{"id":2464,"date":"2017-10-27T20:32:10","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T20:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/four-ways-beat-writers-block\/"},"modified":"2023-04-20T18:11:52","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T18:11:52","slug":"four-ways-beat-writers-block","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/blog\/four-ways-beat-writers-block\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Ways to Beat Writer\u2019s Block"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Four<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tWords: Christen Hammons<\/a><\/span>\n\t\n\tPhoto credit: Robert Zaleski<\/a><\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n


\nAs an editor of several magazines, I have a lot of different writing assignments.<\/strong><\/p>\n


\nSome have a specific topic, other times I can write whatever I feel like, but no matter what the subject matter, I have to turn something in. I\u2019m sure many people imagine that editors can just sit down at their computers and let the words flow. The problem is, that rarely happens. A lot of times, the words sputter more than they flow. I\u2019ll write what I think is the perfect opening sentence, or possibly the best title I\u2019ve ever come up with, and then \u2026 nothing. With deadlines looming, I have no choice but to somehow get words down on paper. Over the years, I\u2019ve had to come up with a few tricks to get myself inspired, and here\u2019s what I\u2019ve found works best for me.<\/p>\n

Tips for Beating Writer\u2019s Block<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Read something that always inspires you. I have a few favorite writers whose work I love to reach for when I\u2019m at a loss for my own words. Mary Oliver, Sarah Addison Allen, and L.M. Montgomery never fail to move me.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    2. Change the mood of the room. It sounds silly, but I feel a little more \u201cwriterly\u201d when I\u2019m working at my computer with the lights off and only the glow of my desk lamp illuminating my office.<\/p>\n

    3. Switch up your music. I can\u2019t work in silence. However, music lyrics easily can distract me, so I\u2019ve started listening to instrumental music while I write. You can easily find playlists on any streaming app.<\/p>\n

    4. Start over. When I\u2019m really struggling to write something, I will often have a file full of starts and stops. I don\u2019t delete anything; I just hit \u201creturn\u201d a few times and start over. Then I\u2019ll walk away and come back and will know which direction I want to go.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    These are just a few things that work for me, but I\u2019m always looking for more ways to break through creative blocks.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Do you have any tips? Be sure to share them with our readers in the comments.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    To trouncing writer’s block,<\/p>\n

    \"Christen<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Christen Hammons is the Director of Publishing for Stampington & Company and Editor-in-Chief for:
    \nBella Grace Magazine<\/em>
    \n Field Guide to Everyday Magic<\/em>
    \n Somerset Studio<\/em>
    \n Artists’ Caf\u00e9<\/em><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    This photograph by Robert Zaleski originally appeared in the September issue of Bella Grace Magazine<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As an editor of several magazines, I have a lot of different writing assignments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,129,66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-inspiration","category-writing"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}