H2BK: BABY NOW WE'VE GOT BAD BLOCK

After years of suffering and self-loathing due to the monster known as writer's fricking block, I think it's about time I share the world's greatest pun (read title), and tried-and-tested ways on how to work your way around the nightmare that can eat your brains out any time. 
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I am to promote the inclusion of as much creativity and art and whatever it is that not only floats one's boat, but rocks it vigorously and leads it to a magical wonderland where they can live their life dedicated to what they're passionate about. This new blog blog series, 'How 2 b kool' (H2BK), includes various steps to help achieve a Shift, which is a positive change in how a person lives. It is a hodgepodge of self-betterment BS and random ideas that will encourage readers to stand up and go live. Live. Live. Go live.


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Whenever you're beginning to get stumped, don't stop writing. Just continue, even if you think it's all garbage. Write about your day, no matter how mundane or boring your content gets. Something good will come up (it may take as long as eighteen pages before you start actually making sense but hey don't give up!), and if not, at least you got practice.
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Motivate yourself. Immerse yourself in as much culture and inspiration - go outside, hang out with some people, listen to Blue Neighborhood by Troye Sivan, go to tumblr, find a muse; heck, be your own muse. Do whatever floats your boat, just make sure that when you get prompts, don't!! ignore!! it!! Write it down, because trust me, and I know this from experience, you won't be able to remember it later. 
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Once you get in ~*the zone*~, get away from all the distractions and start your writing process. Writing is a bit of a sacred ritual of some sort for me, and if I don't do it alone, I'd rather not do it. However, your ""writing process"" doesn't have to be as intimidating as I make it sound - I just usually write run-on sentences in my crappy handwriting when everyone's asleep, with the fifth season of Friends on the background. Be at your most comfortable, but also try experimenting once in a while, like writing outdoors, or switching mediums (when you normally write using pen and paper, try typing it out, or vise versa).
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My one no-fail method is writing as quick as I can, thus resulting to the ample amount of run-on sentences on this blog. Ideas come slow and go fast so try to write as much while you still remember them. Don't bother with synonyms or sentence structure just yet, you can always edit that later.
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Reread your old writing, no matter how cringe-y it may be. This way, you could edit it, and it's always a good place to find inspiration.
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Read regularly. It doesn't have to be a book per se; if you don't have the time or energy for that, you can always read other people's blog posts, or random poetry you find on tumblr, It can still motivate, and help you discover different methods and styles. If you haven't written in a long while though (@me), reading a book will do the trick. It will jog up your creative juices, and writing will come naturally to you.
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Here are some of my favorite prompts to get you started:
- How you would describe a certain color to a blind person
- A poem using a song title, without giving context to what the song is actually about (Panic! At The Disco and My Chemical Romance are obvious choices)
- Muses/the person(s) you like in that way, if you have any. I usually don't like to admit that I write about this, because I'm only fifteen what do I know (!!!!!!!a whole lot than you expect so stop belittling me just because of my age!!!!!!!), but I have to be honest, most of my ""good writing"" come from giggly stories and mere confession of admiration. The best movies/songs/books/plays/poems also circulate around this subject, so hey, if this is all you want to write about, frigging write about it, and don't be scared to share it if you're really proud of it (as you should).
- If you're a fiction writer, this section of Rookie has great prompts for you.
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Amidst all the exhaustion and undeniable angst, don't forget to forgive yourself. It can get really frustrating and it's so, so tempting to take your anger out all on yourself, but you gotta remember to chill, fam. The weeks-long idleness can really get to your head, so take breaks and do things you love aside from writing, like eating some ice cream or stepping on some crunchy leaves during sunset. You can get through all this, and it may be hard right now, but you'll get there, and we all believe in you! Now go finish that word document - it's been waiting for you.

2 comments:

  1. this is beyond amazing
    I had a serious block the three years before I turned 18 (I'm 21 now) and it's true you really need to not stop writing. I try to create writing streaks because then I don't want to break the chain by not writing one day. I loveeeeee the images you used

    Aida
    xx

    This Kid Is Alright

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  2. I started singing Welcome To New York after that last sentence! Haha! Love this post babe ☺️

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