Get Past Writer's Block

Write every day.

Ok, yes this seems totally obvious. But the thing is people who are successful writers are the ones who do it frequently. Putting it off even for a short amount of time can allow us to lose focus or interest. Carve out some time where you have minimum interruptions. Maybe that’s setting the alarm clock a little earlier, staying up later, or jotting down things while you’re eating lunch. Turn off the TV or other things that can get you sidetracked. I keep my phone on the other side of the room and turn off the internet on my computer, so I don’t start skimming articles or shopping. Don’t worry about doing it in one chunk either. Maybe it's easier if you split the three hours into two sections. Just carve out the time and do it.

Set a small goal limit and weekly rewards.

Set an obtainable goal so you don’t get discouraged and make progress. The best way I found to do this is by writing about 5-10 days in a row (the closer to ten the better). If you have an approximate time you want to set aside go by that. Write each day making sure to separate the days into different documents or at least different sections in the same document. After the set amount of time add the number of words you wrote and divide it by the number of days to get your daily average. Add 200/300 words to it and that will be your goal. It will require you to reach slightly more than before but it will be a goal you should be able to keep without causing distress.

Start by writing a list.

I thrive at my daily job with task lists. It helps give me a sense of what I want to or need to accomplish as well as other ideas. When I’m stumped or off to a slower start, I will do a ten-minute exercise where I just randomly jot stuff down. It can be future story ideas (just don’t let yourself get side-tracked starting a completely new project and abandoning your old one!), character bios, settings, even your grocery list. Just something to get the juices flowing and get yourself ready to settle down and write.

Find a writing prompt and write 300 words about it.

If you really are not sure where to start pick a writing prompt and write 300 words on it. I have a whole file folder of ones that I have done in case I need an idea for a story. Some of my short story projects have started from a rather goofy writing prompt. Although I never finished an actual story on it here is one of my favorite prompts I’ve ever worked on. You are in an airport waiting to board your plane. A stranger walks up to you and asks you to take a briefcase (or suitcase) as a carry on for them. What do you do? You don’t even have to think of one. There are tons of websites dedicated to just that.

Here are some to get you started:

700+ Creative Writing Prompts To Inspire You Right Now (reedsy.com)

writing prompts (tumblr.com)

500 Writing Prompts to Help Beat Writer's Block - Written Word Media

Besides coming up with written writing prompts, my other favorite option is to find old photographs, photographs of places, or random people and build a story off that. What are they doing? What is this location? What happened in this moment?

Sketch/map/outline.

Maybe you are more of a visual person. Maybe you want to take a small break from the actual typing of words. Maybe you feel like you are going in circles in your project, and you are afraid of dragging the action down too much for the reader. This is a good time to use other potential tools that can get ideas going. Draw a sketch of some of your characters (no you don’t have to be a good drawer, you could even do stick figures, it’s not like anyone will see it unless you want them to). Maybe your project deals with a major time fluctuation or a very large area. Draw a map, draw a timeline, or start by building an outline of your story. (I sometimes might sketch out big ideas, but I rarely outline unless things get really convoluted. Sometimes people just need the structure.)

Change up your routine.

This year has been ROUGH. On everyone. So, if you find yourself in a rut because for the millionth time over these last few weeks you’ve been writing in the same office in the same chair, staring at the same weird paint blob on the wall it is time to change your routine. Be safe, but maybe just going outside and getting some sun will help. Maybe (being safe and going with appropriate guidelines) go to a coffee shop and get a shot of caffeine and listen to the background noise of people to get you going. Maybe start your writing session with a snack, with a playlist, maybe a quick dance session to get the blood moving. I won’t judge, different things work with different people.

Or start a routine.

It wasn’t until I set a specific time and routine that I managed to get writing done on a consistent level. When I have days off, I plan out three hours that I do nothing but write. (I will admit that I don’t have kids so I can waive off a certain amount of responsibility for that amount of time). I turn off my internet I settle into a comfy chair with a cup of coffee and my French press (so I don’t have to get up to fill it back up). Depending on the mood and what I’m writing I will either be in complete silence or I will tune up a playlist. (Usually fiction writing requires the music, I have playlists labeled depending on the mood/tone/action of the scene). When I work, I carve out an hour at the end of the day before I go to bed. I try to do the same actions in order because it gets my brain into writing mode. Often if I do the work, I allow myself a little treat at the end to motivate myself to actually do what I’m supposed to. After all, unlike an hourly job I am only making money based on the completed project (if I am freelancing) or if it sells. So, I don’t have an incentive built into work.

If you found that this was a little helpful feel free to help me out so I can continue carving out time to write.