This page is for notes and queries about the process of writing. Contributions will be gratefully received.

WRITER'S  BLOCK

Want to write but can't get started?  I almost didn't write this because I couldn't decide whether it was one writer or two who had the block, and the apostrophe would need to reflect whichever one it was. Anyway, here are my own personal tips:

• Turn your mobile off. Unplug the landline. Put the cat out. Put a Do Not Disturb sign on the door. Then -
• Write as fast and furiously as you can for ten minutes. Don't do anything else, including answering the phone (which should be off, remember?) What you write is not important. It can be total nonsense, a word salad, gobbledegook, it doesn't matter. Just get something on paper. Pen or word processor? Use a pen and let it flow, then as it begins to take on a life of its own, type it up.
• Give the critic who is lurking inside your head the day off. Just write. Don't monitor it.
• Feeling more in the mood? Find a piece of music (film scores are good) and write down the images that come into your head as it plays. Close your eyes to start with and let the music come to you, then write.
• Try this to banish distracting thoughts:    Write a list of worries. Put it in an envelope and leave it outside the study door.
• Stuck for ideas? Open the paper at random and close your eyes. Stab a page. Use the piece/picture/article as a starting point.

If you are really, really blocked, ask yourself who you are writing for? Do you have to please a publisher? Do you have to complete the assignment? Write something just for you, for fun, and see it it loosens up the creative muscles.  Good luck!