Writer’s block.
Stuck in the middle….or stuck on page one!
Overwhelm at how much you have to do...
Underwhelm at what you’ve so far accomplished…
These are not nice feelings, but they’re also very common among writers. That may seem like small comfort when you’re in the throes of it, but it’s something—you’re not alone! In fact, because so many of us fellow writers have had this stuck-in-sludge experience, there are also lots of good bits of advice out there on what to do if it ever strikes you (and I say use whatever works for you!).
Below, I’m going to offer you some thoughts based on my own experiences on how to beat writer’s block. I’m hopeful that one or two of these ideas will be helpful to you the next time you feel the creative gears grind to a halt!
How to Beat Writer’s Block the Next Time it Strikes!
#1. Adjust your self-talk. This isn’t always easy, but it’s worth the effort. Begin by reminding yourself that writing is a process. A process is something that has steps, and some steps are bound to be trickier and stickier than others. This won’t immediately solve your problem, but it may help you to catch your breath. Most importantly, if your writer’s block has turned your self-talk against you, and you hear it saying things like “You’ll never move forward!”, “You can’t write!”, “You’ll never get there!”, or “There’s so much to do and you can’t even finish this little part!!”…the image of the process, a path with steps and landmarks along the way, may be helpful.. All is not lost. You are simply on one point of the path facing a temporary barrier.
#2. Zig zagging is an option. Ok. You’ve talked yourself down a little bit. You’ve reminded yourself that writing is a process and you’re just at one of those irritating sticking points. That doesn’t mean you can’t take action, even creatively helpful action. To this end, I recommend zig zagging. That’s my term for jumping to another place in your writing. Skip three scenes ahead, or go straight to the finale. Throw down some words for any part in your story that you can picture, even without filling in the bits that have tripped you up.
Can’t create anything new? Revisit a chapter, scene or paragraph you’ve already written. Read it out loud. Give it a light little polish. Feel like a writer again!
We often get caught up in the ideal of flowing through our story start to finish. We think that this is the only way to write, that anything less is…well…less. But really, there’s no law that says we must write beginning-middle-end. So zig zag around for a bit. Quite often, you’ll find that this unlocks ideas and possibilities for the tough zones and you’ll be able to return to them quicker than expected and get through them with renewed zeal. Bonus: the new scenes that you began to imagine while zig zagging give you something concrete to work with when you get there.
#3. Permission to blurt. Write or type for ten minutes, even if it’s pure goobledygook. Start off ridiculously if necessary, writing about how the words just aren’t coming, then keep going. Your story just may creep back on the page. But don’t expect anything from yourself. Just let the words fly until the timer goes. Sometimes this is enough to get you in motion, even if just a bit. Count anything you produce as success, even a single sentence. When you come back the next day, your manuscript may feel just a little bit more hopeful…
#4. Take an active break. Sometimes the block is so bad, that all we can do is step away. As you can imagine, this is the tip we need to be the most cautious with. A couple of hours of watching that great new show can quickly turn into all eight seasons. Sometimes even a television marathon can be a great thing, but it’s not hard to imagine how an overly long passive rest can hurt our writer’s momentum in the long run.
What I advise is to take a break, but try and keep it active—whether that’s physically or creatively active. Often a long, brisk walk is enough to coax some new writing into being afterward, even if it’s a paragraph or two. But you might need a longer break, even a couple of days worth of non-writing. In those cases, what’s worked for me is becoming engaged in a creative non-writing activity. Coloring. Puzzle-ing. Learning to (barely) knit. Building a birdhouse (I’ve never done this, but maybe you’d like to!). The key, I think, is that you’re getting your mind off your story, but you’re giving it creative occupation. In my experience, an active break is more likely to result in the return of your refreshed writer’s mind than a purely passive rest.
So take heart the next time you bump into the writer’s block, and try one or two of these strategies to help you through.