So you want to be a writer

Here at MSL we understand that as a writer, from time to time, we all deal with dreaded writers block. Words escape you, creative thinking runs dry and the daunting blank screen of your word document taunts you. However, fear not, Editor Sophie Maguire and Fashion Writer Marni Banks are here to share their top tips on overcoming your writing woes.

Creative Thinking

• Look to Tumblr and Pintrest. Collect everything and anything that catches your eye and make a visual mood board.
• Get outside. You wont learn anything staring at a blank screen for hours; the world is full of creativity, see it, touch it, taste it, feel it. Live it.
• Choose a word that encapsulates the essence of the thought and stare it out. Get lost in the word and allow that word to consume you.
• Question everything and be inquisitive. Ask yourself why? Be taught and in turn teach.
• Befriend a notepad and tell it everything. Let its pages be your confidant. Never again will an idea escape you.
• Ronald Reagan once said, “there are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.” Make like Reagan and be a free thinker. Go wherever your mind takes you and go with full abandonment.

Writers Block

• Never set aside a certain time to write, the ticking clock will mock you.
• Don’t be afraid to leave a piece unfinished, if it doesn’t finish itself, it was never meant to be.
• Go old school and put pen to paper. There is nothing more daunting than a blank screen.
• Ernest Hemingway said,”write drunk, edit sober”. A drunk tongue is always an honest one; free from restraint your pen shall flow – (please drink responsibly).
• Relentlessly ramble and rant; whatever you do, just keep writing.
• Talk about it. A problem shared is a problem halved. Discussing topics with people from all different walks of life will offer up new and exciting opinions and could very well spark an idea.
• Sleep on it. It will all be clearer in the light of morning.
• And Finally if the below quote by Charles Bukowski does not speak volumes, put the pen down, this was never meant for you…