<p>Ah, writer's block. The curse that we are all afflicted with one time or another, especially during times when we definately do not need it... like when writing papers at 3 AM in the morning that are due in just a few hours, during the SAT writing portion, or when writing college essays. </p>
<p>Seeing as I'm suffering from it now, I figured: hey! why not make a thread that lists the various ways how people try to beat their writer's block and/or try to get in "the zone" for writing? Might help somebody in the future who is as brain dead as I am.</p>
<p>I'll start:
To get out of my writer's block, I start writing ANYTHING that just comes to mind, even if it has nothing to do with what I'm SUPPOSED to be writing. And I listen to hard rock... don't know why, but it works for me.
To get in the "zone," I start writing at past midnight to something smooth, like Coltrane. I like the night, especially how quiet it is-- helps me concentrate more.</p>
<p>So, my friends! List how you beat writer's block/get in the "zone" in detail-- you never know who you're going to end up helping. ;)</p>
<p>I watch a great movie. Or read a great book. If I'm too impatient to read an entire book, a brilliant short story should do it. Carver and Hemingway do the job so, so well.</p>
<p>A writer's block isn't usually a block to writing period, it's a block to writing what you're writing. So when you hit a wall on your essay about the thrills of being class vice-president, start an essay about how much you love playing soccer and once that gets old, start an essay about why you think Courtney Love really killed Kurt. Write what you feel like writing about and get good, clean sentences. You can make them all fit together when you're done.</p>
<p>I slice open my hand to punish it for being stupid.</p>
<p>Box cutters work well. Be sure to have an ace bandage handy.</p>
<p>i take a cold shower the a warm one, smoke two and a half (2 1/2) cigarettes, drink three- fourths (3/4) of a red bull, turn around twice, eat a half-cooked hot pocket, then sit down and imitate Hemingway.</p>
<p>simple mate! download some porn and crack one off! maybe even take a dump and have a shower...then you can be sure your writers block will be gone when you get back to your desk</p>
<p>i love you, top of the kop. hilarious.</p>
<p>^ easy there untilted mate, atleast buy me some flowers first ;) haha</p>
<p>For me, I just start with one thing that has some relevance to my topic--a scene, joke, a statement, a word. Then I just try to flow from there. Hell, I've broken writer's block by simply typing "F**k," and going on from there.</p>
<p>Even if the thing as a whole is crap, I'll usually have a few lines, images, and if I'm lucky, paragraphs that I can build on. That's what I'm best at--building on what I have. But getting a starting point is a mix of random inspiration, fearless typing, and blind luck. Listening to music helps if I don't know the words; if I know the words, that's all I'll think about and won't get anywhere--instrumental music helps my writing the most.</p>