TEN (PG-RATED) WAYS TO COMBAT WRITER'S BLOCK

Photo courtesy of

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=809

1.  Use the bathroom.  You may have more than your creative juices blocked.

2.  Go for a walk.  It might be related to # 1 above.  I mean, why do we walk dogs?

3.  If you're an adult, living on your own, call your bmf or bff up.  If you're an adult living at home, I feel sorry for you.  Refer to # 1.  If you're a minor, go straight to your Facebook page, do your social media thing, and I guarantee that you will be in the mood to write.

4.  Take off your house slippers, shoes, flip flops, or whatever else you wear on your feet, and jog around the block.  I promise you--the stimulation will radiate from your feet to all parts of your being.

5.  For the more athletically inclined, stand in front of your sofa (or chair)  about--oh, say--a foot and a half away.  Visualize yourself doing this next procedure first.  (If you aren't ready to visualize it happening, go back to bed.)  From a standing position, bend your knees and then quickly jump onto the sofa.  Do this five times in rapid succession.  That should bring some oxygen to your brain.

6.  Pretend that your laptop or desktop is your cellphone and that you're texting your friends and followers.

7.  Go to the fridge and get the last can of Rockstar.  Okay, you don't have a Rockstar.  Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Coke, (but no root beer), Sprite, and Dr. Pepper are all okay...second-tier, but they'll still be potentially capable of stimulating your brain...you know, that thing that went on hiatus last night.

8.  Watch Hawaii Five-0.  Okay, I'm biased...but not because I'm Hawaiian.  I like how the Kono character has evolved from the original series.  Sometimes I think I'm  still viewing the remade Battlestar Galactica.  Hey, don't judge...I'll do whatever it takes to prime my creativity.

(By the way, for those of you who still haven't figured out that I pen a second blog called, oddly enough, hawaiianodysseus2, here's a funny post from said blog.)

http://hawaiianodysseus2.blogspot.com/2011/01/chillin-with-dylan.html

9.  Take a cold shower.  (I figure if it works for pubescent males and frustrated middle-aged husbands, it ought to do wonders to aquatically and metaphorically release the writer's cramp that's irking your noggin.

10.  Last but not least, support your local Starbucks (or Tully's, or Seattle's Best, or whatever your favorite community coffee shop might be--like Aunt Jane's Java Jive or Hula on Caffeine...you get the drift).  Next to riding on buses, an hour or two at a coffee shop is the very best way to get intellectually stimulated.  It is definitely a GUAVA JAM of delectable imagery and juicy conversation, especially if you are an adult still living at home with your parents (doggone it, I can't help it, I really, really feel sorry for you guys!).

Anyway, as you may have surmised, the above post was the result of my traveling from my south Seattle neighborhood to the more ritzy Madison Park community.  After a half hour bus ride from downtown Emerald City, I had a couple of slices of pizza and Coke at a non-franchise mom and pop pizzeria.  I then crossed the street to the cosmetically attractive Madison Park Starbucks.  If I'm correct in deciphering bits and pieces I've Googled about this particular shop, it was the inspiration of the Starbucks head coffee bean himself, Howard Schultz.

Here's to your success at unblocking your unique writer's edge!