5 Effective Strategies of Overcoming Writer’s Block

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by CJ McDaniel // April 5  

If you are a writer and suffering from writer’s block, don’t be disheartened. This happens even to the most famous writers or best-selling author in the world. However, there are many ways how to overcome it.

Like me, there are days that I get stuck when I am in a writing process. I tend to lose interest in the characters of my stories. I questioned my inability to write as if I run out of creative juices flowing.
But, after years of writing different stories, I have learned how to overcome writer’s block.

When writer’s block strikes

If you want to be a serious writer, you’re going to have to learn how to deal with writer’s block. It’s a common condition that strikes the best of us. As a writer, you know how it happens and most likely experienced it before. You sit down in front of your computer ready to write the best manuscript of your life. Then…nothing.

Pure, unadulterated nothingness. The equivalent of sitting in a dark room at midnight, seeing and hearing nothing but white noise. Maybe you have a vague idea or the desire to write, but no thoughts are coming. You don’t know how to start or how to continue a plot that taken a new turn.

Hello @dr_taylor75! Reading “Shitty First Drafts” gave me a sense of relief, knowing that I am not the only writer who experiences almost a “writer’s block” in my first attempt of writing something. Everyone experiences this, even the greatest of writers. #enc1102woohoo

— Karen Garcia (@Karen_ENC1102) January 17, 2019

A few ways to try…

So, what you do in your brain shuts down and writer’s block takes hold? If you have a deadline, it’s time to panic! But if you’re trying to start writing your book and nothing is coming, there are several things you can try. Below are the 5 most effective strategies of overcoming writer’s block. These will help unclog your brain and help you become a better writer:

1) Just Start

In reality, you don’t have to be an expert writer to write anything of substance. At least not at first. If you have a basic idea of what you want to write, just write anything. That’s the great thing about having a starting draft. It doesn’t even have to make sense. You get to go back, rewrite, edit, change it, or even delete it.
Certainly, just like writing a book that you do so well, at first you don’t like writing the beginning chapter.

That’s absolutely fine. The best thing to do is to not stress yourself out about writing an epic beginning. At any stage of the story, you can check your work, go back and fix it. So, relax. Just start. Start flowing your story in the direction of where you wanted the plot goes, even if you’re unsure. This guide shows you how to begin writing.

2) Prepare Ahead of Time

This is a huge step. Any writer can tell you how many times they sat down to write but were distracted by something. It doesn’t take much to distract a person. That distraction can cause you to not focus on your work. Your brain is constantly moving at a fast pace until you’re actually writing and in the zone.

Tips and Strategies for Creating the Perfect Book Cover

Consequently, to combat this, get everything out of the way. Make sure you use the bathroom. Bring the coffee pot and consume all the coffee granules into your office. Make sure you’ve eaten. If you have children, make sure they’re in bed and put an hour into your writing at night. Make sure the dishes are clean and the food is put away. Even more, with no distractions, you can finally get busy.

3) Change Your Spot

Your writing environment can majorly impact your creativity as a writer. If you describe yourself into a closet somewhere, it might not be inspiring too much.

Sometimes people just need a new change of scenery to inspire the brain to write. Maybe even something simple like getting up and going for a walk in the woods or sitting by a lake. Hence, if it’s not working for you, just make a change and always be a creative writer.

Few changes you can make to overcome writer’s block:
i.) putting on music

ii) going to a bookstore or coffeehouse

iii) walking through nature

iv) moving your desk to a better spot

 

4) Freewriting Can Help Writer’s Block

One great way to get into the writing spirit is to just put down anything that pops into your head. As a writer, you somehow have to make the transition from blank space to actively using your brain. That means even if you’re just writing your grocery list or putting together a letter, it will really help get the juices flowing.

5) Outline Your Work

Maybe you’re not ready to start the first paragraph. That’s perfectly fine. It can be difficult and you can get your own thoughts tangled together some point in time. It was suggested above that you just write anything. You have to understand that the first step is not about filling up the page with the right words but by spending more effort in the planning phase.

Write down the idea that you have and expand outward. Outlining can be fun!
I started to make an outline and then I realized that my writing was getting a lot easier. You can write faster if you already knew ahead of time what to write about.

Everything involving the characters of your story, including all the plots and twists should be outlined. Furthermore, expand on each one of those points by connecting the dots and join your story together.

If you know how your story ends you can actually do writing session by outlining the beginning until the end of your writing project to determine an area of improvement.

When you start that way, you have written down a proper outline. You know how you want the book to start. And if you don’t like it, you can still rewrite it later. Likewise, the point is to have something there in front of you to help you get started. Write down all the characters and their personality quirks. Whatever it takes just keep writing as this will help you improve as a writer!

Conclusion

Writing is all about getting inspired by different subjects worthy to write about.  Even more, writers may struggle with writer’s block at some point in their lives. But don’t be terrified to share your ideas with other writers.

Above all, having someone to talk to often leads to creative ideas. These ideas would end your writer’s block and will gradually improve the quality of your writing projects.
Have the best of luck in your writing career!

About the Author

CJ grew up admiring books. His family owned a small bookstore throughout his early childhood, and he would spend weekends flipping through book after book, always sure to read the ones that looked the most interesting. Not much has changed since then, except now some of those interesting books he picks off the shelf were designed by his company!