6 Ways You Can Overcome Writer’s Block Right Now

Here at NaNoWriMo HQ, we’re gearing up to start our next Camp NaNoWriMo event in April. If you haven’t written anything in a while, this is a great excuse to jump back into the habit! Today, writer and blogger Joel Syder is here with a few tips to help you overcome writer’s block if you’re feeling stuck:

As a writer, it’s inevitable that sooner or later you’re going to come up against what is known as writer’s block. As a writer myself, I went two years without coming across this taboo concept, but alas, one day I awoke and found myself staring at a blank word document with absolutely no ideas or any clue on what to say.

This drought lasted months. Of course, I was able to complete client work or other projects where I had guidance or templates to work with, but when it came to my personal writing, I just couldn’t seem to put pen to paper.

After trying basically everything I could, after advice from writer friends to online advice, I found several ways to help overcome it. Some worked. Some didn’t. Today, we’re going to explore some of the more successful methods, helping you to overcome your writer’s block.

1. Have a schedule.

When I started out, I used to write whenever I wanted at all hours of the day. It was typically when inspiration struck. However, this developed the bad habit of becoming increasingly undisciplined and without focus.

“By developing myself a writing schedule, all the ideas would flood to me throughout the day (which I would only make a note of), but then when I sat down to write, I had focus and my mind knew it was time to get words down on paper,” shares Tina Hardy, a book editor for WriteMYX and Brit Student.

2. Don’t beat yourself up.

Suffering from writer’s block can be demoralizing, and it’s easy to think there’s something wrong with you, or you should be doing better than this. Nevertheless, the harder you are on yourself, the worse the writer’s block will be.

Go easy on yourself. As I said before, my writer’s block lasted for months, and it was easy to think it was all my fault. However, the more I relaxed, the easier writing became.

3. Pressure creates diamonds.

Although some of us avoid stress and worry like the plague, having a bit of pressure to perform can bring out the best in us; just like coal can turn to diamonds, if you’re into that metaphor. Set yourself a deadline with your writing and work hard to meet it. Punish yourself with less TV time or reward yourself with a nice meal for meeting it.

“If you’re writing a new chapter or blog post, give yourself a set date that you want to complete it by, and then work out how many hours it will take, and then combine this with your schedule, so you know exactly what you’re going to write and when,” explains Terry James, a publicist for 1Day2Write and Next Coursework.

4. Juggle tasks.

Now, I’m not saying multitasking in a good idea. It lessens our focus on the tasks we’re doing, thus harming the overall quality of the piece. However, what you can do instead is focus on tasks, but juggle multiple tasks to keep your mind fresh.

Write up a draft for one task, then another, then another. Then go back to the first and keep cycling through like this. This will keep your mind fresh, and you’ll be much less likely to have writer’s block on any of your projects.

5. Let sleep be your friend.

When we sleep, our mind is actively solving problems and coming up with solutions, and this works very well for writing. Spend 15-30 minutes before you go to bed focusing on your writing, whether you’re rereading something you’ve already written, or simply jotting down notes.

When you wake up in the morning, you’ll be full of ideas on how to proceed. I found this to be one of the best ways to come up with new inspiration for my content.

6. Use technology to aid you.

Thanks to modern-day technology, there are a ton of apps and services out there that can help you overcome writer’s block. From providing you with writing prompts, to actively helping you manage your schedule, it can pay to research what’s out there to see what’s best for you.

One of my firm favorites is The Dangerous Writing App. This is a distraction-free writing website that deletes everything you’ve written if you stop writing for ten seconds over the course of three minutes. Start with an idea and then force yourself to write for this long. Read it back to get the creative juices flowing!

Joel Syder is a writer and blogger at Originwritings.com and Academicbrits.com. He enjoys helping people to write the book they’ve been dreaming of, as well as creating articles about things that excite him for PhD Kingdom, academic service.

Top photo by Brad Neathery on Unsplash