How To Write Your Way

By Wendiann Alfieri

When your having writers block, what do you do? do you just stare at your wall all day feeling something but not knowing how to put it into words? Are you just trying to write something creative but your brain has went blank? Here are some ways I've gotten out of having writers block!

1) The Dictionary/Thesaurus

okay so maybe your thinking, why the dictionary? how am I going to look find synonyms to words if I don't even know what to write? Well first, I myself when I was studying Italian in school, would try to study in my free time by picking out a random word and trying to remember it. I would do this because my Italian teacher could be unpredictable on his tests, so when he wasn't exactly clear on what would be on the test, I would look up random words and how to say them or conjugate them. Well, why can't it be the same for sparking creativity? Creativity is sparked often by the most random of things, so pick a random word from the dictionary, and maybe try to write some feelings that come to your head when you get to know the word. Even if you don't know the words you can often find words similar to other words using a thesaurus, try even playing some word games( such as anagrams, or acronym poems, more on acronym poems later) with them to see what comes of it. Often challenging your brain leaves you with some kind of emotion and you can go off of that! And write down any word that comes to your head when you think of that word even if you haven't exactly gotten to know the word yet. Any thought could lead to anything, and could lead to a great piece of writing!

2) Keep A Dream Journal

Lets face it: dreams are WEIRD most of the time. And I know when I wake up from a dream I can't remember anything about it, but I just have a vague understanding of it. So, when you wake up, try to keep the dream and keep a notebook full of them. Even if you don't end up writing about it in a later piece, doing this can help relieve stress or even just keep a good experience around.

3)Acronym Poems

Most of you probably have done acrostic poetry in school. I think this is a great way to strengthen your brain, having to think of a poem that creates a sort of other poem is great exercise and will give you great use of that dictionary I mentioned earlier. The way I do acronym poems is like this:

I

Forget

Everything's

All

Right

See? It spells I fear, and you don't necessarily have to make the poem match the word your using.

For Example, I'll use the word Owls:

Oh

Well

Life

Sucks

And you don't always have to do it like that. You can make a sentence for every letter instead of doing it like that, the way I do it is more of when I'm just trying to play games and I'm bored, but either way it always gets the brain thinking.

Here's an example of the sentence acronym poem ( I'll use the word Brain):

Because things have changed,

Rights have been gained

All of us strive for equality

In a world which hopefully acceptance shall reign

Now, go and tell friends,the world will be all of ours in the end

:)

4) Write Down Everything

So I know when your bored most of the time your thinking " oh I'm so bored" but its often when our minds trail of from that that we can have profound thoughts, and we are often not paying attention to them! So when your bored just keep a pen and paper by your side and even if its a to-do list you write down, when your bored, at least your writing something, and keeping on practicing writing is the way to go

5) Having Trouble Writing It Down?

You don't have to hand write it! If you have a smart phone write it in reminders or notes or any writing app you can find. Don't have a smart phone? keep a small spiral notebook, even writing in your day planner will help!

6) Think Of A Favorite Thing

So we all have favorite things, right? Favorite color, song, movie, etc. Well, think of a favorite thing of yours. For example, whats your favorite color, and what does it make you think of? Now, whats the opposite of your favorite color, and why? Ok, now if those two things were people, how would you characterize them? Would you make them opposites completely or would you make them similar, or would they be best friends or partners? Is there no particular reason that ones your favorite and the others not? Well make them allies. See, if you create characters out of two things that may not be total opposites but are opposites to you, you can expand on their character as you add conflict, and even if you don't have a setting or plot yet, characters are what make the story. Its the characters reactions and feelings to situations that make you feel and experience things, too. Its how they react to each other that creates intense moments, and having a character index could help create ideas for plot. Think: What would be this characters worst fear? What situation would put them in a place where they need to think and solve problems? Write it out, and remember, us writers learn from the stories as we write them and we grow as they grow.

7) Write Nonfiction

You don't always have to write fiction. You can pick something from your interests, things that you want to know more about, and write about that. Researching things cans spark an interest, whether it be fiction or non fiction.

Well, that's all folks! Happy writing!