How to Overcome Writer's Block: seven essential strategies.
Aline Ribeiro
The moment has finally arrived! You're ready to sit at your work desk, open Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or whatever program you use, and start writing.
Everything is in perfect shape. You've made yourself a good cup of coffee or tea, and the environment couldn't be better.
However, something strange happens. You glance at the clock, ten minutes have passed, and you are staring at the blank page on your computer.
The keyboard awaits you, but your fingers can't remember how to type.
It's the scenario most writers fear – facing writer's block. Even though the ideas reside somewhere in your mind, they can't find their way into the real world, i.e., onto the paper or computer screen.
Self-doubt starts to creep in, and some questions pop into your mind. "Can I consider myself a writer? Can I realistically dream of a career in writing? Where can I find some inspiration? Why does it seem like every other writer is creative except me?"
Creativity and inspiration are two terms that frequently appear in the vocabulary of writers. However, despite this, they often scare and intimidate us. There's a misconception, unfortunately still prevalent, that creativity isn't for everyone.
The ideal writer, as many believe, is the one who effortlessly pours ideas onto the page, seemingly drawing from an endless source of inspiration.
It is time to overcome this misconception. While I consider creativity a form of divine blessing, it's not exclusive. Anyone has the potential to access it.
Understanding how to cultivate creativity and inspiration can transform your writing routine. I experienced this transformation myself when I grasped the truth about creativity.
We must recognize that things won't happen magically. You're not a bad writer because you struggle to transfer your ideas onto paper. Once you come to terms with that, overcoming writer's block becomes easier.
In this post, I will delve into the "backstage" of creativity and writing.
Our credibility as writers don't rely on the fallacy that becoming an inspiring and creative artist requires effortless effort. Our skills demand ongoing training and nurturing. Just like any other aspect of life, growth requires action.
Now, let's explore seven essential tips to tackle writer's block. You'll discover that facing the blank page is easier than it looks.
1. Placing Inspiration Where It Belongs
My fellow writer, I must say that counting only on "divine inspiration" won't pay your bills as a full-time writer. But fear not! I'm here to help shed light on the path toward your writing goals.
The key is to understand that inspiration must find you working.
For sure, inspiration is essential to us writers. However, there are days that it seems impossible to access it.
Nevertheless, we can follow our writing routine even on those days.
Discipline, routine, and consistency are the key. Creativity and inspiration come alive through action and motion.
Your actions must be intentional. Block a time in your day for writing. Don't worry if your ideas still need to be clarified or if you didn't decide what to write about. Just start!
It's essential to tailor your approach. Don't set an unrealistic goal if you need to get used to daily writing.
There's no absolute right or wrong here. I'm offering strategies that will work when adapted to your reality.
Drafts, even if disjointed, can help structure your ideas. Record everything related to your current project, whether a blog post, press release, article, short story, or novel. Converting ideas into words illuminates your possibilities.
Visualization on paper opens doors to potential paths and helps tap into genuine inspiration effectively.
Also, recognize the various sources of inspiration. It's not limited to extraordinary places. In the most ordinary moments, we can find it.
It might emerge on a bus ride, during a walk down your street, or while in a supermarket line.
Be aware of what is happening in your life at the present moment. It will open your mind surprisingly.
Search for activities that nurture your relationship with your inner artist. Elaborate on a list of things that helped you get inspired and make them part of your routine.
2. Understanding discipline and practicing practical exercises!
Creativity is like a muscle that requires training. Every day we need to practice some activities that help us to be consistent in our writing routine.
Suppose writing is part of your life on any level. In that case, you have likely already heard about Julia Cameron's book, The Artist Way.
This book is essential reading for writers. Studying the content of this book made me discover a new path for my life.
Reading The Artist Way is like taking classes, and it is because it is a course. Julia proposes a series of exercises during each chapter. Still, if well implemented in your routine, one in particular, will transform your perspectives.
"The morning pages" is the first exercise that Julia talks about in the book. The idea is that you will write three pages by hand every morning about whatever crosses your mind. And yes, it is to be written by hand, no typing here; believe me, it has a significant difference.
The author gives the orientation of not reading what you write and not letting others read. It is your thoughts, and the point is to let them be judgment-free.
This exercise is like therapy for me. It is an excellent way to clean the mind and enter a better writing rhythm.
