How Do You Deal With Writer’s Block?

Because I have a full time job as a veterinarian, business owner, husband, and a homeschooling father, I determined years ago that if I was going to write, I was going to try to not let it interfere with my time with my family or my veterinary business. That means that my writing time is either late in the evenings or on a day off, and is inconsistent. So when I do find the time to sit down to write, it’s occasionally difficult to turn on the creative juices.

If I’m at a place in writing the story where I really don’t know what to write next, I will do one of several things.

1. Since I want my writing to honor and glorify God I pray about what I’m going to write. If I’m dealing with writer’s block one of the first things I will do is ask the Lord to give me direction.
2. I have found that taking a walk in the woods as I go over the story in my mind has helped move the story along.
3. Reading back through what I have already written will sometimes put the story in perspective and give me a direction.
4. The trick I use the most is to read through the last things that I have written and ask myself, “If the story were real, what would be the very next thing that would have to happen?” Sometimes I ask it this way, “If I were this character, what would be the very next thing that I would do?”

Many times the answer to that question is something trivial that has nothing to do with the story that I want to tell, but it gets me moving forward in my writing. I will write as much unimportant stuff as I need to in order to get my ideas flowing again. Just being able to put something down that moves my thinking even a little further along in telling the story helps me enormously. I will edit out the unnecessary parts later.

I hope this encourages all of you budding writers out there. Thanks for reading and may God’s richest blessings be on each of you.

Serving Him,

Alan Harris