5 Ways To Break Through Writer’s Block
The bane of any writer’s existence is to lose what sustains them.
It’s happening again. You’ve set some time in the schedule to write with your favorite drink, but the words won’t flow. Rather than pouring words upon the page, all that happens is formatting or worse, nothing at all.
“Who is more to be pitied, a writer bound and gagged by policemen or one living in perfect freedom who has nothing more to say?” — Vonnegut
Every writer has experienced writer’s block. George R.R. Martin has taken 14 years (so far) to release the next Game of Thrones novel. J.K. Rowling developed a short bout of writer’s block having been overwhelmed by the success of her first novel.
Here are a few ways to help break through that wall and start working again on something incredible:
Take a break.
Seriously, sometimes the human brain just needs a second to break down a big idea and process it in a meaningful way. When we begin building a new muscle or trying something new, our body has to start developing muscle memory and reinforce what we already have. The same goes for writing.
A Ted Talk about procrastination discussed how procrastination, for some individuals, helped people work on a task. It talked about how individuals who played a game for a few minutes before starting work were actually more productive than those who started immediately. This doesn’t mean spending the day doing something completely irrelevant, but instead allowing some structured time away from the task at hand.
Working in breaks and using time-blocking tools, like the Pomodoro method, gives our brains time to rest and step away from a problem. There’s no use in spending all your energy on one task if things aren’t working.
Lower your expectations.
If you can’t write for 12 hours a day and still keep things fresh, don’t do that! Forcing out thousands of words when you struggle with 500 will just lead to burnout and a worse issue. Try instead to set a low, manageable goal. It helps put words on the page and means you accomplished something.
Every writer’s output is different and it’s okay to be on the low end of the scale or not even on the scale. The number of words or even the number of articles a writer can produce will fluctuate wildly throughout their career. Some authors write a novel every six months while others only ever write one. Stephen King wrote 1 novel in his first 26 years of living but now writes about 2–3 books a year.
Over time, you fall into a schedule and understand your abilities as a writer. But no writer figured out their process by writing nothing at all. Setting a goal of 50, 100, or even 500 words a day adds up over time.
Change up your process.
Repetition doesn’t make for a good story. When we do the same thing over and over again, it can become dull and even bore us. Sometimes a change can stimulate ideas far more than going through the same routine day after day.
Try to look at what your writing process has and doesn’t have.
- Is your desk messy and overflowing? Clear everything away except something to write with.
- Is your go-to writing method to use a laptop? Use a pen or pencil and write a short paragraph on some paper.
- Do you sit down to write every afternoon? Try writing in the morning or even late at night.
- Does going to the local coffee shop make you just spend money and people-watch rather than actually write? Stop going to that coffee shop because it’s not helping!
Humans love novelty, the joy of something breaking up the routine of daily life. I’m not saying to completely restructure how you write, but maybe try as a one-off time, switch things up, and see what happens.
Work on another project.
Let’s say you’ve been working for months on a single paragraph, the document gets opened… and then closed again without ever being edited. Sometimes the best thing to do is to set the story free. Every creative writer has gotten lost or stuck while working on a story. It’s natural to reach an unsolvable piece of the puzzle, but staring won’t solve the problem.
Don’t dwell on a project if you truly are unable to progress. Sometimes putting it on the back burner for a few weeks or months can give you a fresh pair of eyes. Working on a new project or returning to another story locked in storage can help produce something.
Indulge in similar content.
How hard is it to chop a stack of wood? Are horses smart? How does it feel to sprint a mile? Sometimes writing involves experiencing what you are writing. How do you describe something without understanding the motivation or underlying feeling? It’s often much easier for a writer to write what they know compared to what they think they know.
When stuck on a scene, try to brainstorm by engaging in what you are writing about. If your story involves throwing clay on a pottery wheel, watch videos on the process or take a class to experience it first-hand. Focusing on a world-renowned chess player? Play some chess or watch how experts discuss the sport. Consider it “creative research”.
No Matter What…
Don’t give up because, at the end of the day, every writer will eventually suffer from writer’s block. Even if for a moment or a century. The important part is to work through what’s impacting you and figure out what’s going wrong.
What makes a writer isn’t the amount of words they produce or their skills as a writer, it’s their perseverance when it comes to writing. Stephen King got bored writing The Stand, but he kept working at it and it turned into a beloved piece of fiction.
Start writing about something and then continue the next day. Eventually, you’ll have a finished product.
