How To Overcome Writer’s Block: 15 Tips That Might Help
15 ways to overcome writer’s block
If you feel like you’ve come up against a brick wall with your writing, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll reveal 15 tips to break through that wall and soundly overcome your writer’s block.
Have you ever found yourself stuck in your work, thinking creatively about what needs to come next, or unable to move forward?
If you are not a victim of writer’s block or writing paralysis yet, then you might have heard a writer say, “I’m having writer’s block.” Writer’s block is the hindering of a writer’s creative flow. It affects writers in all stages of their career, and it can hinder your writing for days, weeks, or even months if left uncontrolled.
Write’s block may be temporary or permanent for writers, depending on how they respond to the block.
Overcoming writer’s block is usually a different process depending on the person, but these 15 tips might help writers along the way.
Before we get into the tips, let’s talk about the common causes behind writer’s block.
Writer’s Block Causes:
Many people believe that writer’s block stems from a lack of creativity or ideas, but that’s not the case. While most writers have this experience in common, the underlying causes may vary depending on the individual. some common causes are
1. Self-doubt: it’s one of the significant causes of writer’s block. You assume your content is weak and not worthy of being published. Or, if you’re not a native English speaker, you believe your English is not good enough, and you lack good vocabulary. You are struggling with a lack of confidence in your abilities, even if you have written plenty before.
2. Perfectionism: You want to make your content look “perfect.” Findings revealed that writers suffer from writer’s block because they crave perfection when they write. You try to think of something, and nothing sounds perfect in your head, so you stop writing, and in this case, Perfectionism leads to procrastination.
According to Luke Rowley
3. Fear of comparison and critique: You don’t want your writing to be compared to others’ work, resulting in fear of writing anything at all, or you struggle with being afraid, with putting your ideas out there for everyone to see and critique.
Some writers never become writers because of FEAR.
4. Letting failure get to you: if any of your previous articles went unnoticed, you’re probably still thinking about it. And the fear of failure is stopping you from trying again.
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” — Paulo Coelho
5. Wrong schedule: it’s simply the wrong time. you might have something else going on in your mind that’s stressing you out and stopping you from thinking clearly. As Mathias Barra has said:
The good news is that we have plenty of ways for you to overcome writer’s block.
15 tips to overcome writer’s block:
1. Change your posture and environment:
After sitting at the same place for hours at a time, it’d be much more helpful to take a break and mentally “reset” and then start writing again. Going for a walk, preparing meals, spending time with peers, and showering are tasks most people would agree are much more accessible than writing.
2. Create a deadline:
Deadlines can pretty much help with any task because time pressure creates focus.
“A hammer made of deadlines is the surest tool for crushing writer’s block.”
― Ryan Lilly
3. Freewrite:
Write without worrying about sentence structure, spelling, grammar, or whether it makes sense or not. Just write without second-guessing anything.
4, Write something else:
It can help you to take your mind off your current project. Taking some time away to write something else could spark ideas for your project or help you get refreshed.
5. Loosen up:
Reedsy editor Lauren Hughes says, “blocks often occur because writers put a lot of pressure on themselves to sound right the first time.”
“All writing problems are psychological problems. Blocks usually stem from the fear of being judged. If you imagine the world listening, you’ll never write a line. That’s why privacy is so important. You should write first drafts as if they will never be shown to anyone.”
― Erica Jong
First drafts are never perfect, so don’t worry about making them “perfect.”
6. Read:
Reading a book before you start writing will put you in the right mindset to write your own words. You can also take inspiration from your favorite writers.
7. Plan a schedule:
Decide a schedule for yourself and commit to it. It’s not necessary to come up with inspiration or ideas, but you have to sit and start writing.
8. Listen to music:
Music for writers needs to be inspiring but in the right tone. It shouldn’t be distracting. Writer Paula J. Braley says, “I wrote my first book while listening to the music of Leonard Cohen and Evanescence. When I read it over, I can hear the music in my head.”
9. Watch some Netflix and chill:
(my personal favorite)
10. Socialize:
Spend time with people who make you happy. It boosts mental health and notably reduces the possibility of developing anxiety. Socialization increases the feelings of safety, happiness, and well-being.
11. Stop procrastinating:
You won’t overcome writer’s block by just sitting and not doing anything about it. Start somewhere, anywhere.
12. Determine the root cause of the problem:
Know what has caused writer’s block and try to overcome it by solving the problem first.
13. Writer’s block exercises:
Perform these exercises, and you’ll get past the hump.
Writer’s Block Writing Exercises
14. Writer’s block quotes:
Reading quotes about writer’s block will encourage you to write.
These quotes might help you overcome the block
Writer’s Block Quote — The 41 Best Writer’s Block Quotes
“Writing about writer’s block is better than not writing at all.”
― Charles Bukowski
15. Pomodoro technique:
It’s a useful technique for getting writing done. When you sit down to work, set a time for 25 minutes and write for that amount of time. When the timer goes off, take a five-minute break and then repeat the process four times. When you’ve completed your fourth Pomodoro, take a thirty-minute break.
Have faith in yourself. You can do this. Just get a paper and a pen and start writing.
