How I Combat Writer's Block

As a writer, it's inevitable that there will be days when writing feels impossible. You sit at your computer and watch as the hours tick by, but your brain just cannot seem to put the words in your head on the page.

Have no fear! This is not permanent, and it does not mean that you're a bad writer (because I know we all have that nasty critic inside us that loves to say otherwise).

Personally, I try to avoid using the term "Writer's Block" when I'm struggling to come up with things to write about. I don't think that writer's block as we talk about it really exists. For me, it's my mind's way of telling me to take a step back from my work and focus on something else. When our muscles are tired, they ache and tell us to stop. When our brains are tired, they give us writer's block.

However, you didn't click this post for me to tell you that writer's block isn't real because, obviously, it's something people experience. I just want to reframe how we think about writer's block through a new perspective.

So without further ado... here's a (very short) list of things you can do the next time you experience writer's block.

1. Get a glass of water

Or a snack. Or anything really. Maybe reheat the half full cup of coffee that's been staring at you from your desk. Make a cup of peppermint tea and just take a moment away from the computer. It's not going anywhere. Let yourself refocus and come back with a fresh perspective on your work.

2. Step outside

When I'm having a day where I am just writing for hours, I'll forget to take a moment outside. Let the sun hit your face and inhale the fresh air deeply. Really feel the air moving through your lungs. If it's cold, maybe try and find words to describe what the cold feels like. If it's humid, describe it. Let this be a moment of inspiration and really use your imagination.

Maybe open your window and listen to the sounds outside. Is there traffic? Animals? Birds singing? Really sit in that moment.

3. Watch TV

Sometimes, the best thing I can do for my brain is to shut it off with a stupid TV show or movie. I'm not talking about anything too serious here. Turn on something funny or light hearted. Something you don't need to pay attention to. If that's action movies with tons of explosions, that's cool too.

The important thing is that you let yourself reset.

4. Take a drive

This goes along with getting outside, but seriously! Get out of your house/apartment/wherever you're working from!

Go for a walk in nature. If you want to, take notes of 5 things you see, and ask yourself why you thought those 5 things were important enough for you to write them down.

Take a drive and notice the different places around you. How do they make you feel? Can you find something new in the ordinary around you? Something you never noticed within the mundane?

Play a song that makes you emotional and cry! Who cares if people see you? People cry alone in their cars all the time! Just let yourself feel the moment and don't be thinking about the work that you have left behind you at your desk. You're not there sitting at it so, it can wait!

5. Learn about something new

We live in a time where anything you could ever want to know about is sitting right at our fingertips. Find something that interests you and research it.

Find out whatever you can. Go down the rabbit hole and come out the other side with knowledge you didn't possess on the way in. Who knows? Maybe you'll become inspired by something unexpected. Or learn a new skill or find a recipe that will become a new staple in your house.

6. Keep writing

This may seem like the obvious one, but it needs to be said. Don't let the fact that you can't find just the 'right' word trip you up from finishing your task. Put in a place holder, and move on. If you stop yourself when you're motivated, you can lose the drive you had.

For me, this looks like putting in parenthesis and in bold letters (that I highlight) writing what I'm trying to say, but can't find the words for. That way, I move on from the part that was making me stuck, and I can come back to it when I have a better idea or understanding.

If it's research you need to do on your project to continue, come back to it. I find that researching in the middle of writing a chapter also makes me freeze. I get too caught up in the research and then before I know it, hours have gone by and I've written nothing. Just keep going and go back when you need to!

You've got this.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but I hope maybe you got a new idea for the next time you find yourself pulling out your hair at your computer. If you have suggestions of your own, I'd love to hear them!

Thank you for reading my words. I hope you stick around!