18 Tricks for Getting Past Writer’s Block

Writer's block is a real thing, and there could be any number of reasons for why it's happening. You could be out of practice with the flow of writing. Your editing brain could be constantly clicking in and getting in the way of your writing brain. You could be fighting with characters who want to run away with the story, and you could be getting too many ideas from outside sources, distracting you with the new shiny! Or it could be something simple as you're tired and not thinking straight.

Whatever the reason, to deny that writer's block exists is a fool's exercise. However, the ways to get past it count in the hundreds of thousands.

In today's post, I want to just throw some ideas out there on how you could get those creative juices flowing again. This list is far from exhaustive, but the more tools a writer has in their toolbox, the better the chances you have to actually solve the issue that you're having.

1) Multiple projects

There will be some out that who will scream at me, saying that a writer should complete one project before starting on another. However, if one project has hit a roadblock and your mind refuses to get past it, there's no reason why your habit of writing needs to come to a complete halt.

There is an old adage: ideas come to you when you least expect it. You might be working on something completely different, then BANG... The solution to your problem in the one story is solved.

(You don't want to know how many projects I have on the go.)

2) Change device or media

Many writers will write on their laptops; however, sometimes it's the things that are different that help get the juices flowing. The simple act of pulling out pen and paper can be all that it takes to get the ideas flowing.

I frequently swap between my desktop and my laptop. And when I want the pen and paper concept, I'll pull out my reMarkable tablet. (I tend to lose notebooks.)

3) Go offline

The internet is a tempting procrastination zone. But when you remove that temptation, you are forced to stare that the blinking cursor until you actually do something about it.

There's an added bonus to this, one that I've noticed helps me turn off my editor brain. Many editing tools require the internet to function properly. When you disconnect from the internet, you are also disabling those instantaneous editing tools. When I let go of my urge to correct my spelling and punctuation as I go, I often unblock the ideas dam.

However, if you do disconnect from the internet, refrain from replacing social media with some other form of procrastination, like housework.

4) Change location

For some writers, it's the change of physical surroundings that is the key to getting the writing done.

I frequent local coffee shops. Yes, some of them can be extremely busy, but for me there seems to be this threshold between busy and quiet, where the activity becomes just background noise. Besides, coffee shops are often a great place for people watching.

Maybe check out your local library or park. But keep in mind the other activities that might happen when you visit these locations.

At my local library, there is a mommy-and-me music class singing Barney-type songs. It's an amazing inspiration for those juxtaposition scenes of brutal violence—Quentin Tarantino style—but I don't always want to be working on scenes with explosions or fights.

5) Free-form writing

There are many names to this one, including morning pages, but the idea is that you put a pen, or pencil, to paper and just start writing, never once letting the pen leave the paper. You might start by writing utter dribble, but after a few minutes, the gates open and more often than not, the story just pores out in good old-fashion pantser style.

For those who are married to their keyboards, get a timer going, where your fingers never stop clicking the keys.

This idea doesn't work for everyone (it doesn't work for me), but I know enough writers who use the morning pages to great benefit.

6) Talk out your ideas

Sometimes, it's the simple fact that our ideas are not fully formed that is holding us back. We can see elements of them, but not the ideas as a whole. It's just sitting there on the verge of existence, and for some reason, we can't let them go. Yet, they refuse to find the page.

This is where your writing buddies become a blessing. Just talking out the idea can sometimes help you see the path forward, sparking off-shoots of the idea. Sometimes, the one you are talking to might have that missing knowledge or experience that you needed to make the whole thing work.

This is one of the reasons why in-person write-ins are brilliant. Writers surrounding other writers, and helping each other over the hump that is holding them back.

7) Write the boring hum-drum

This one goes against what so many writers hear: the warning of infodumping. However, if you're stuck, infodumping is a good way of understanding where the story needs to go next, even if you know that it's going to be edited out.

If you must, write the boring hum-drum ride through the countryside. Write the off-screen conversations. Write the character's boring morning routine from the moment that they get out of bed to the point when they are almost run over by the bus.

All of this is part of the world that you are writing about, and as the writer, you need to know it all. If you need to write it so you can move on to the next scene, then do so. Just make a note in your manuscript that marks it for removal to the outtakes file.

8) Word sprints

This idea is similar to the free-form writing concept, except that you set a timer and just go for it. After say 15 minutes of writing, take a quick break (toilet time length), and start the clock again. On the second attempt, see if you can better your word count.

