We’ve all been there— staring blankly at your computer screen, turning over the same two or three thoughts in your head for hours on end, but somehow unable to translate them onto the page in any meaningful way. It’s beyond frustrating, even in the short term, and when left to fester, can have you questioning your ability as a writer and your reasons for even writing in the first place.
Writer’s block.
We speak of it like a curse that can descend upon you with frightening swiftness, leaving you powerless to produce anything of merit until the spell is lifted. But of course, there’s no curse, and just like it doesn’t come out of nowhere, it doesn’t magically go away either. Creativity comes and goes, inspiration waxes and wanes, but these are just by-products of our natural writing processes and our lives in general. Writer’s block is no different, and to treat it as anything other than a naturally occurring (and super aggravating) phenomenon that strikes us all at some point is doing yourself and your writing career a disservice.
Before we go any further, two quick disclaimers:
This advice is intended to help people with typical cases of writer’s block— fleeting periods where creative thought and technical execution seem to be lost. If you’re one of those folks who hasn’t written a word in ten months, you feel powerless at the keyboard, and you’re in mental agony about it, I probably can’t help you. There’s something else going on, and it’s beyond the scope of this article.
Let’s not conflate writer’s block with burnout. Prolonged periods of writer’s block can be extremely discouraging, but for the purpose of this discussion, I’m treating writer’s block as a completely separate issue from burnout. I’m writing this with the assumption that you have the desire to write, but are simply unable to act upon it. If writing or writer’s block is affecting your mental health, this may not be the right article for you, because I’m not a mental health expert and I’m not taking those aspects of the process into consideration. Use your best judgment when applying any of the strategies I’m about to discuss. We all need a break sometimes, and none of the below strategies involve stepping away from the keyboard. It doesn’t feel right for me to advocate stopping writing when your goal is to write and the problem is that you can’t. Breaks do work, but in this article I’m assuming you don’t need one.
With those disclaimers out of the way, let’s also keep in mind that there are two types of writer’s block, which I’ll refer to as creative and technical. Creative writer’s block is the struggle to come up with ideas, concepts, plot lines, character arcs, settings, etc. Basically, anything you have to imagine out of thin air. Technical writer’s block is the struggle to execute on existing ideas, an inability to translate thoughts onto the page or to capture the essence of what you’re trying to convey. Both problems require different solutions, so I’ll offer a few ways to deal with each. Not every strategy will work for every person, but at least one of these should work for most people. Now, let’s get to it!
The Nike Method
Let’s start with the move obvious solution, and the one that’s probably going to piss you off. Let’s just rip off the band-aid. In the words of the most famous footwear company on the planet, just do it. I know you’re already thinking “but the entire point of writer’s block is that I can’t just write my way out of it.” And you might be right. We’ll get to that. But you also might be making excuses for yourself and confusing difficulty with impossibility.
I’ve sat there, staring numbly at the same sentence for half an hour because the next one refuses to work itself out in my head, (or on the page for that matter) just like you have. A few of those times, I’ve closed my laptop in frustration, only to fix it without much of a problem when I came back to it the next day. The other times, though, I just trudged through, no matter how difficult and frustrating it was. When I was editing Sundering, sometimes I took two hours to rewrite a single paragraph, which I think says more about how bad my writing was than anything else.
The point is, just because something is difficult doesn’t mean you can’t work through it. The ultimate solution to technical writer’s bock is to just suck it up and write something. Anything. Fifty words. Twelve. Who cares if it doesn’t make any sense? You’re going to edit it later, anyways. You have ideas to work with, so what are you waiting for? Stop making excuses and just get words onto the page. Write it in the most simple, bland language you can. It’s just placeholder text, and that detail you’re agonizing over may not even be important to the story. You’re letting something tiny and irksome hold you back, like a thread of your sweater caught on a bramble bush. Just rip that shit off and forge ahead, and sew it up later so it looks nice and pretty.
JUST DO IT!
I’ll get off my high horse now. While I may lack social tact, domestic skills, and general human empathy, I’ve cultivated a very strong work ethic, so the Nike method is my bread and butter. I get that other people simply can’t will themselves through a writing session. Some things just can’t be forced. When you’re pushing up against that wall, but it just won’t budge, there’s always…
The Bridge Method
Instead of bashing your head into the wall for hours on end, just walk around the wall. Or climb over it. Or however it is that people get around large, rectangular obstacles. Just skip the part you’re struggling to articulate and write the next sequence you have a clear picture of, or the next part you’re genuinely excited about. It’s like what they tell kids taking standardized tests— if you don’t know the answer, skip ahead and come back later.
