What Works for You?

There were times when I was earning my graduate degree that I felt I couldn't open the novel I needed to read. Had to read. I must read to finish the assignment. I just couldn't do it. A deadline for a creative piece approached, based on the reading I refused to do and panic would set in.
I needed to read that book, but I couldn't.
I was with a friend yesterday who needs to focus on his fiction writing, but he wanted to buy a nonfiction book. He re-shelved the book, deciding he needed to read fiction to write fiction. So, it seems counter-intuitive, but when I need to focus on fiction, I told him, I try to relax and fill the bath, then I dive into a piece of nonfiction--a long magazine article from Vanity Fair or New Yorker or a short book. After finishing the nonfiction, my brain allowed me to pick up the novel and read through. I find then that I'm more engaged in the task at hand and more focused on what I need to do. The writer's craft jumps out at me, more crisp than if I had tried to slog through it.
Now, when I get stuck (whether it's writing or reading), I try to do the opposite of what I'm supposed to be doing.
Hard piece of writing I can't figure how to get into? I'll pick up my 3-year-old's picture books.
Fictional writing called for and I'm blocked? Dive into a juicy magazine expose.
Needing to sit and churn out an assignment? I'll take a brisk walk.
Do I need to brainstorm? I pick up a pen and doodle.
After I do these other elements, it's as if I've used a key to open the other side of my brain that had remained off-limits. To move through those blahs we often run across, we need to figure out the tricks that work for us.
What are some of the blocks you run across and how do you deal with them?

Elizabeth King Humphrey is a creativity coach, writer and editor. She lives in Wilmington, N.C.

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