The feeling of sitting in front of a blank page for hours and not being able to write a single word is worse than anything else for a writer. The situation is known as writer’s block because the ideas and thoughts in your mind are blocked or resisted to come out and shine on the pages flickering in front of you.
I know this feeling very well and truly imagine your struggle to overcome it. The fear of not completing the task before the deadline or losing the passion for writing is something so dreadful and distressing for any writer experiencing writer’s block. Here, I am going to share some tips that help me and can assist you too on your venture to overcome writer’s block.
1- Engage in free writing to let go of pressure
There is always something you can write, no matter if it is related to your work or not, just put it down on the pages to organize your thoughts and take out all unnecessary stuff stuck in your mind. It helps create more brainstorming opportunities, offering resolutions to your challenges by letting go of the pressure.
2- Take a break or exercise your brain to unwind yourself
Breaks are very important to refresh your mind and get your creativity back if you are facing writer’s block. Go to the countryside, get yourself involved in household chores, set aside the writing tools, and book tickets for a holiday to streamline the ideas about the story and unwind yourself from stress.
3- Shift your writing space
Switching the writing area can help you gather thoughts in a different environment, breaking writer’s block. You can get the motivation and creativity to take a new start if you change the scenery and move to another cafe, room, and redesign the writing space.
4- Implement a new strategy
Adopting a different writing technique and implementing new strategies can break all berries in your writing venture. For example, trying to use pen or paper if you are writing on computer previously, opt for a new writing style or genre if you are stuck on the recent one, and start introducing more exciting incidents or characters to spark the ignition of writing again.
5- Determine the most productive and creative time for writing
You are in tune with yourself better than anyone else, so find the most creative and productive time of the day when you can concentrate the most and let the creative juices flow. Try experimenting with different times of the day, either 8 AM in the morning or 2 AM at night when there are minimal distractions around you.
Turn off the notifications, hang the “Do not disturb” board on the door, and let everyone in the house know that it is your writing time, and declutter the surroundings to fully focus on your work.
6- Break the order or keep the list of “high reward” scenes
One of the key tips that helps me alot is to not follow the order and move to other sessions when I am stuck on the first one. For instance, you can write the climax or the other chapters to make yourself active and excited again and then catch on to the introduction to have a better understanding of characters and scenes.
Another thing that you can do is to make a list of “high reward” scenes and start writing on one of them to pass through the writer’s block. The ideas and story are already set in your mind about those particular scenes and you can write them with minimal mental effort.
7- Sit with yourself or a close friend to scout the track
To overcome the barrier of writer’s block, you need to question yourself about the problems laying ahead to scout the track. You can also discuss it with any close friend. It will give you more clarity to get your groove back and motivate you to locate the path again.
8- Read more and gain insight from role models and creatives
Reading is a therapy. You can overcome the writer’s block by reading as much as you can, helping you get an escape from all insecurities and fears. Moreover, you can gain insight and inspiration from your favorite creatives, musicians, authors, and artists to explore new perspectives to find your inner voice and creativity back.
9- Stop being perfectionist and make room for slip-ups
Remember, no one is perfect in this world. Everybody has flaws and can make mistakes. If you are a perfectionist and want to be the one, you cannot overcome the barrier of writer’s block in your writing. Acknowledge your mistakes and embrace them to learn better for the future. Be gentle on yourself and make some room for slip-ups.
10- Establish writing routine
Creating a writing routine can work really well for you to pass through writer’s block. You will set a time and word count to write daily and your brain will automatically give alarms to open the notepad or computer and start doing your work without any restriction.