Jack of All Trades

Sometimes, you just don't want to read. One of my friends is reading a copy of Aristotle's Poetics, which isn't easy reading for anyone. But, Poetics is one of the best resources for anyone who's interested in storytelling and my friend is a screenwriter. He's just plowing through the book, but his case of "reader's block" got me thinking about another way to combat writer's block (although these are a great starting place).


It's a good idea, in general, to have more interests than writing poetry. Branch out across genres. Even better, explore another form of storytelling entirely. TV writing is very different from film writing, which is very different from play writing. Draw. Paint. Act. Play an instrument. Follow a sport. There are a million things out there. Having other interests will help you find things to write about. It will also help you when you get stuck.




So, if you're having trouble continuing a piece you've already begun, here's what you do:

1. Pick one of your other interests (preferably something that's relatively far away from the genre of the piece).
2. Conceptualize your piece in terms of that interest. Maybe it's a basketball play with the last action missing, maybe it's a painting that needs a few more strokes of color, maybe it's a choral arrangement missing one part.
3. Fill in what's missing. Design the last action, add the last few strokes of paint, write that last part of music.
4. Now translate it back to your piece. Maybe you decided your painting needed more red. What does that mean for your piece? Anger? Brightness? Sunsets?
5. Start writing.

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