Inspiration

If you find you're suffering from Writer's Block, it's important to take a break for a week or two and put your laptop or notebook aside. Try not to force ideas, you may end up making things worse. Instead, try indulging in some other hobbies and let the ideas and inspirations for your writing flow naturally as your mind rests.

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Go on an adventure! Take a walk on a tranquil beach or through a beautiful forest, fill your lungs with fresh air and drink in the beautiful scenery, and see what treasures you can find, a beautiful shell or odd-shaped pinecone etc. Or if you're feeling more adventurous, and if your budget allows, book a weekend away to somewhere new. Perhaps, you could even go on location to a place featured in your writing and do some research.

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Research, as mentioned above, if you're able to, take a trip and do some research on the site of a place featured or similar to one in your writing. Read books of the same genre or containing similar themes and discover how other writers tackle the subjects.

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Change up your writing process, if you normally work on your writing on a laptop or a tablet, try switching to pen and paper. Member, Abbey, recently invested in a beautiful leather-bound journal and some antique pen nibs and ink. She finds it so relaxing and satisfying to see her notes on her novel beautified by the calligraphy the pens offer. She also loves the fact that she has a physical representation that she's working on her novel, plus the paper smells like fresh books too. It's a sensory delight. Learning to write with different pen nibs, feels like learning a new hobby too which is an extra bonus.

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Mix up your writing process and set up, try writing in a different space as long it's still quiet and peaceful. Maybe you're fed up with staring at the same walls when you're trying to write. Perhaps if you have a garden, you could work on your writing there whilst enjoying the sunshine and bird song.

Member, Abbey, loves to light lots of candles and some incense when she writes to create a calming and sensory experience when she works on her novel.

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Listen to music as you write, find music that fits the theme of your writing, or find songs that you feel relate to your characters. Member, Abbey, loves to listen to the Resident Evil video game soundtracks as she writes, particularly the save themes from the games. She says they are very calming but evoke a sense of unease which is perfect for the theme of her novel. Or if you find music too distracting, try something called Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, (A.S.M.R). A.S.M.R is a phenomenon where auditory triggers are used to create a calming and sedative sense that causes tingling in your neck and head. It's very relaxing and often subtle. There are many A.S.M.R videos on YouTube of hundreds of different themes, such as waves on a beach, a log fire, a thunderstorm etc. There are also more adventurous choices such as library ambiences, or acted videos where people speak softly as various characters such as Edgar Allan Poe. These videos are designed to be relaxing and very soft and calming so they are perfect to have on in the background if music is too noisy and distracting.

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If you're intrigued by ASMR videos, then we recommend the following YouTube channel. It has lots of ASMR ambience videos perfect for writing to with a plethora of intriguing and calming themes;

https://www.youtube.com/@themiracleforest

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Haikus. Haikus are a form of Japanese poetry. Consisting of three lines with limited syllables, the first sentence consists of five, the second is limited to seven before finishing with five syllables in the final sentence. These are great writing exercises that encourage you to put your thinking cap on and explore your vocabulary to fit the structure of the poem.

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