Hello Everyone,

Thanks for checking in again. To start things off I would like to give my thanks to all of the fallen soldiers for their sacrifice to protecting our country and freedom. Those who gave all so I could be here today have my utmost respect and I would like to thank them and I give my heart out to their families as well. Thank you on this Memorial Day.

I often see the question come up about writer’s block or similar references to not being able to think about what a character or plot line is supposed to do next. Don’t get me wrong this happens but most often I get writer’s fatigue.

Writers Block:

Most times when I read about how other authors deal with this “block” they say they do some reading, go for a walk, watch some television, or maybe just meditate. I am guilty of all the above. For me just sitting in a quiet area or maybe with some low volume music on in the background seems to work the best. The next would be hiking around in the desert. Since my books focus on aspects of the desert, so far, this makes snapping out of the writer’s block perhaps easier than some others have it. However, my writer’s block can be caused by becoming undecided on which one of the “tangents” I think of will flow the best with the story and make the best plot line. This happens a lot because when I start writing there’s a lot going on upstairs and sometimes it’s hard to write it all down as quickly as I can think it and make it transition smoothly. That’s where I run into writer’s fatigue.

Writer’s Fatigue:

Now I’m not exactly sure what others think about this subject but for me it is simply writing for so long that when I look back at what I just finished it doesn’t make sense even to me. This creates a lot of future editing for myself and proofreading to make sure that even I understood the point I was trying to make. This happened just the other night when I went about 12-hours straight writing. I would get up from time to time to eat or do something else but I don’t like to draw my focus away from my mindset of the manuscript because then I might feel like I missed something and it’s hard to get back into the swing of things. Sometimes my best work is done this way, I feel, but sometimes it is hard to put it all into place. Maybe even causing me more work.

Solutions:

Really I am not a seasoned writing expert so my solutions might be different from those who have been doing it for some time. However, I have developed a couple solutions for the fatigue issue beyond what I’ve already stated about dealing with the writer’s block I have a few tactics that I use to allow me to slip away from the solid, straight through writing zone that I get into.

First I set time frames: I say I’m going to take a break after I finish a scene, reach a word count, page count, or even a normal time frame in reality like writing for an hour then taking a mandatory break. This can become hard when you are flowing with a thought pattern but I come back feeling more refreshed and often have new ideas.

Second I limit me caffeine intake: this might sound weird at first but it make sense to not feel so hyper while you’re sitting at a desk trying to type. I already have an overwhelming amount of energy most times and sitting for long periods can become hard enough without boosting that will leave you feeling “Zombiefied” in just a little while. So choose your eating and drinking habits that our suitable for you.

So those are just a few tips that work for me and perhaps you may want to try them,

Thanks for Reading,

Joshua Crane Dowidat