Beating the Drama of Writer's Block

To create better drama in your writing, you need to beat the drama of writer’s block. This may be obvious. But when your curser is sitting on a blank page taunting you with the repetitive blinking and your mind spins and lurches, sifting through everything and settling on nothing, writer’s block can be debilitating.

So, how do you beat it?

I’ll tell you a secret that may make you hate me.

I never get writer’s block.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I definitely get lazy, or distracted, or addicted to tweeting. I have many things that keep me from writing. But I never get blocked.

How?

I shall fill you in on my dirty little secret.

The Games We Play As Children

My brother and I have this game we play. I now play it with my husband, who is also a writer. (And no, not THAT kind of game. Get your minds of the gutter!)

How does it work?

1. Pick a subject, any subject.
2. Then pick a genre. (poetry, short story, scene, essay, anything you want!)
3. Now, TIME IT! You and your partner (or partners) decide on a short time (1-3 minutes) and write about what you picked.
4. Finally, share and laugh.

A real life example.

The Subject: A woman in a living room, naked with a gun.

The genre: scene

The results…

My brother, Neil, wrote a scene about a woman who was using her gun for some special time when… oops! It went off!

I wrote a scene in which a woman was pregnant, trying to give herself an abortion in a very unlikely way. #itdidntwork

Now, say what you will about our mental stability, we rocked those stories and went on to write more. Poems about cigarettes. The alphabet as a story. A Dear Mom letter from camp. (You DO NOT want to know what my bro did with THAT one!) You get the idea!

Why this works.

These games free up your creative muse. They get you thinking about things in a new and fun way and force you to write from a new perspective.

They also break you out of any block.

These games stood me well when I went to college and had deadlines for papers.

They saved me when I wrote professionally for newspapers. When you are on deadline of a few hours to get a front-page news story in, you don’t have time for blocks.

The truth is, we don’t really get blocked at all. We just get trapped in our own minds, over-thinking what should be a creative process.

By playing with our muse, rather than forcing it, we free ourselves to be the creative genius we most desire.

So get out there and play! If you don’t have a partner, play with yourself. #again #mindoutofgutter

Your muse will thank you. And so will your readers.

The Three Lost Kids & The Death of the Sugar Fairy Book Tour

Evolved Publishing brings you "The Three Lost Kids & The Death of the Sugar Fairy," by award-winning author Kimberly Kinrade. (Chapter Book for kids 6-9 years old.)

…I scrunched up my eyes in an attempt to see. "Why do you sound like you're in another room? You're going the wrong way. You have to walk to us." The darkness was so complete, like a black room with no light. "Okay, on three, we're all going to scream. Someone will hear us. Mom and Dad are for sure caught up by now. One, two, three!"

"Help!" We screamed as loud as we could, over and over.

When we couldn't scream anymore, our throats too sore, a flickering of light came back on and the skeleton waved at me. "Welcome to the haunted house, where guests stay forever and the dead linger on to play."

Join the Three Lost Kids for another adventure as they're attacked by Sugar Bugs, face their fears in Cavity Cave, and battle giant Gummy Bears, all to save a dying Sugar Fairy who holds the fate of Halloween in her hands.

Can the girls learn to work together, each using their strengths to save the day, or will their fighting trap them in Sugar Land forever?

Look for the original Three Lost Kids Trilogy–Lexie Worlds, Bella World and Maddie World–if you like enchanted Dragons, Fairies, and more adventures through magical worlds with great life lessons for kids!

 

About the Author

Kimberly Kinrade was born with ink in her veins and magic in her heart. She writes fantasy and paranormal stories for children, YA and adults and still believes in magic worlds. Check out her YA paranormal novels Forbidden Mind and Forbidden Fire and her illustrated children's fantasy chapter books Lexie World, and Bella World, all on Amazon.

She lives with her three little girls who think they're ninja princesses with super powers, her two dogs who think they're humans and her husband, also known as the sexy Russian Prince, who is the love of her life and writing partner.

For kids and parents of young kids, join the Lost Kids at http://ThreeLostKids.com

Connect with Kimberly:  

Website  | Twitter  | Facebook

Seriously, guys, how fun does this sound?!! How do you get past writer's block?!!