Too often do writers sit down in their 'writing chair', sofa, or lucky patch on the floor with their most valued journal...and draw a blank. It's that numbness of the mind where you are dying to express something major; something monumental but instead a steady stream of nothing hangs in your head. Novices to writing aren't the only ones with the issue of deciding where to start, even the most experienced of novelists and poets reach this point occasionally. And here is where all of those filled journals and completed manuscripts mean absolutely nothing now that you feel that there are no words left. But with every problem there is a solution and with every case of writer's block there's another "Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind" waiting to be created.

Once the plague hits there are always multiple solutions. Different witch doctors and physicians scrambling to put together the miraculous cure, eager to take credit and be deemed famous. Sadly, in the world of paper, pens, and imagination this does not happen. The only person capable of curing writer's block is you. Tragically, however, the damsel in distress, waiting to be rescued, mindset will have to be cast into the wayside, immediately. Although, don't let that be discouraging. It may take some time and an amount of patience but when you are cured, the only one deemed with fortune, fame, and credit can only be the author (who is you, if you haven't figured that out yet). So, to the solution.

First is the factor of Inspiration. If you are not writing for yourself the product will not only be ingenuine but it will most likely be trash. Now, dredging up an old memory so painful that, by the end of writing, you won't be able to read beyond water stained smudges of ink may not be the wisest choice. However, comparing "thee to a summer's day" when you have no 'thee' can be downright insanity. That being said, if nothing in your life is interesting enough, go for a walk, go see a play, do something that will elicit some kind of emotion in you. I recommend taking a notebook along for the journey because when inspiration strikes, it strikes hard.

Still leery?

Yes, it is unlikely that a bird in a tree, a kid riding a bike, or a poor version of "Cats" will elicit some heartfelt expressions from the deepest depths of your heart, which leaves me to step number two:Play Up What You See. If the kid happens to fall off his bike and scream for bloody murder, capture the moment and feel his skinned knee times twenty. Or if that woman dressed in spandex happens to leap rather high, imagine that she continued on through the roof, lifted to a life of freedom among the clouds. Life can be inevitably mundane but it doesn't have to be and neither does your poetry.

The third and final step after achieving the first two is to Let It All Go. This is the point where you have the general idea in your head and your ready to give that paper all you've got. Step three is to do exactly that. Don't tiptoe directly over the lines while thinking of perfect rhymes and sentence structures. Instead let your ideas fly! Scribble over the lines in the best frenzy you can muster; don't come up for air or reread until you feel that you are done. You can always go back and clean it up at any time. When you have done that you may enjoy the new glorious piece of artwork you have created...then compose another.