Marian Keyes, Irish novelist, made this brief video of 3 techniques to get started on the writing and potentially beat writer’s block.
If you live in the UK and pay a TV licence, you can see it at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05fj5f8
In summary, her 3 helpful hints are these:
- Establish a routine which works for you (she works at a desk in her spare room from 9 am, Mon-Fri): she lights a candle (though not religious) and promises herself to write for one hour – often this stretches longer towards 4 hours
- Getting the ideas in your head onto the paper is difficult and involves a lot of work because they sound better in your head
- A daily walk with a sympathetic companion, on a level path, with that steady rhythm can bring ideas to the surface when blocked
Creative Takeaway
- Try deciding what time you can realistically write daily – or at weekend – and sit down to write for a minimum time – but be willing for that time to stretch.
- Mentally allow for the fact that it is going to take writing and reworking time for the words on the page or screen to become anywhere near as good as the imagination paints them. This is the work of writing.
- What exercise seems to unlock your thinking?
Comma And 