We often do this in our initial planning stages, by coming up with a concept, a conflict, and a resolution. It’s only after we have a better sense of our story that we go back and connect all the dots. In fact, I use this strategy as part of my hybrid plotting/pantsing method, which you can read about here. But I digress. Don’t beat yourself up over the words you can’t think of, and work with the ones you can. If you’re thinking “but I can’t find a part of my story where the words just flow,” then I’ll kindly refer you to the above section. Or the one below.
The Buddy System
When all else fails, take advantage of the buddy system. What is the buddy system, you ask? It’s simple— tell a buddy that “no matter what, I’m going to finish this chapter by the end of the week,” or “I’m going to finish this draft by August,” or whatever deadline you choose to self-impose. Your buddy is someone who holds you accountable, who can encourage you when you’re down and light a fire under your ass when you’re feeling complacent… And who can inflict some sort of punishment when you fail.
This is classic negative reinforcement, or in some circles, it’s known as positive punishment (positive, in this case, pertaining to the presence of an undesirable punishment). I’m not suggesting your buddy take a lead pipe to your kneecaps should you fail to meet your commitment. But let’s say you hate doing the dishes, and you and your spouse split the duty 50/50. Tell them “I’m going to (insert goal and deadline), and if I don’t, I’ll do all the dishes for a month. Tell your best friend they can post that hilariously embarrassing picture of you on social media if you don’t get your work done. Tell your fourteen-year-old that you’ll drive them anywhere they want on demand for three months. Bet you money you meet that deadline, no matter how difficult.
You can also take a slightly different approach and go super public with your intention. Post your goal and deadline on social media, and then get to it. The threat of social humiliation will likely galvanize you into working through whatever transient barriers present themselves. I do this often for powerlifting, in some cases calling a lift months in advance. In fall and early winter of 2017, I was very injured after a rough season, and my current best squat was 425 lbs. I had been stuck on that for two years. In January of 2018, coming off the injury, I announced on my Instagram fitness page that I would squat 445 lbs by June. After being unable to add 5 lbs to my max squat over two years, I declared that I would add 20 lbs in six months. And I did.
I had a lot of struggles going into that competition, but the fear of looking like a loud-mouthed jackass who couldn’t back up his talk drove me to work through every obstacle with white-knuckle, bang-your-head-against-the-wall determination. It was stressful, emotionally draining, and at times, physically painful— and it was 100% worth it. Granted, I grew up wrestling under a coach who was fond of screaming obscenities at teenagers, so that sort of pressure-cooker situation brings out the best in me, but I think there’s something to be said for opening yourself up to shame, ridicule, embarrassment, or other form of punishment in order to meet a goal.
This guy’s got nothing on coach Ralph.
It can be frightening, but you’re looking for something to shake you out of your rut, aren’t you? Moving forward isn’t always comfortable. At the end of the day, this is still a technical problem. You’re struggling with execution, so you just need to tinker until you get it right. You can’t tinker if you don’t get words down. Get the words down, even if they’re the wrong words. You’ll fix them and make them the right words later. That’s what betas and editors are for.
You may think I’m being harsh, you may think (not without reason) I’m being a jerk, or you may think I just don’t understand writer’s block. Now I’ll admit, I’ve never experienced a period of technical writer’s block for more than a few days. Because I do these things. Or maybe I’m just lucky. Who knows? Maybe these strategies won’t work for you— everyone is different, I understand that. But maybe they will. Maybe I’m on to something. And you’ll never know until you really try.
For those of you suffering from creative writer’s block, thanks for bearing with me so far. I’m sure reading about this “get your shit together, suck it up, hear me roar” approach is making you roll your eyes, because this isn’t applicable to you at all. You can’t force ideas into your brain. You have to gently coax them in, and the more you try to force them, the worse it gets. I get it. I suffer from creative writer’s block much more than technical writer’s block, because I’m writing a massive fantasy series spanning several continents and with decades of backstory. I have 28 pages of notes on one kingdom’s religion. Thinking of all that stuff is hard, and sometimes you go into a brainstorming session super excited, only to come up empty-handed. The strategies below have helped me come up with some pretty wild ideas (most of them bad), and they might help you.
The Ole’ Switcharoo
Getting early feedback on your story, otherwise known as developmental edits, can be a godsend. This isn’t quite the same thing as a beta reader, since betas are supposed to be used on complete, relatively polished manuscripts, but the general principle remains the same. You find a partner, swap WIP’s with them, and bounce ideas off each other. Having fresh eyes on your work can open you up to new ideas, alert you to conceptual weaknesses in your story, and inspire you to expand on the things you do well. I’ve heard some people call these types of critique partners alpha readers, so we’ll go with that. The point is, they can see things you can’t and point you in the right direction.
