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Writer's Block and New Writers: A Guide

For the well-seasoned and the newcomers, here's how to get inspired.

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Writer's Block and New Writers: A Guide
Showtime

Writing doesn't really flow for a lot of people. It used to not really be my thing. We had to write in school with pencils and paper and writing a lot was an accomplishment and a curse, because my fingers would hurt like hell. In seventh grade, we were given laptops for school, and we could take them home, too. This was a major change for me, but not at first. When I was twelve years old, I was more interested in playing video games until 5 AM with my friends on Xbox Live. When I got into 11th grade, I had to write a lot again, but when I had a laptop to do that with, I wasn't hindered by fingertip destruction.

Potential struck, and I kept it up, even writing in my free time. I dialed back the video games a little bit and had myself a time. Over the summer, I almost wanted to go back to school just so I could keep it going. When school came back around, things were looking up. Senior year had come, and I was writing almost every day.

Sometimes, though, I'd be sitting in class and I'd be assigned something, but I just wasn't in the mood to do it. I thought I was just being lazy, but really, if you're not in the mood to write, you just can't pump out something good. This was what I had assumed to be a very minor case of writer's block.

Weeks would go by and there wouldn't be a single word written. I was stuck in a creative rut; unable to make sentences for really no particular reason. I thought I lacked inspiration, and it turns out, I was right.

Through some pretty wild misadventures, I got my writing mindset back. I think this is only a temporary fix, though, because it comes back every once in a while. That's the main point though. In order to write often, you have to get out more. Get into trouble, try to skateboard and bust your chin on the pavement, spend a week and a half at your friend's house with no supervision and be informed of the previous night's misadventures by someone else. You have to experience something intense or just plain funny to really feel creative.

On the other hand, a great tragedy or injustice can inspire some to write. Anger is a great way to get out your true colors. It seems that the greatest essays ever written were in protest of something, a great example being Common Sense, the American Revolution-era precursor to the war itself which inspired many colonists to rise up against their English oppressors, as written by Thomas Paine. Many revolutionaries have been writers, and their feelings and desires for freedom have been the true force pushing their pen across the paper.

So, if you're a writer with writer's block, either get mad or do something stupid, because it'll help a lot. If you're the average person, do the same. The world needs more voices. Each person is heard by at least someone if they choose to write. Your doesn't have to be carefully worded for it to make its point. Simply get every idea you have on paper, and structure it into one moot point. The world will listen.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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