Writer’s block. I don’t believe it. The only time writer’s block hits is;

1 – When your story isn’t working
2 – Not enough knowledge/research about a subject
3 – Writing without an outline/plan
4 – Lost interest

One of the most important tools and talents of a writer is the the never-ending well of ideas that rests on their shoulders, or hides inside their brain. Writers are strange people, they like to watch and use their observations in their stories, they are curious about people’s behaviours, choices and attitudes. They often stare into space or read a book for hours and call it working.

Working it is. That is one of the joys of being a writer.

Unfortunately, your significant other might not understand this at all.

If you’re feeling stuck, here are a few ideas to get your going again.

Do you need an idea for a short story or a novel?

Play the ‘what if’ game.

1. What if you discovered that your neighbour was an assassin for hire?
2. What if your dog started talking to you?
3. What if you woke up to find yourself in the middle of a war zone?
4. What if you decided to pack just a suitcase and move to Morocco?
5. What if you came home to find a goodbye note?
6. What if you left leaving just a goodbye note?
7. What if the people on the train were zombies?
8. What if you won the lottery and gave it away the next day?
9. What if you won the lottery and went on a crazy spending spree?
10. What if you couldn’t read or write but had to finish school?
11. What if you witnessed a crime in a dark alley?
12. What if your mum was a mob boss?
13. What if scientists discovered a cure for all diseases and refused to let it out in the open?
14. What if the government made a law against people owning cameras?
15. What if the military took control of your city?

You can play the what if game with just about anything to get your mind stirring. Pick any idea or work your way through the list and see what or if any story emerges. Combine ideas for more compelling and interesting stories. See what works, see what doesn’t.

What ‘what ifs’ can you come up with? I find this exercise great to do whilst reading the newspaper or watching a movie. Ideas are triggered by scenes, dialogue and situations I encounter throughout the day. That’s why it’s important for writers to always have something to scribble on when that idea pops to mind. Funnily enough, many of my ideas pop up in the middle of the work day when I should be concentrating on numbers rather than story telling!

Write a short story using the following elements:

1. A butler, a monkey, a basement and loss.
2. A priest, a dog, a casino, and love.
3. A soldier, a unicorn, a car and honesty.
4. A teacher, an elephant, a train and gratitude.
5. A homeless person, a gold fish, a school and passion.
6. A cop, a baby, a theatre, and faith.

These are just meant to get you thinking. Sometimes you might get a full story out of them, other times just a kernel to get you going with your own writing. Stretch your writing muscles and your imagination will always be on your side, the muse will show up and you won’t have enough time to get all the ideas on paper.

That’s great for when you’re writing fiction but what about non-fiction like blog posts and articles?

There are ways to never run out of ideas, here’s just a few:

1. Grab a magazine and check out the headlines. Can you twist them around?
Write with the opposite point of view.

• Turn 5 Foods That Will Blast Off The Fat to 5 Foods That Will Make You Fat.
• How To Get More Sleep Each Night to How To Function With Only 5 Hours of Sleep Per Night
• Why You Should Run That Marathon To Why Running A Marathon Is A Bad Idea

2. How about slanting one story idea for different audiences?

If you’re writing about a top on productivity you could write several articles aimed at a different audience. Of course you don’t want to plagiarise yourself. You can use similar research but the article itself needs to be original. You’re simply repurposing the idea for multiple markets. Less work whilst increasing your bottom line.

• Parenting – How To Be More Productive In Between Toilet Training and Playing Peek-a’Boo.
• Business – Strategies To Get More Done By Doing Less
• Fitness – 10 Ways To Find More Time In Your Schedule For Exercise

  Same topic, different slant, different audience, different article. Can you think of any others?

3. What do you really terrible at?

Start making a list. Be honest with yourself. There’s bound to be two or three things you’re not very good at.
So you hate investing. Is there a way you could change that around by learning about it and writing articles or blog posts about your journey to investing zen?

• Investing 101: What the hell does investing mean anyway?
• How to save money when you’re broke
• Shares: Why I Want To/Never Want To Invest In Them

4. What about the things you would love to learn?

One of the awesome things about being a writer is the constant self-education. You don’t have to write what you know, instead write what you don’t know to expand your knowledge and fill up your creative well.

Have you a passion for food?
Chat up a chef or waiter and see if they are willing to dish the dirt on restaurants and food in the area. Can they explain to you the different between julienning and cutting? Maybe share a secret ingredient that adds spice to any meal? What do they predict to be the up-and-coming meal/fruit/dessert?

5. Where’s your bucket list?

Do you have a bucket list? These days many people do and they flaunt it all over the place. If you don’t, now’s a good time to start making one. Once you’ve got it down on paper, is there anything that you could get started on now? Great, get going and then write about your experience.

6. What’s your qualification/day job?

If you studied or are studying, worked or are working, you have something to write about.

Focus on your knowledge areas. Just because you know the difference between calories and kilojoules or HTML and CSS code doesn’t mean every one else does. There’s ample opportunity to write on topics from horses to dental care and beyond.

How many article ideas can you come up with based on your day job or qualification?

Writer’s block doesn’t have to be a curse. It’s usually just a sign that something isn’t working. Here are just a few other things you can do:

• Take a step back and reassess your work.
• Ask yourself what you want your story to say.
• Write without censoring yourself.
• Forget perfection, just get it written.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? How do you overcome it?