By Vickie Johnstone

Today I am happy to feature a delightful guest post by a lovely and charming editor and writer from the UK, Vickie Johnstone, author of The Sea Inside. Like many writers, Vickie sometimes wrestles with writer’s block. The good news—she has a cure! You can read her blog at Vixie’s Stories.

At the beginning of this year, I found myself unable to write. I had been writing almost continuously since 2011, when I discovered self-publishing and inspiring writers’ groups online. It was a miracle for me, Miss Lazy, I can tell you. But from the first week of December until about March, I just couldn’t write. I came up with a plan, which you might find helpful… or not I can honestly say it worked for me and I managed to finish the fantasy book I started in 2009 (yes, I’m the big procrastinator), called The Sea Inside.

Here are my ideas to get your creative mojo rising –

1. Write something every day – for me I started by writing a poem every day on my blog.

I find that writing poetry easier in that mine are bits of flash, written fast. Sometimes they’re okay, sometimes they’re a bit crap, but it’s me getting words down on paper and I love it. A good brain shake.

2. Focus on one story – unless you get stuck.

I realised that part of my problem was that I couldn’t choose what to write. In my head I had been switching between ideas for various books. I never outline stories and just create them in my head, where they float around until I write them down. But all the stories were becoming muddled. Unable to focus, I forced myself to write some notes on each idea in a notebook, so I didn’t forget them. Then I focused on one at a time. But if you get stuck on one project, don’t linger – switch!

3. Read! Read! And read!

I haven’t been reading much lately, so my aim is to read more books! I used to find that the more I read, the more I wanted to write. Most of my reading was done while commuting to work on the train, but since working from home, I’ve lost that time. I realise I need to work this into my day in the same way as I used to when I was working in an office.

4. The notebook.

I’m going to try to write something new in my notebook every day. And I promise to take it everywhere, except the shower. But, doh, I get poems in the shower… splash.

5. Structure your day.

I realise I need to divide up my day a bit better. Since working from home, I lack the structure of a normal working day. I feel bad if I am not marketing my books, so instead of panicking and spending too much time on social networks, I’m going to divide up my day, so I have a certain amount of time spent marketing, socialising, tweeting, helping others and writing. I realised I’ve also got behind on posting things on my blog, such as interviews with other authors, so that will come under this list.

6. Enter competitions.

I’m going to do this because it will make me feel better about my writing. It will make me feel like I’m doing something proactive to get my books ‘out there’, even if they’re not selling. I entered the Indie Excellence Awards 2013, and to my astonishment, Kiwi and the Serpent of the Isle (book four in the Kiwi Series) was a finalist. This just goes to show that it’s worth trying – you never know. I was so shocked that I felt sick, but then I was doing some leaps.

7. Wake up and stay fresh.

Spend less time snoozing and get up earlier. I find that yoga in the morning gets my brain working and I feel more energetic, so that’s going into my writing mission. Plus porridge, the magic mood food, which seems to give me energy.

8. Get out and be inspired.

Head outside and look at new things. I tend to hole myself up with my laptop for much of the time, but it’s probably not healthy. If you work from home, it’s easy to become a bit of a hermit. Not that I’m feeling crabby, but you know… Looking at new things and seeing people is inspiring, and good for your mood. Seeing new things gets your imagination working. All of these things freshen us up and make us want to be creative.

9. Get creative = think creatively.

Do other creative things when you’re not writing – dancing, yoga, painting or drawing, and taking photos. Or just daydreaming! Whatever floats your boat.

10. Don’t panic and think NaNo.

Not panic that the block may set in again, but just go with the flow. NaNoWriMo showed me that you can write 50,000 words in a month if you really try.

11. Make time for yourself.

Make sure you still have time for yourself and your hobbies, friends, etc, besides working.

So, that’s my mission for 2013.

For you guys, well, let me just say… get writing everyone. Just write about anything. If not, get out and look at things. Have fun, see people, watch a film, look at a painting or go for a wander in the woods… the simplest things get our imaginations flowing… yay! I hope!

To finish off, here are some quotes from famous writers on The Block…

“Writing about a writer’s block is better than not writing at all.” Charles Bukowski

“There’s no such thing as writer’s block. That was invented by people in California who couldn’t write.” Terry Pratchett

“I learned to produce whether I wanted to or not. Chain that muse to your desk and get the job done.” Barbara Kingsolver

“Everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” Sylvia Plath

“Easy reading is damn hard writing.” Nathaniel Hawthorne

“The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.” Mary Heaton Vorse

“I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately I am inspired at 9 o’clock every morning.” William Faulkner

“What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat’. And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, ‘Okay, okay, I’ll come’.” Maya Angelou

“The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day you will never be stuck. Always stop while you are going good and don’t think about it or worry about it until you start to write the next day. That way your subconscious will work on it all the time. But if you think about it consciously or worry about it, you will kill it and your brain will be tired before you start.” Ernest Hemingway

And my favourite, from Steve Martin…

“Writer’s block is a fancy term made up by whiners so they can have an excuse to drink alcohol. The other trick I use when I have a momentary stoppage is virtually foolproof, and I’m happy to pass it along. Go to an already published novel and find a sentence that you absolutely adore. Copy it down in your manuscript. Usually, that sentence will lead you to another sentence, and pretty soon your own ideas will start to flow. If they don’t, copy down the next sentence in the novel. You can safely use up to three sentences of someone else’s work – unless you’re friends, then two. The odds of being found out are very slim, and even if you are there’s usually no jail time.”

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