Overcoming
Writer's Lethargy
By Jennifer Baum
I admit it. I’ve got a case of the winter blahs. Here in the northeast the winter has been long, grey and cold. Unlike the weather forecasters who
seem to be delighted every time a record for snowfall or cold temperatures is shattered, I have taken each storm as a personal insult.
I am not suffering from writer’s block. I know exactly what I should be writing. I have a plethora of new ideas to be explored, scribbled in notebooks. I just don’t feel like writing. This isn’t to say that haven’t been writing. I have. It’s just that each time I sit down at the keyboard, it feels like, well, work.
Here are some of the tricks I’ve been playing with myself in order to keep myself writing.
CHANGE OF SCENE
Instead of writing in my office, I’ve written at the dining room table. When that gets boring I leave the house. I write at the bookstore, the diner, even the garage where my car is serviced.
CHANGE OF ROUTINE
Usually I re-read my last 10 pages or so of a screenplay before writing some more, but lately I’ve just been diving right in.
GO SMALL
Yes, I know we live in a “go large” world, but sometimes that’s just too daunting. Instead of writing an entire scene, I’ll jot down a few words about what will happen, along with a few key lines of dialogue or action. Then I’ll take a break.
TAKE A BREAK
I live by my kitchen timer (though I rarely use it for cooking). Sometimes when I don’t feel like working on a project, I give myself a fifteen minute break. I get up, walk around, read a magazine, check email, make a pot of coffee, anything that helps me feel as though I’m “escaping” the project at hand. Once the timer rings, though, I’m back in my seat and back to work.
REWARD YOURSELF
Since I work from home, I don’t have any co-workers. I’ve got no one to stand around the water cooler with and discuss who I think will will the current round of
“Survivor.” Every couple of hours I pick up the phone. I’ll call a friend and just shoot the breeze for a few minutes. That little bit of human contact usually leaves me feeling refreshed. I also try to schedule lunch dates with friends a few days each week.
BE ACCOUNTABLE
Truth be told, who’s going to know whether or not you’ve actually written anything this week? Having a critique partner, or a regular reader of your work, can help you stay on target even when you don’t want to write.
Now go write!
Jennifer L. Baum
began studying screenwriting three years ago.
Since then, she has optioned one script, had another place in the Top 10
of the Script Magazine Open Door Contest, and had yet another screenplay place
as a semifinalist (putting her in the top 2% of more than 3400 entries) in the Fade
In Magazine contest. She can be reached at write4reel@hotmail.com
