day – no exceptions. Writer’s block won’t stand a chance against you and your project will be done before you know it.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.