Get over that writer’s block

Writing is a wonderful way of life. However, it can also be one of the most frustrating things out there. This is due to a little thing called writer’s block. Every writer has suffered from it at one time or another. My most recent case of crash comes from my desire to write a script.

I came up with an idea in high school called Attack of the Cremated Zombies. At the time, it was a dumb idea that I thought was hilarious. However, he had no desire to write the story. I jotted down a couple of basic ideas in my black composition notebook (what writer doesn’t carry one of these). I graduated from high school and the idea fell to the last basement of my brain.

I did my studies at Western Kentucky University, where I studied Interactive Advertising, Graphic Design and Theater. During my few drama classes that I had, I met a man named Alex. He was a film student. We quickly became friends and started making short films together.

About halfway through my senior year, I told him about my idea for Attack of the Cremated Zombies. He found it funny! So, I sat down and learned the basics of writing a screenplay. I bought the book “The Hollywood Standard”. I read it in one sitting. But as much as I found the book interesting, it did not prepare me for the difficult journey I had embarked on.

Sitting in front of my computer, I deleted 20 pages with no problem. I thought to myself “This is going to be a piece of cake”. Twenty-five pages and things started to get a little more difficult. I got to 50 pages and realized the story was almost done.

I wanted this to be a feature film and the story was almost done at 50 pages!

At that moment I freaked out and stopped writing for a while. I didn’t know where my story was going, and I didn’t know where to add things, so I let it sit. After some time away, and a lot of hassle from Alex, I picked up the script again and forced myself to write more. This was the first step in overcoming some of the writer’s block. I had to force myself to sit down and write. It didn’t need to make sense at the time. I could go back and edit.

Even after getting the 80-page script, I still felt like the story was missing. He needed to find another way to get through. The next thing I tried, and am currently trying, is to write other stories. Writing other stories not only allows me to practice writing, but also challenges my mind to constantly think of new scenarios for other characters and other situations.

This is the best current advice I can give for overcoming writer’s block.

You have to sit down and force yourself to write.

Even if it’s not the story you want to write. Find writing prompts. Write stories about real things. That’s my advice, and here’s another snippet from a blog I read a long time ago.

Dedicate the first hour of your day to your passion.

If you ever want to go anywhere in any field of work, you have to get up first thing in the morning and practice. Write a short story, or about what you dreamed about. If you wake up every day and go straight to work doing something you hate, your life won’t get any better and your writing won’t get any better.

I leave you with some of my favorite places to find writing material.

writing messages

comedy wire