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Let's talk about writer's block. If you have spent any time on your craft, you have likely experienced this dreaded bed fellow. If you have never had writer's block, I am inclined to use the term liar, instead I will try to focus on being happy for you and wish you well. For the rest of us, the high of starting the "perfect story" is often followed by a blinking cursor going nowhere.
There are websites, writing and prompt journals and books dedicated to the subject. A quick Barnes and Noble search returns 157 results. I do not have the answer for the blank page but I did write His Forgotten Duchess due to writer's block .
I was working on a still unfinished book and nothing would move from my brain to the screen. I tried changing my settings, forcing myself to write 500 words and several other ideas from the "experts." Still NOTHING!
As tears of frustration formed I switched gears for a night and wrote a scene for a historical novel. I have a bachelor's degree in history and it was the first thing that popped into my head. That quick scene gave me the boost to realize that all of my creative juices had not dried up, something I truly feared as the days of blankness dragged on.
I returned the other project with more faith in myself and continued to chug a long. The next time writer's block stuck I wrote another snippet. I never intended to write His Forgotten Duchess but within a few months I was drawn into the story and working on it full time. Nothing is all roses and champagne and I struggled in places with it too but I found myself less panicked as I chose to step away for a day or so and work on something else.
I will never love, or even like, that blinking stationary cursor - no one should in my opinion. Still, everyone has bad days at the office, so I try not to beat myself up when writer's block wins the occasional day. So here's to knowing that our stories can be found in the unlikeliest of places!