It happened again last night.  I had the whole night free to work on editing, and it didn’t happen.  Why?  That dreaded thing that writers hate.  Writer’s Block.  Better known as The Block.  Okay.  So having the Internet right there and handy didn’t help.  And yes, the evening was mostly a lost cause because of having it, but once I finally, finally started writing, the words began to come quickly.  At least until I had to go to bed.  O for a day when I don’t have to get up early!

So how does one beat The Block?  Here’s what I’ve learned.

• Don’t fight it.  Fighting The Block only makes it worse because it gets me totally frustrated.  And the more frustrated I get, the more I get my emotions bound up in that frustration.
• Do something else.  Turn your mind away from writing.  For me, that meant playing around on the Internet a little.  I checked e-mail.  Looked up the music video for Toby Keith’s “American Ride” and Jason Michael Carroll’s “Hurry Home.”  Both are great videos, by the way.  That and getting the video player up and running since I recently reformatted ate up most of my evening.
• Completely walk away and come back later.  This has always helped when I’ve gotten frustrated.  In college, it was when I was trying to solve physics problems.  Now it can pop up with something at work or during writing.  So The Block is nothing new.  What do I do?  A change of scenery helps.  Or just setting it aside until several hours go by.  I set my mind other things, and ideas for writing pop into my head.  Sometimes, these ideas even come in the shower.

So don’t let The Block block you from writing.  Instead of fighting it, embrace it by filling those frustrated moments with other things.