Unlocking Writer’s Block with Online Games
Unlocking Writer’s Block
There are times when no matter how long you stare at the screen or twiddle your thumbs in front of a notebook, the words just will not come.
Books and online tutorials abound, all extolling processes of how to overcome the phenomenon known as writer’s block.
However, sometimes rather than torturing yourself and burying your head in your hands in despair, it is best to give your mind a quick workout using a brain trainer puzzle or even a little online game.
Here are some online games and puzzles that many writers are using to break down that dreaded wall.
ScrabbleGo
Sometimes a new onset of writer’s block can be brought on by something as minor as you not being able to think of the correct verb or adjective to use.
There are times when even the best thesaurus or dictionary will not be able to help.
In cases such as this, the popular mobile game called ScrabbleGo is ideal, allowing you to play different incarnations of the classic word game against friends, loved ones, or even complete strangers.
Before you know it, after a few games of scrabble, that word you were searching for will just pop straight into your head.
Classic Games Redefined
When it comes to plotting a story or to ironing out timeline issues in a later draft, often, what can hold you up more than writer’s block is not being able to problem solve quickly enough.
Some of the best games for training yourself to get better at this task are classic card games and board games such as Monopoly, Chess, or Poker.
Just as the makers of ScrabbleGo have managed to reinvent the wheel successfully, so to have online gaming companies, with many classic games being adapted to the needs of mobile or desktop users who want to be challenged by a format where the action is fast and the problems to solve come even faster, as is the case with Spin N Go poker.
This means you only have to take a couple of minutes out of your precious allotted writing time to get your brain cogs whirring with a challenging game.
Frustration Busters
While it can often be a good idea to stimulate your brain into action further, this tactic can, on occasion, backfire badly, with the writer suffering from emotional burnout.
If you feel the onset of burnout, then why not play a game that has nothing to do with writing and the complex structuring of sentences, and pour your pent-up energy into a game like Fortnite or PUBG.
Blast away to your heart’s content, rail against your enemies through your headset, and generally let all of that bottled frustration out. You may find that Zen-like calm shrouds you soon thereafter, within which you can begin to get words on paper.
Gaming Story Lines That Can Provide Inspiration
Until recently, the storylines of video games have been somewhat formulaic, but all that has since changed, with the likes of The Witcher games and The Last Of Us bringing literary prose standard plots to complement what were already amazing graphics and gameplay.
This new generation of one-player video games is a fertile ground for gaining valuable plotting and storyline inspiration, even if the characters in your book or short story do not have the benefit of multiple lives or saving points.
Games That Manage to Show and Not Tell
It is perhaps the most overused rule of creative writing, and yet “show don’t tell” is still as relevant today as it was when Anton Chekhov first made murmurings about it in the 1800s.
Some superb games that have this technique mastered include the short but sweet Gone Home, and the equally enjoyable Life Is Strange.
