Say What?

Your palms are sweaty, your brow is furrowed, and your fingers are twitchy, just waiting for your brain to tell you what to do. There's nothing more frustrating for a writer than staring at a blank page with no idea where to begin. Whether you write with paper or on a computer document, sometimes you need a boost to get started.

I'm not claiming to be an expert writer. I'm a music teacher. But I have written music, and I'm working on a YA series, so I'm not entirely without experience. Plus, I’m married to a published author, so doesn’t that make me half expert?!

Here are eight ideas that came to me, mostly in the dead of night when I couldn’t sleep. I hope you’ll get something out of my musings.

1. Find a peaceful place. Perhaps take a tablet and a pen or pencil to a lake, river, or park. Spend a night with a quiet single friend who has a spare room. A change of scene may be what you’ve been needing.

2. Freewrite, or ramble write. Just write whatever comes to mind, just to get something going. It may be enough to kickstart that grey matter that’s struggling in your giant cranium.

3. Outline. This works better for some genres than others, but it can’t hurt to have a general idea of the points you’re trying to make. I put the outline of this piece on the Notes feature of my iPad. That’s mainly because I charge it by my bedside, and I can use it without turning on the light. Note to self: next time share it to an email instead of trying to copy from the iPad.

4. Know your conclusion. If you know what the end game is, the other parts of your story may fall into place. This is one my husband keeps preaching to me. Thanks, honey! It really is great advice. I have a conclusion planned out for all four of the books in the series I mentioned I’m working on.

5. Change the point of view (POV.) If you’re stuck, maybe another character can help you get unstuck. One of my favorite authors, Juliet Marillier started each chapter of “Seer of Sevenwaters” of the Sevenwaters series, by stating the name of the character whose POV would follow. Maybe you would find that annoying, but I liked the sense of order. I’m not suggesting that you write an entire story that way unless you’re so inclined. If you like, make it a jumpstart exercise.

6. Take a break. As I alluded to earlier, some of my best ideas come to me at night when my brain is relaxed - well, until I get wide awake with an idea. You may choose to nap, read, walk, exercise, listen to music, shower, watch a movie, go out to eat, go skydiving, or lay on a bed of nails. Whatever helps you relax.

7. Talk with other people. You may or may not want to talk about writing or to talk with other authors. That’s up to you, but I find that bouncing ideas off other people gives my writing a boost. Remember that author husband I mentioned? He’s a great editor. Lucky me. This is where Vocal is so valuable. We have so many wonderful writers as a resource. In fact, if you haven’t already, check out the Resources on the Home Page. Join the Facebook Creator’s groups. I’ll include links below.

8. Write something outside your comfort zone. Here’s another plug for Vocal. The challenges have encouraged me to write things that I could never have predicted I would undertake. It’s been fun and rewarding (well, not monetarily – yet?)

Conclusion (My husband will be proud) It’s always a good idea to support other authors’ works. You never know when you’ll be the one staring at a blank page with a “duh” expression on your face. When that happens, you can lean on others, especially if you've helped them out of a bind or two. They will be proud that they contributed to your success, even if they will be jealous if you win a challenge.

Here are those links to the Facebook creator’s pages which I promised to include:

Vocal Creators Saloon

Creators Lounge

Vocal Media Creators Hub

If you got anything out of this article, even if it was a laugh or two at my expense, I invite you to kindly give me a heart… or my first tip! In any case, thanks for the read.