WRITING PROMPT: DOORS

Make a list of 5 doors that you remember. They could be doors from home, work, friend's house, school, store, etc.

Pick one, and write down all of the sensory associations you have with this door: touch, smell, sight, sound, and, hey, maybe even taste—if you happened to have tasted your door.

Then write a short story about entering or exiting this door.

​For more tips and resources, sign up for the Mockler's Writing Workshop Newsletter.

Check out my online courses: Introduction to Short Fiction (a 4-week self-paced online course) and Kathryn Mockler's Fiction Workshop (a live 6-week workshop-based course via video conferencing).


Photo by Oleg Laptev on Unsplash

I experienced something like writer’s block when I first started writing. I think it was the fear of having my writing critiqued by my peers in workshops that gave me the feeling that I couldn’t write anything worthy. Writing "terror” might have been a better word for how I felt.
 
I generally don’t experience writer’s block now.
 
I still get stuck on a story or a plot point, but I wouldn’t call that writer’s block.
 
Getting stuck is part of writing. It’s not all going to come easy.
 
Over the years, I’ve come to accept periods when I’m not writing as part of my process instead of beating myself up for it and calling it writer’s block.
 
Sometimes doing things other than writing is productive such as living, working, research, and most importantly thinking and observing.

I recently wrote a story I had been thinking about for a couple of months. And then one day I just wrote the whole thing in one sitting. If I was focused on not writing the story, I'm not certain that the draft, when it eventually came, would have come as easily as it did. Of course I have to revise the draft. It didn't come out polished but allowing the story to percolate enabled the draft to come when it did. Instead of worrying about not writing it, I allowed myself to think about it for as long as I needed to. 

If you are able to, try and accept that writing doesn't always mean pen to paper or hands on keyboard. However there may still be times when you feel blocked or experience some kind of writing terror, so here are a few tips to get back on track:

1. DEADLINES:  Find a way to give yourself a deadline that you will stick to. Take a course, start a writing group, apply for a grant, submit to a contest. A deadline helps you make a commitment and realize a goal. Many of us need these external pressures.
2. TIMED-WRITING: Set a timer and free write for five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes. Don’t stop writing and keep your pen on the page. If you’re able, I suggest using a notebook rather than a computer for timed writing exercises because there will be fewer distractions and you’ll be less likely to edit yourself.
3. COPY SOMETHING: Retype a favourite piece of literature or retype anything—a newspaper article, a recipe. Just get your hands and mind moving. It’s kind of like doodling.
4. NAP: I find napping puts me in a state where I’m able to come up with ideas. When I’m in a half-awake half-asleep state, it’s easier to find solutions to problems or get ideas because I’m not evaluating my thoughts the same way as I do when I’m fully awake. Once I get a good idea, I either write it in my notebook or I get up and go back to the computer. Napping is a big part of my writing process.
5. MEDITATE: Do some mediation or breathing exercises. Again this helps put you in a relaxed state where you’re unlikely to be as self-conscious or critical of what you write, which is often one of the reasons writers feel blocked.
6. FIND A WRITING BUDDY: Set up a weekly meeting with a writing friend to check in with each other.  This can be a chance to talk to someone who actually wants to hear about what you are doing and might be able to help you through a tough spot. You don’t have workshop or read each other’s work. Just support your buddy and act like writing coaches for each other.
7. READ: Whenever I feel like I want to get motivated to write, I read something that I think will influence a particular project in a positive way. I don’t think I could be a writer if I didn’t read
8. CALL IT SOMETHING ELSE: Doing away with the term "writer's block" as if it's a condition or illness and using your non-writing time to do other things that contribute to your writing or your well-being, can help take the pressure off.

For more tips and resources, sign up for the Mockler's Writing Workshop Newsletter.

Check out my online courses: Introduction to Short Fiction (a 4-week self-paced online course) and Kathryn Mockler's Fiction Workshop (a live 6-week workshop-based course via video conferencing).

Photo by Christian Fregnan on Unsplash

Congrats to Flash Fiction Workshop participant Paola Ferrante whose story "Pandora" was longlisted in the Smoke Long Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction and her story "In Defence" was shortlisted in the Grouse Grind Short LIt Prize presented by Prism International.

And best of all her chapbook True Confessions of Buffalo Bill (published by Anstruther Press, 2018) was just released. You can purchase it here.