Overcoming Writer’s Block

So I know this blog’s name is The Writer’s Block.

But I didn’t choose that because I actually suffer from it. (No. I just thought it a cute play on words.)

From time to time, however, I get writer’s paralysis, I guess I’d call it. I have snippets of ideas and phrases and story starts all swimming around inside, but I find it terribly difficult to put them together and coax them out.

I always am writing and rewriting in my mind, as my husband is always playing music in his.

When this happens, I have a few tricks to unleash my subconscious and trigger the writing.

1. I really like doing mundane tasks, such as vacuuming, folding laundry, and washing and drying dishes. I’ll rephrase: I don’t always like doing them, but I like what results and goodness knows, I need to be doing them anyway! I always, always, always have something come to mind when I do these things. I get kernels of article starters or even whole paragraphs for a project I’m agonizing over at work.
2. Listen to good conversation. I hate inflammatory and irate talk radio. But I love thoughtful commentary on current events from all different perspectives. I enjoy call-in radio shows and Christian talk/preaching. I’m an NPR junkie and believe Terry Gross is one of the best interviewers in the world. The ladies of The View even get my wheels turning from time to time. You get the point. Bring words and thoughts and news and ideas into your head through your ears and eyes from all different points of view and see what happens.
3. Try PLR articles for idea prompts. I have just discovered PLR (private label rights) articles within the last year. These articles are extremely affordable (typically about $1 per page) and in purchasing them, you buy all rights. This means you can slice and dice them any way you want. Edit them, use them as is, put one paragraph in today’s blog post and another in your newsletter—whatever. You want to find quality written PLR, of course; and as with most everything, junk does exist. But I have isolated a few reputable sources, take advantage of their free offerings, and purchase from them occasionally as well. If you are stuck and you need content, PLR is the way to go. It’s great to have in your arsenal! I recommend Tiffany Dow’s PLR MiniMart and Nicole Dean’s Easy PLR and my very own AllContentPLR.