Reference and education

If you’re a writer, you have no doubt experienced writers block. No matter what you do, you just can’t find the right angle. Many writers, in fact, have writer’s block more often than they don’t! In an eight hour day, six of them are spent staring at a blank computer screen. Here is one good way to get past those blocks.

This and many other writers have found a great way to overcome writers block. They just give up on their assignment and do some creative writing for a little while. The idea is not to have any goal in mind, but just to write for the fun of it. Suspense books are fantastic for getting the juices flowing – they’re exciting and engaging and you can get lost in the creative process writing them.

The trick is to not try to write a great book, just write whatever comes into your head. Pick any object that is in your line of vision – that pile of scrapbooking papers gathering dust in the corner of your bookshelf, for instance, will do just fine.

Just write your opening paragraph, using what you’ve found. It might go something like this: ‘He was just watching TV when it happened. The door knocked. He went to answer the door, but no one was there – just a single sheet of scrapbook paper with a hand scrawled note.’ What was written on the paper? What’s the first thing that comes to your mind? Write it down!

Keep going with every thought that the images evoke. Was the note from a woman who says she has erotic fantasies about you and wants to arrange a rendezvous? Of course, you’re tempted, but is she for real or is somebody trying to trick you? You know you can’t resist, but you also know you’re going to have to be careful.

Now, at that suspenseful moment, set aside your thriller and get back to your job. You should already have it open, so you can get back to it without delay. Your imagination is running wild now and anything can happen. That Giro Ski Helmet you were supposed to be writing a technical data sheet about is now a very important part of your life. You need to describe it in detail, because you’ll be needing it when that romantic encounter turns deadly!

You will be surprised at how well this technique works! If you’re writing somebody’s thesis, you’ll find a way to fit the thesis into your plot. Some of the best thrillers ever written were about technical themes like the chemistry of perfume. Try it! It’s fun and is a guaranteed way to get over writer’s block!