Some days the stories get stuck. You know what to say, but not how to say it. Or worse, you’re not even sure what to say, you just know you have to say something. You could stare blankly at a blank screen. You could go eat a quart of ice cream and run around the block ten times. But sooner or later you have to actually put letters together to form words that form sentences that make some sort of sense.

When this happens and you can’t or don’t want to put off the writing, steal a technique from the art world and start doodling. To warm up or to get themselves moving, some artists will scribble, draw circles or just push a pencil around the page. What does that look like for writers?

Maybe like this: alkdjfjjjfkdmmmksuujs;llaoelli0oe3rlkfdjmmm,mm,mdfsfajjjekwdjfjkfdjkkjfdslkjfdslkjlkjslkjfdsalkjfdsalkjfdsfdsalkjakjfdslkj,m,mvcx,mvcxkjj

jfdsjkjkjlfdsjkjfdjfdslkj–

The next step would be slightly more directed but still somewhat random:

black computer, blue pen, blank brain, must write, who cares, who wants to know what.

In the doodlings and ramblings, you may start to see ideas. You may see the pieces of the story emerging and start to feel the connections. Or maybe you’ll just loosen up a bit and relax.  Or maybe you won’t feel like you’ve gotten anywhere, but at least you won’t be full from eating too much ice cream. Have fun with it.