If you, like me initially, are skeptical about this exercise, trust me, it works!
Making the morning pages part of my routine opened me to a new world of possibilities.
My mind became more and more focused, free from distractions, and I could improve my consistency and overcome the blank page without losing my mind.
Naturally, it takes work. There is no such thing as magical solutions. I still struggle sometimes to write to keep benign consistency. However, I am learning to use tools like the morning pages to make life easier.
Making the morning pages an everyday habit is hard, just like adapting any new pattern. Still, my friend, if I can do that, you can do it also.
I used to be the most undisciplined person in the world, I still need to improve a lot, but I have already crossed a good road.
Having a daily moment where I can write completely free, without worrying about the grammar or if I am writing my ideas in a way that makes sense, allows my mind to be more available to listen to new ideas and concentrate while I work.
The morning pages improved my writing because I gradually overcame my fear of blank pages through them. When we have those uninspired days, it is okay to take a little longer to get into the writing flow.
Making this exercise part of your day is an excellent first step towards a more disciplined and consistent writing routine. It is a great path to better learn how to deal with creative blocks.
A good tip is always to leave your notebook and pen on sight and do the morning pages as a fundamental part of your day.
Each person develops their way of applying this daily. Take your time in this process. It is okay if you skip a day or two, don't give up!
And one more critical note, it is not called morning pages by chance. Starting your day writing makes all the difference!
You can buy a nice notebook and a couple of stylish pens to make this even more enjoyable. You will get excited to start.
3. Remember to consider your opinion!
The creative process isn't about mere formulas and pre-anticipated steps.
Once you understand that creativity isn't showing up magically, you will develop your creative process using the right tools and applying tips.
I can give you examples and ideas about how to write a blog post by guiding you to each step of my process, but the moment will come when you have to take the lead and adapt what you learn to do your own thing.
Remember to consider your abilities and vision about what process you think is worth trying.
Just because you don't have an article published in The New York Times or are not a best-seller author and your Instagram account currently has ten followers doesn't mean your opinion isn't valuable.
While studying cinema, directing was one of the classes that profoundly impacted me most. Two outstanding professors taught this class. They played an essential part in my journey.
I used to say in your classes that I was nobody to criticize anything. Who am I to say anything negative about a Martin Scorcese film?
However, those wonderful people always encouraged us students to let go of this misconception to finally understand that regardless of our background, credentials, or degree, our opinion matters, and letting go of the fear of expressing it is an essential part of the learning process.
Feel free to use your judgment to apply what makes sense to your creative writing routine.
Of course, this doesn't mean we must become people who don't listen to anyone and think they know everything. As writers, we must be open to learning from others and listening to ourselves.
We are constantly evolving and discovering new paths!
4. Get inspired by your neighbor's universe!
No, nobody is genuinely original!
Being inspired by other people's universe is essential to your creative journey!
Hold on. I am not talking to you to copy someone else's work. That is a no-no!
I am talking about the importance of nurturing yourselves from multiple sources and consuming various art forms from different artists.
Doing so makes us more prepared to develop unique perspectives about not-quite-unique subjects.
In cinema theory, there is something called "mise en scène," which is a complicated topic to explain in its integrity. However, I will simplify it to showcase an example for you. So, to sum up, mise en scène is the director's signature in a film.
For example, Quentin Tarantino has a specific style. He likes to film in a certain way. He expresses his identity, his mark, in each of his films. It is easy to recognize a movie made by him. That is mise en scene.
If you give the same script to two directors, you will end up with two very different films.
Your mother and aunt can make the same bread recipe following the same process.
However, the final result will be different. Each hand brings a unique touch to the food.
What am I trying to say here? Each person has a unique view of a specific history and situation.
We have our mise en scene and our way of making bread.
Everything you write about is echoing every experience you had in your life. The songs you listed, the books you read, the films you watched, people you met.
Transformation is happening all the time. Something that didn't inspire you before can inspire you now. It is up to us to find our place in this flow.
You will find your style, voice, and place when you recognize that you don't need to reinvent the wheel to create your stories.
Increase your database. Allow yourself to watch films you usually wouldn't see, listen to a band you never listened to, or talk to someone you never talked to before.
Allow other people's visions to inspire you!