I’ve had alpha readers (and beta readers, for that matter), inspire some of my favorite scenes, things that now seem critical to the story. I’ve had them point out problems that, once solved, lay the groundwork for more depth in the characters and the world they inhabit. I cannot stress how helpful it is to have a partner to act as a sounding board for you, and how beneficial it is for you to discuss someone else’s writing, to get out of your own head and think about something that isn’t your own work. If that doesn’t work for you, there’s always…
The Palate Cleanser
The idea is simple— if you’ve been grinding away on worldbuilding, plotting, or discovery/drafting and are having trouble coming up with new ideas, or if you don’t know where your plot is going to go next, just work on something else for a little bit. If you can’t come up with any ideas at all, you just have a single character, setting, or concept to work with, this trick work even better. Now, I’m not suggesting you start a new novel, although some people probably take that approach.
Instead, research some writing prompts.
There are about a million sites that generate daily prompts in a variety of genres, but I personally love Reddit for this. Pick one you like and write a short story on it. Don’t overthink it. Just enjoy the act of spontaneously drafting something pressure-free and with no larger expectations. Combine two or three ideas into a single short story if you want to, the more, the better. You’re just trying to shake something loose by thinking creatively outside of your main project. Don’t agonize over details. When you’re done, return to your primary WIP and see if the ideas flow any better. This strategy can also work for technical writer’s block, since it forces you to put words on the paper, and because of that, it remains one of my favorites. When all else fails, you can always resort to…
The Nuclear Option
Ever heard the phrase “write drunk, edit sober?” Try it. Literally. (If you don’t drink, just skip this section, it’s not for you.) I know the phrase is intended to mean that one should write freely and without inhibition, only to edit carefully and meticulously, but you know what serves as a great uninhibitor? Alcohol.
Once in a while, I like to pour myself a glass of whiskey and pluck away at the keyboard in a separate file. Don’t change any existing work, and check it sober before you add your drunken finger-ramblings to your official WIP. I once wrote an entire chapter, maybe 12-13 pages, completely hammered, and it was actually pretty good… except I wrote the wrong character into it. Everything else was fine, but I wrote the wrong character’s name about 50 times. That was embarrassing, but still, it ended up as a solid chapter, and because I wrote it in a separate file, it was easy to spot.
Now, you might be thinking that this sounds more like a solution to technical writer’s block again. Get drunk, start typing. Well, there’s a second solution that I also use sometimes. Put on a TV show or movie that inspires you, that makes you want to write, keep your laptop open, and write down whatever ideas spring into your brain. Just one or two lines, quick notes to review later and expand upon if they warrant further consideration.
I’m not saying you should lift scenes directly from what you’re viewing, but watching media with a relaxed frame of mind can often clue you in to things you miss during a regular viewing, and those stray observations can manifest themselves as tiny seeds for ideas in your own work. Even horrible movies can inspire a stroke of genius. I thought of a major twist involving the series antagonist while I was watching a Transformers movie under the influence. I’m not joking.
I’m not saying you should pound a fifth of liquor every time you get stuck, but entering a different state of mind can help you think of things you wouldn’t normally think of. Sometimes, that’s just what you need. However, if you find yourself copying Hunter S. Thompson’s daily routine, you might have gone a little too far.
After 9 hours of booze, cocaine, weed, and acid, he’s FINALLY “ready to write"?” How…
I encourage you to keep it legal and not to use this method as a crutch. I’ve thought of some of my best ideas doing this, but for every good idea, there’s about four or five terrible ones. Use it sparingly, vet any ideas you do write down with extreme scrutiny, and keep your health in mind. Alright, that’s enough about substance use for creative purposes. Let’s go over some final points.
Wrap-Up
There you have it— six different methods to help you overcome writer’s block. I realize that, as much as I tried to delineate between creative & technical writer’s block for simplicity’s sake, real life isn’t always so cleanly divided, and the two can overlap, or one can lead to the other. You may have to try a few of these approaches, combine them, whatever. Just find what works for you. Writer’s block is maddeningly frustrating, and it can be emotionally draining when left unchecked. Don’t let it ruin your passion and turn it into something you dread.
And again, I can’t stress this enough: Don’t confuse writer’s block for burnout. Even as much as I advocate putting your head down and grinding through barriers, forcing yourself through burnout is a surefire way to hurt your overall progress, say nothing of your mental health. Writer’s block is just another obstacle, like time constraints, distractions, and a sticky “R” key that makes your narration sound like it was written by a pirate. Stop mystifying it and start figuring out how to beat it. Best of luck.