5 Quick Ways to Overcome Writer's Block

If you need to spend more time writing, instead of endless hours dreaming about "being" a writer, here are five quick tips.

1. Get away from the computer. Nothing ever happened staring at the computer except the onset of dizziness and eye strain. They say that a watched pot doesn't boil, the same goes for a book. Sitting at a computer doesn't write a book, whereas a change in scenery (even if you're just moving a chair nearer to an open window) can start the creative juices flowing and move you closer to your dream of becoming published.

2. Flip through a popular magazine. Faces, places and the bright colors in magazine ads can change our moods. Reading through the featured stories can fuel ideas or help you flesh out your current outline too. I collect magazines specifically for the photos and often make a collage. Every now and then when I desire to create a character that is more tangible and realistic rather than flat, I cut out a photograph from a magazine and add it to my collage. I find that it's easier to draw a story when the characters appears to be an actual person or people that I can see and relate to.

3. Smell the fruit. When I'm stumped for an idea or just want to stir up a few memories that I can tie into my storylines I get dressed and get out of the house. I go to the market to buy fruit. Smelling oranges, strawberries and other familiar scents trigger memories that can go as far back as childhood. Memories can in turn give birth to ideas, and wonderful ideas produce interesting stories that don't have the same cliched stereotypes, but rather are inventive and new.