5. Watch out for information overload!
Be careful not to fall into the endless spiral of jumping from video to video, blog post to blog post in search of direction.
You may take much more time than necessary to start writing because you wrongly think you will never be as good as other writers or find a rhythm and a process that works for you.
Of course, seeking help from other writers is crucial and makes things easier. But you need to know when to start something, gather what you've learned, and bring your version into the real world.
I could talk for hours about creativity. There are many paths to bring it more and more into your world.
Always keep in mind that all of us can reach it. You don't need to travel around the world, dive into a magical waterfall, or find a wardrobe that takes you to another universe to be a consistently inspired and creative artist.
Nurturing creativity is one of the best parts of a writer's life. We don't need to face all your challenges as writers like nightmares. Search for creativity can be so much fun.
In addition to incorporating discipline and exercises into our routine, it's essential not to be afraid of doing different things.
How about going to work at a café or a place you like once a week? Take the afternoon off and read a book under a tree when possible.
Anyone wanting to increase creativity needs time to be silent and listen to what is happening inside the mind. It is not only about productivity and discipline; sometimes, we need time to rest.
6. Remember to get out of the world of ideas! Bring things to reality!
I've let myself paralyzed many times. I spent so much time reading and watching videos about establishing a writing routine, creating a blog post, and writing this way or that way.
I read about making your environment more comfortable for writing and improving focus. I searched about what playlist to use. Nevertheless, I couldn't even type my name when I finally sat down to write.
It's essential to filter and balance practice with theory. What worked for me and helped me break free from this paralysis was reducing my time on theory and gradually putting what I learned into practice.
For instance, if I read a post about writing more, I would immediately challenge myself to do an exercise and implement what I had read to see if it worked for me.
Having these moments of practice and theory going hand in hand allowed me to develop myself more and more, and my episodes of paralysis became increasingly rare.
Even when writing seems impossible, start by jotting down notes and getting random ideas out there – don't worry if they seem disconnected.
As we've discussed before, inspiration needs to find you working. Start, and things will start flowing!
Remember that it's crucial to maintain a connection with practical reality. Take a break, water your plants, bake a cake, and do the dishes.
Allowing our minds to breathe for a few moments helps things flow more and more.
7. Positive Procrastination
You may be procrastinating because you still need some time to prepare yourself.
Positive procrastination isn't an excuse. We must fight against our tendency to keep putting things off.
Positive procrastination helps us to pay attention to our journey and our processes.
For instance, it took me considerable time to start my journey into freelance writing after I encountered this field.
I didn't dive right in creating my website and building my portfolio, because I was engaged in other things.
I was studying, working on other projects, and still in the process of truly seeing myself as a writer.
I was disappointed in myself for not taking action sooner.
However, that's when I realized that I wasn't postponing the beginning of my writing journey due to laziness but rather because I still needed to prepare and refine some of my skills before starting.
If there's a project you want to undertake but can't do right now, stop, reflect, and consider if there's a reason that you didn't realize so far.
There are things that we delay doing, not due to laziness or lack of discipline. Sometimes, it may not be the right time for it.
And remember, just because it hasn't happened now doesn't mean it will never happen.
Life is composed of seasons; flowers don't bloom in the winter, but when spring arrives, they return with full force.
Our processes work the same way – respect the timing. Maybe that project you are obsessed with isn't moving forward because, at this moment, something more important in your life needs attention.
That said, it's important to emphasize again the importance of paying attention to what's happening within you.
An important note, positive procrastination shouldn't be confused with the fear of starting.
How can I differentiate between the two? I can only tell you based on my experience.
The fear of starting comes with feelings of "I'm not good enough," "I'll fail," "What's the point of starting if it's just going to go wrong?" and so on.
Meanwhile, I see positive procrastination as a gentler feeling – you desire that thing, but at the moment, not being able to pursue it doesn't keep you up at night.
Pause, reflect, journal, have a coffee, enjoy a slice of cake – be present in your life, and you'll eventually know your next step.
Well, every writer's journey has its ups and downs.
Recognizing these seven points will significantly assist in tackling dilemmas that often intersect our creative paths.
Writer's block will be manageable for you now. Creativity is within you; don't be afraid to find it!
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Posted Jun 13, 2024
Unlock your creativity and conquer writer's block with seven essential tips! Transform blank pages into captivating stories. Dive in now!
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