PureBlogging

A little while ago I wrote about the excuses we give ourselves when we procrastinate, and gave some worthwhile (in my opinion, anyway) advice on how to avoid the thinking patterns that lead to putting off work.

One of the things I left off that list of tips: “I can’t think of any ideas.” Of course, for most of us, this is nonsense. Very often, it’s not that we can’t think of ideas; it’s that we don’t want to invest time in the ideas we have, because they don’t seem very good. Getting past this inner critic is paramount to writing well; I recommend reading the excellent post linked above for advice.

Of course, I spend plenty of time with Writer’s Block. Writer’s Block and I have whiled away many an evening together, huddled up underneath my desk, or on the couch watching infomercials together. I’ve been all over the web looking for ways to beat Writer’s Block, often to no avail, and I usually wind up watching monkey-themed videos on YouTube instead. I have found some good resources (like Holly Lisle’s How to Beat Writer’s Block), but overall I’ve had to develop some of my own strategies. Here are a few of them.

Play Word Association. Copyblogger had a great post this week about how bloggers are a lot like rappers. Sure, it’s a bit of a stretch, but even if you don’t agree, you’ve got to admit it’s — at the very least — a great starter for a brainstorming session. With “X is a lot like Y” as your equation, and Y as the thing you’ve got to write about, list ten totally random and disparate things that could fill in for X. Then start getting creative.

Turn Your Notebook Into An Oblique Strategies Deck. You are using a notebook, right? You know, to get down ideas and such? Well, go through it, and turn every comment, every stupid idea, every context-free observation into a note card. Once you’ve compiled your deck, pull a card from it every time you’re stumped. Follow the rule that you’ve got to provide context for or elaborate on whatever is on the card. Repeat until drained. (Don’t know what Oblique Strategies are? The Wikipedia article’s pretty good.)

Play Six Degrees of Separation. This is like a modified version of Word Association. List something that’s completely and demonstrably different from whatever topic you write about. Then try to make it from Point A to Point B in six steps (or more, or less — whatever floats your goat). The interim steps will encourage creative thinking and generate ideas.

Read Your Old Material. This is best for those times when you’re feeling low about your writing talent. Your old material is removed from the Now — if it’s been a sufficiently long time since you wrote it, it’ll almost seem like someone else did. Chances are, you’ll like what you read, and even if you don’t, you’re likely to see hints in there of old forgotten ideas — things you could have written whole essays about, but chose to keep it down to a pithy comment or a wry comparison. Your own portfolio is a wellspring of good ideas.

Play With Toys. Seriously. I keep a peanut butter jar full of Legos on my desk at all times. When I feel particularly stressed about my lack of ideas, I start sticking blocks together. I have yet to build anything worthy of Brickshelf, and the actual act of playing with something meaningless and soothing doesn’t always directly contribute to new ideas. But it does reduce my stress level considerably, and gets my creative organs pumping at the same time.

Of course, what works for me may not work for you. So with that I ask: What are your methods for overcoming being stumped?

Popularity: 10% [?]