by Bailey Shoemaker Richards

Created on: September 13, 2009   Last Updated: September 14, 2009

Any writer who has spent time staring at a stubbornly blank page would like to know the cure to writer's block. The truth is, there really isn't a solid understanding for most writers of what causes their block, much less how to deal with it. Sometimes it's stress, other times it's that the story just will not progress.

Sometimes the best cure to writer's block is to take a break from the writing and get involved in other activities; disengaging the brain from the frustration of not being able to write can be a great way to remove focus from the block and return it to the writing. Working on writing other pieces can also help a stuck writer shake off the symptoms of blank page syndrome.

Other ways to get past writer's block include writing from a prompt, engaging in a writing competition like National Novel Writing Month or reading books by a favorite author in order to spark that urge to write again.

When traditional cures fail, there are books and websites that offer to come to the rescue. Whatever it is that causes writer's block, there are numerous websites and blogs that proclaim to have the cure. While most of their cures are temporary at best (nothing can keep writer's block away forever), almost all of them have some tips to at least get the words flowing again.

The book The Writer's Portable Therapist: 25 Sessions to a Creativity Cure proposes to help stuck writers work through their blocks, writing issues and move toward a more efficient creative writing style. Each chapter covers a different part of the writing process and the ways in which writers can deal with their fears and celebrate their triumphs.

Another book, called Outwitting Writers' Block: And Other Problems of the Pen is a practical guide for any writer, whether an aspiring novelist or a college student stuck on a paper. With wit, humor and some of the best tricks available to writers, Outwitting Writers' Block is a must-have for anyone stuck in front of a blank page.

Dr.Wicked.com offers writers a great online program to bust through a wall of inability to write in the form of Write or Die. The interactive program allows writers to set a word goal, a time limit and gives them a space in which to write -and every time they story, it plays an increasingly irritating noise and flashes colors. Better inspiration to keep the words flowing can hardly be found.

WEBook.com is an on-line publisher that allows writers to experiment with publication and work with other writers on projects. With writing groups, tutorials and activities to help break writer's block going on 24 hours a day, WEBook is definitely a website any writer should check out.

Although writer's block is a frustrating, seemingly insurmountable obstacle to getting some words on a page, there are plenty of ways to circumvent the issue. Most writers will be confronted with blank page syndrome at some point in their writing career, and the best way to solve it is just to keep writing, no matter what that writing might be. Defeating a blank page is as simple as covering it with words, even if they're not the words originally intended.

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