How to Beat Writers Block

Every writer has at some time encountered writers block, the inability to come up with an idea to write about.

Or worse, you have the idea but cannot formulate it clearly. 

If you do not have a deadline, you are lucky, you can walk away and wait for the lightening bolt of genius to hit you with a wonderful idea.  On the other hand, if you have a deadline, chances are the lightening bolt will not hit, nor even tap, as long as you are worried about it. 

Clear your mind, go watch some television, weed your garden, or take your dog out for a walk.  Start thinking, but not thinking about writing.  Think about the weather, the mood of the day, or your shoes.  Let your mind wander to clean itself out.  We need time for our brains to sort through all our thoughts. 
Our brains naturally work on a subconscious level, so when we blast it with too many thoughts, this level is squashed and stressed and is not allowed to come up with creative insight.  Allowing our mind to flow easily allows it to empty itself of all that junk we are carrying around.  Then we can start to rebuild on new thoughts. 

If you have a topic to work on, once you are back from your mental break, jot down any and all of the ideas that come to your head.  Walk away from them for a few minutes then look them over to determine what is of value and what is not. 

If you need a topic to write on, do a similar thing, write down a few ideas, or write a poem, and allow it to give you ideas.  Try writing something completely different than you usually would.  If you usually write fluff pieces, happy little blurbs that go nowhere, try tackling something contraversial, like religion.  Writing something entirely different might not result in sucessful writing on a new venture, but it will stimulate a new part of your mind that you normally don't use when writting in your familiar style.  This in turn will help relieve your mind and allow new ideas to enter. 

In short, f you are stuck, unstick yourself by not allowing yourself to become stuck.  Break the Block by moving it to the side and doing something else, thinking something else, or working on entirely something else.