What Ifs....#10: Mr Men & The Barking Dog

What if there was a Mr Men book about Mr Calm and Mr Quiet dealing with a barking dog?

A Little Miss Guide To Creator's Block

I've had creator's block ever since I turned 19 and left school, and it's been such a tough time for me. Even when we inherited this quiet house after G.M. passed on, and then I went to therapy, it's still difficult to think up ideas due to long periods of creator's block. Luckily, Little Miss Quick, Little Miss Greedy and Little Miss Curious have their own ways of dealing with creator's block. But how, in fact, do you deal with creator's block Little Miss style? Let's hear from our three Little Misses right now.

Little Miss Greedy once had tummy ache because she ate too many savoury meat snacks from ASDA. This means that forcing too many ideas can cause your brain to stop working and thinking up bright new ideas. However, from this experience, she learnt to only eat three, which means you can do three brain-boosting things to get you through this difficult period. Say for example if Little Miss Greedy inherited three sausage rolls. These are the three things you're going to do today, so, instead of eating them all, Little Miss Greedy's going to use that experience to go for a run in the park, race against Mr Rush and then have a long talk with Little Miss Chatterbox. See? These things can help you through, even when you have a full tummy.

Little Miss Quick has been forcing ideas through her writing, and now she's become frazzled and depressed. Careless she may be, she learnt to take things slowly. With advice from Mr Strong, she watched people like Mr Slow, Mr Quiet, Little Miss Shy and Mr Calm do things at their own pace, which inspired her to do the same. For when you're around people who live at a slow pace instead of a fast one, you relax much better and easier, and that way, once you've gotten through this period, ideas will come in a snap.

Little Miss Curious kept asking the same question over and over - what am I going to do if I can't think up ideas? However, after a few days she got bored with it and turned to other subjects. She even invented a game for herself, where she thought about what her favourite characters would do in a situation where her brain produced uninspired ideas. Think of this as a day off for your story characters - just by doing some research until your inspiration comes back, you have finally mustered up the courage to write again.

So, what we've learnt from those three Little Misses are:

• Only do three, from Little Miss Greedy
• Be around slow people, from Little Miss Quick
• Think to yourself about what other people would do, from Little Miss Curious

That really is the end of the blog post, except, that if you really want your creativity to come back, you know exactly what to do, don't you?

LITTLE MISS CURIOUS: Of course! Obey all the advice written down here!