Don’t Get Me Started

One of the most common questions I get from my students and from any adult interested in writing is, “What do you do about writer’s block?”

Not to be a smart aleck, but I never get the chance to have writer’s block. I have way too many ideas and not enough time to write them all down. A blessing and a curse, you might say.

HOWEVER, if you’re struggling to write, or if you have a student who is a reluctant writer, few things open our mental floodgates like annoyance.

So here’s my simple tip to you: Write about things that annoy you.

It’s almost impossible to resist that bait. Try stopping someone from telling you all the things that irritate them, bother them, tick them off…

Like most useful writer’s block techniques, “Write about what annoys you” might not actually produce anything you want to use, but it gets you writing something, and that’s really the goal. And hey, who knows, maybe you’ll actually stir up some ideas while you’re ranting that help you resume whatever writing you were stuck on to begin with.

And if not? Well, then my advice is one more thing you can rant about. 😡