You've got a great idea for the next bestseller in the bookshops yet you can't seem to get it on paper. For minutes, even hours you are staring at your computer screen but your head is full of cotton. You're stuck. How do you handle it?

  For years I would start a book (when hit by the first flush of inspiration) then quickly abandon it once the inspiration ebbed. But now I'm so much better; I've actually completed two books. If I had relied purely on inspiration I would never have gotten this far. This is how I deal with my writer's block:

1. Set deadlines and stick to them. If I decide to write 2,000 words every other day, I stick to it.

2. Whether or not you feel like it just write write and write some more. Even if it looks like gibberish to me I keep writing. At some point my imagination kicks in and I get a good flow. Simply put, my emotions are subject to my actions.

3. You don't have to write in chronological order. If I'm stuck say in the beginning of a story I'll simply jump to the middle. I didn't write my second book chronologically. I jumped back and forth because I often got stuck.

4. Pray. It helps me a great deal.

5. Let someone hold you accountable. I have a friend who checked up on me everyday to find out if I'd written my 2,000 words.

6. Be inspired by the greats.  When I read an author like Buchi Emecheta I tell myself that if she could do so can I.

7. Take a break if you need one. Sometimes you need the mental space to receive new ideas.


You can check out samples of my writing: http://fresherangle..com

What are your own tips?

I think you have touched the core points especially writing when it feels like gibberish. I write fiction and non fiction but i struggles with the former. I have abandoned stories to start another. However i hve decided to stick to my present project no matter what. Tnx 4 the info. U can see and drop comments (tell me what u feel) on my non fiction articles on my blog. Just click on my signature.

I've actually gone through your blog before and left a comment (using Oluchi Ugwu) on the most recent post 'so much yet so little'. I found the memoirs of a lost soul particulary hilarious. Keep up the good work.