This idea is focused on word counts, but for some, that is the motivating factor that they need.

9) Use Pomodoro timers

This might seem similar to the previous one, but it's not.

There are many ways to use timers. One method is to adopt the Pomodoro method (or a variant of it).

You set the timer for 25 minutes (traditional Pomodoro timer, but I tend to use 20 minutes myself), and you work solidly on whatever task you are doing for those 25 minutes. Then you take a break for 5 minutes (another timer). And every fourth Pomodoro, you take a longer break, typically 15 to 30 minutes.

The idea is that you are developing a habit of work mode and quick break mode, so you can move around and get the blood pumping through the body again, before you carry on working.

10) Use minimum-focus timers

This is yet another way to use timers to help you with a writing rut. This one is based on a minimum time that you are staring at the empty page.

Sit at your computer with your favorite writing program open (or with the pen and paper) and set a 5-minute timer. For those 5 minutes, you are not allowed to do anything else but work with your writing and your favored writing device. If you sit and stare at the blank screen for those 5 minutes, then so be it, but at least you know you had the intent to write and not do anything else for those 5 minutes.

If you do this every time you sit down to write, eventually, your brain will learn that you are in writing time, and it will start to create magic.

For me, by the end of the 5 minutes on the first day of a writing rut, I am normally writing, but I did stare at the screen, getting really bored, for the first 3 minutes. It was in my boredom that my creative brain took over and started to create something.

11) Try writing prompts

Writing prompts can come from anywhere, even from the internet. But sometimes, that writing prompt is the spark of the idea that helps you to get those creative juices flowing.

A variation on the writing prompt idea is to make yourself a note at the end of your writing session that will be the writing prompt for your next writing session. I do this myself, and it does help me get into the focused writing mode for a given project faster.

12) Adopt the "Nifty 250" idea from James Scott Bell

The first thing that James Scott Bell does every day when he's writing (and he doesn't write every day) is write 250 words on the shiny new idea. When those 250 words are done, he then turns his attention to whatever other tasks need to be done.

This idea is about giving ourselves permission to write whatever we feel like, including chasing the new idea. Those small word counts are often enough to entertain our brains, so we are able to "get to work".

The actual word count you chose is irrelevant—I used to use 500 words—but keep whatever it is to something small that you can knock out within a short period.

13) Use habit stacking

This is where you take an already established habit and add to it the habit that you want to adopt.

My "writing" habit stacking is associated with my morning chai. If I don't get my chai, I struggle to get into work mode.

14) Make a schedule and stick to it

If you are struggling to write something when you sit down at the computer, perhaps you haven't told your brain yet that this is now part of your routine.

Pick a time of the day where you will force yourself to open your writing and type something. In the beginning, it might seem forced, like a waste of time. However, if you continue with the practice, regardless of the outcome, eventually, your brain will succumb to your will. Eventually, you will sit at that computer and the ideas will just flow.

15) Try reward beads

Take two bowls, where one is filled with beads (or coins, or whatever) and the other is empty. If you complete the task that you were aiming to achieve, move one bead to the other bowl. Watching the bead pile grow can be rewarding.

16) Try using a daisy chain

Take a calendar and every day that you write something, cross it off. Don't break the chain. And if you know you won't be able to write on a particular day (family commitments or whatever), cross that day off when you set up your calendar.

The idea is to make that daisy chain as long as you possibly can without breaking it.

17) Go for a walk or work in the garden

We need to exercise too. And sometimes, the reason we're struggling to think is because our bodies need to pump that oxygen to our brains. By getting in a bit of movement (and reconnecting with the world around us), our brains are allowed to daydream.

18) Throw any plots you are struggling with out the window and start again from a known point

This one is hard, because you might have been working on something for a long time, but it's just not working. No matter how hard you try, you can't force it to work. But that's really the issue: you're forcing it.

Give yourself permission to start over. When I did this myself, throwing out written material that I had been working on for months, suddenly the story clicked and the story poured from my fingers in a matter of days.

Remember that you're not alone!

The most important thing that any writer can take away from this post is that you're not alone. ALL writers will occasionally face THE BLOCK. The difference is that the writers who have been around for a while have already developed the techniques and strategies that work for them to get them through this hurdle.

As you progress along your writing journey, you'll discover exactly how your unique writing process works. There is no right or wrong in this. Do what you need to do to get the story onto paper.

You can't edit a blank page.