I understand the feeling very well. The blank page in front of you can be alarming, daunting and scary, leading to procrastination and frustration.
You sip your freshly brewed coffee or tea in the morning, hoping that something will come to you — but nothing seems to work. I am not immune to it either and struggle with it sometimes.
Being a memoir writer is my everyday job - it is what I do. I’ve got a few techniques that would help you recentre your focus and get those juicy creative ideas to flow again.
Freewriting
The most obvious tip is to start writing no matter what. If you find yourself staring at a blank page, begin typing anything that comes to your mind.
Give yourself permission to freewrite for 10-15 minutes; it can make all the difference in the world.
It can be a lot of gibberish at first, but it doesn't matter because, in the end, you can always scrap it or go back and edit the text when you are making revisions.
That’s the good thing about us writers: no one else is watching what you are writing at this stage, so no one can criticise you.
The whole concept of freewriting enables you to get in the zone and start writing.
Pre-writing
What has helped me many times is knowing or having a rough idea about the theme/life episode I will write about on the day. This is where the mother of all techniques comes in — and that is prewriting preparations.
My job is such that oftentimes, I would need to write daily for several hours over a couple of weeks to complete a client’s memoir.
I cannot emphasise enough how much a simple structuring/planning/rough outlining can help achieve sustained writing.
What happens in the process is basically tricking your mind into believing that you have a plan, no matter how basic it may be (such as jotting it down on a post-it note).
Sitting in front of a laptop with a few bullet points gives me plenty of ammunition and makes me come prepared when I face writing in the gloomy English weather or a topic I am not a big fan of, like sports.
Knowing what you will be writing about, whether a specific event or theme, is already half the job done because you won't have that writer’s block when you sit to write. The topic which you sketched out before is there, in front of you.
Let’s take “career” as a topic that is next on your list of things that you are going to write about. Think of three career achievements and three challenges you had to face. Job done for the day. You managed to get through the main hurdle.
Memory listing
There is another technique that you can use as part of the pre-writing process, and that is memory listing. This is how you fill in those pages quickly.
To start with this technique, consider everything related to the theme/episode you will write about.
I mentioned “career” as an example in the previous paragraph. Say you are writing about career challenges. Think of the past experiences that made your job challenging.
Was it a stressful environment to be in?
Perhaps you experienced bullying that affected your mental health;
Frequently working overtime;
Lack of promotion opportunities;
Demanding clients, etc.
You can go a step forward and expand while still making the list and quickly add:
Dates;
Locations;
What did you feel at the time?
Who were you with, and how it affected you?
Were there any lessons learned, or perhaps the negativity in the workplace made you decide on a career change?
You are already looking into a new chapter - bravo!
Sensory filler
If you are on the memoir writing journey, you must have read about the golden rule “Show, don't tell”, a technique where you rely less on bare facts and description and more on engaging the senses to describe a certain situation and POV.
If you are feeling stuck and that writer’s block is not going anywhere, dig up some old photographs or other memorabilia that could transport you back in time.
Take a look at the photo.
Describe what you are wearing in the photo.
Tell us more about your surroundings (nature, animals, cars, friends and family).
Any food around - what does it smell like?
What’s the weather like?
Who took the photo, and for what purpose?
Sensory writing is much appreciated in memoir writing. It is probably the only technique that brings past stories alive. By analysing a single photo, you could have half a page-long sensory description of a scene that would take the reader back in time.
The second way in which photographs and other objects from the past can help us overcome the blank page problem is that they act as memory prompts. These objects hold considerable emotional value to us and can pull the memories buried in the back of our minds.
Analysing them would act as a snowballing technique as one memory leads to another and another, and that blank page would be soon filled with memories.
Access your journal or diary
This might be an obvious one, but I’ve seen some instances when it can be forgotten. If you have a journal and you’ve been journaling for many years - that is the ultimate fountain of inspiration for your memoir, a goldmine!
I would mention one word of caution here. Make sure not to fall into that fountain because reading old journals can make you lose track of time and forget the main reason why you needed it in the first place, helping you remember to beat that writer's block and not reminisce.
Do you have any tips and tricks you implement when staring at a blank page or facing writer’s block? Write them down in the comments. Would love to give them a try.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget you can subscribe to my newsletter for exclusive memoir-writing content.
Andreja
Loved reading Andreja’s piece? Why not buy him a pint. It’s a great way to say cheers.
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