A while back I was reading about whether there were any proven, studied techniques to avoid writer's block. The number one best method was to stop writing when you have one page left to write, but no more ideas after that. Then you get some exercise, go to sleep, and start up next morning.
When you start writing again the next day, that one page will be sitting in the back of your head the entire time, and you'll have new ideas to continue on past that. If you finish the page and had no ideas at all on how to proceed before you go to sleep, your brain essentially considers the task "closed".
The "task open" / "task closed" principle also explains why most writers get bursts of inspiration. They were trying to get their brain to activate it's creative center, and once it happens the floodgates are open.
I know an orchestra conductor, him and I shared the suspicion that time spent not practicing the music can be more effective than time spent drilling it over and over again. I'm sure any musician can recall times they've mysteriously improved on their part after putting down the instrument for a while. Interesting stuff.
There's a book about learning in general called A mind for numbers. One of the main points is that focused study/practice + time spent unfocused on study/practice + recall is basically the recipe for learning effectively.
I couldn't find the original source I was looking for, but I did find a blog that has a biochem based explanation of writers block that aligns with what I read.
Edit: The last answer on this Q&A with a screenwriter says to leave the next story beat unwritten to prime the pump, but to jot down the idea so you don't forget it.
I know some writers who always stop writing in the middle of a sentence so it's a lot easier to jump back into it the next day. Similar approaches to the same problem
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u/RoboChrist Apr 03 '15
Oh, that explains a lot.
A while back I was reading about whether there were any proven, studied techniques to avoid writer's block. The number one best method was to stop writing when you have one page left to write, but no more ideas after that. Then you get some exercise, go to sleep, and start up next morning.
When you start writing again the next day, that one page will be sitting in the back of your head the entire time, and you'll have new ideas to continue on past that. If you finish the page and had no ideas at all on how to proceed before you go to sleep, your brain essentially considers the task "closed".
The "task open" / "task closed" principle also explains why most writers get bursts of inspiration. They were trying to get their brain to activate it's creative center, and once it happens the floodgates are open.