R.L. Stine’s 10 Tips For Curing Writer’s Block

In this post, we share American novelist, R.L. Stine’s 10 tips for curing writer’s block.

R. L. Stine is an American writer, who is sometimes called the Stephen King of children’s literature. He was born 8 October 1943.

He’s been scaring people all around the world for a long time. He has sold over 400-million books and his books have been translated into 35 languages, making him one of the best-selling authors in history.

His hundreds of horror fiction novels include the Goosebumps series, which began with Welcome to Dead House. His latest book is Garbage Pail Kids: Welcome to Smellville.

Stine has created a writing programme for aspiring authors, which includes the following:

1. How to get ideas.
2. How to develop your ideas.
3. How to get started writing.
4. How to never have writers block.

He says: “I’ve enclosed all of my best writing tricks and secrets in this program. It is totally free of charge. You may download it and make as many copies you like. I hope it leads to many fun writing projects!”

We found these tips for curing writer’s block (in the programme) on R.L. Stine’s website and wanted to share them with you. Read more here.

He says: ‘I never get writer’s block. Mainly because I do so much work before I start to write.’

R.L. Stine’s 10 Tips For Curing Writer’s Block

1. “Don’t ever stare at a blank page or screen! Start with notes, journal entries, outlines, cheat sheets, What ifs. Write something down before you begin.
2. Know your ending first. If you know where you’re going to end up, you’ll know where to start.
3. You don’t have to write the beginning first! You can write your first draft in any order. Then you can go back and put it in the right order.
4. Don’t worry about how the first draft sounds. Just put words down—you can always go back.
5. Before you write, tell your story out loud. Once you’ve told your story, you’ll have a lot less trouble “telling” it to the paper.
6. Set a timer for a short amount of time—let’s say 13 minutes. Tell yourself you’re going to write something—anything—until that timer goes off. When the timer dings—if the writing is going well—set it for another 13 minutes and keep writing. If it’s not going well, set the timer and do something else for 13 minutes. Then go back to your writing.
7. If you’re still stuck, don’t throw away the idea—try changing it a little. Try writing it from another character’s point of view. Try telling the story in another character’s voice.
8. Still stuck? Look through a magazine, find a picture of a person or place that looks like your character or setting. Write down a complete and detailed description of what you see. Guess what? You started your story.
9. Set a reasonable goal and reward yourself if you get there. Say “I will write two pages today, then I can watch TV for half an hour.”
10. Don’t ever stare at a blank page! Start with notes, journal entries, outlines, cheat sheets, What ifs. Write something down before you begin. (I know. This is the same as number one! I’m repeating it because it’s the most important tip.)”

Source for tips: R. L. Stine / Source for image: rlstine.com

 by Amanda Patterson

If you enjoyed this, you will love:

1. Simon Scarrow’s 6 Tips For Aspiring Writers
2. 10 Bits Of Writing Advice From Stephen King
3. George R. R. Martin’s Writing Advice
4. Marian Keyes’ 3 Tips For New Writers
5. Jennifer Egan’s Advice For Young Writers
6. Peter James’ 7 Top Writing Tips
7. James Rollins’ 3 Tips For Writers
8. Chris Bohjalian’s 10 Tips To Help Aspiring Writers
9. David Baldacci’s 5 Top Writing Tips
10. Writing Advice From The World’s Most Famous Authors

If you want to write for children, take our course, kids etc. – How To Write For Children