9 Ways to Combat Writer's Block
There aren’t many things more frustrating than staring at a blank page for hours. The longer it takes for exactly zero words to appear, the more your stress and anxiety levels will begin to rise. Of course, writing should be a creative and releasing experience. Not one that harbours and cultivates negative emotions. Take a look at some of these tips for combatting writer’s block and producing content.
1. Step away and come back later
To bring out a more positive and productive atmosphere, it’s actually useful to take a break. Indulge in your favourite series (not the whole season, you’ll never get anywhere that way). Go grab a bite to eat. Run due errands to take some weight of your shoulders and tick tasks off your to-do list. Not only will you feel refreshed after changing activities, you may also bump into a few sources of inspiration for your writing.
2. Change locations
Just as performing one task for too long without a break has negative implications on our performance, so may staying in one place for too long. Switch up locations and environments to change your thought waves and increase efficiency. Studies show that staring at the colour green significantly increases levels of creativity. Whereas being in an office or room that is neat and tidy encourages feelings of productivity. If the weather’s nice, set up your laptop outside to absorb some vitamin D and the calming sound of chirping birds. Take a trip to your local internet café, coffee shop or library for a change of scenery.
3. Don’t be motionless
Exercise increases blood flow through the body, and the more efficiently your blood flows, the more oxygen will be traveling to your brain. Essentially, that’s where most writers would prefer most of their oxygen to accumulate. Head down to the gym, take your dog for a walk, or even have a yoga session to get your heart rate up. After this, get cleaned up and once you’re feeling relaxed and steamed off, start again with your writing. A relaxed mind is a mind that is open and not tensed. And many of us are aware that the benefits of being active lie in many aspects of life and health – writing included.
4. Free-write
This is a great method for writers to get words on a page as there are no topics, restrictions, limitations or deadlines. Set aside 15 minutes or so every day just to write about the first things that come to mind. Be honest, vent and complain, follow your stream of consciousness and just go with it. Our brains never switch off and you’ll be surprised by how many thoughts and opinions you possess. Not only does this technique get the words flowing, but it also teaches you to reach into your head and pull out whatever is in there. Sometimes we don’t write for fear of it not sounding exactly as we hoped, but free-writing will get you over this unnatural fear because, let’s face it, we have to start somewhere. And how do you know it doesn’t sound right if you haven’t even tried?
5. Eliminate distractions
At first, totally eliminating distractions could be difficult. We as humans are so prone to multitasking and have become so affiliated with doing many things at once. Zoning in completely on a certain task is going to take a certain level of determination from your side. But to help, switch off your phone, turn off the internet, and ask loved ones or colleagues not to disturb you for the next few hours. When we give ourselves time to be alone, it helps and promotes a focused attitude.
6. Determine the times you’re most creative
These may differ between people, but it’s important to ascertain the time of day your creative juice tap is opened at its widest. For most, this is either right before bed or very early in the morning. It’s in these “almost asleep, barely awake” phases that your brain is churning out its best ideas as you may still be partially connected to your dreams and subconscious. You’ll be amazed at what your mind comes up with when you’re not fully in control of your thoughts. Once you’ve determined the most creative parts of your day, it’s easy to make a note of when not to write, such as just before lunch when you’re low on blood sugar and energy.
7. Set stricter time limits
When we tell ourselves we have the entire day to complete a task, we often land up doing a lot more procrastination than completing because we think we have so much time left. To combat this issue, give yourself strict deadlines of only a few hours. This is not to say that a whole book is to be written in 190 minutes, but it it’s an effective trick for getting a good few, meaty paragraphs under your belt.
8. Read
It’s not just an old wives’ tale, but reading a lot really does improve your knowledge and writing skills. When you’re exposed to so many different contexts and types of material – be it creative or factual – the brain picks up on certain patterns, structures and techniques. Sometimes without you even realising it. If you’re reading a newspaper or magazine, headlines and phrases can spark motivation if something appeals to you or you feel it is written in a unique and clever way. Perhaps reading another story line that inspires you and brings out positive emotions will be enough to induce the feeling of wanting to write your own. We often find that reading a novel transports us into an alternate reality, and in writing your own stories or articles, taking our mind out of our immediate surroundings is often times just the right trick to get you going.
9. Make notes any time, anywhere
As many writers can vouch for, some of our best ideas come when we least expect it. So it’s imperative that when these unexpected moments arrive, we are fully prepared for the onslaught of ideas that come bursting through. Have a notepad or voice recorder handy at all times. You don’t want to rush home to your laptop and lose parts of your concepts on the way there. Making notes are important for when you’re on the job too, such as for investigative journalism. You may have experienced a great story that you’re keen to write about, but it would be worthless if you don’t take down the key points. We’re writers, not super humans – we don’t remember every detail. And in writing, the detail is what counts.
Tapping into your inner writer sometimes takes a little bit of effort, especially when we’ve hit a blank. Mostly, we’ve just succumb to the pressure of writing something extraordinary or under a deadline and our insecurities and anxiety prevent us from following through. There are some great institutions who offer short, online creative writing courses such as SA Writer's College - these could help beginners get into the groove and learn the basics and could also assist with getting advanced writers back in line with basics that are sometimes overlooked. Think positively and clearly, try out these methods, and you’ll find it much easier to keep within your creative flow and combat writer’s block.
To bring out a more positive and productive atmosphere, it’s actually useful to take a break. Indulge in your favourite series (not the whole season, you’ll never get anywhere that way). Go grab a bite to eat. Run due errands to take some weight of your shoulders and tick tasks off your to-do list. Not only will you feel refreshed after changing activities, you may also bump into a few sources of inspiration for your writing.
2. Change locations
Just as performing one task for too long without a break has negative implications on our performance, so may staying in one place for too long. Switch up locations and environments to change your thought waves and increase efficiency. Studies show that staring at the colour green significantly increases levels of creativity. Whereas being in an office or room that is neat and tidy encourages feelings of productivity. If the weather’s nice, set up your laptop outside to absorb some vitamin D and the calming sound of chirping birds. Take a trip to your local internet café, coffee shop or library for a change of scenery.
3. Don’t be motionless
Exercise increases blood flow through the body, and the more efficiently your blood flows, the more oxygen will be traveling to your brain. Essentially, that’s where most writers would prefer most of their oxygen to accumulate. Head down to the gym, take your dog for a walk, or even have a yoga session to get your heart rate up. After this, get cleaned up and once you’re feeling relaxed and steamed off, start again with your writing. A relaxed mind is a mind that is open and not tensed. And many of us are aware that the benefits of being active lie in many aspects of life and health – writing included.
4. Free-write
This is a great method for writers to get words on a page as there are no topics, restrictions, limitations or deadlines. Set aside 15 minutes or so every day just to write about the first things that come to mind. Be honest, vent and complain, follow your stream of consciousness and just go with it. Our brains never switch off and you’ll be surprised by how many thoughts and opinions you possess. Not only does this technique get the words flowing, but it also teaches you to reach into your head and pull out whatever is in there. Sometimes we don’t write for fear of it not sounding exactly as we hoped, but free-writing will get you over this unnatural fear because, let’s face it, we have to start somewhere. And how do you know it doesn’t sound right if you haven’t even tried?
5. Eliminate distractions
At first, totally eliminating distractions could be difficult. We as humans are so prone to multitasking and have become so affiliated with doing many things at once. Zoning in completely on a certain task is going to take a certain level of determination from your side. But to help, switch off your phone, turn off the internet, and ask loved ones or colleagues not to disturb you for the next few hours. When we give ourselves time to be alone, it helps and promotes a focused attitude.
6. Determine the times you’re most creative
These may differ between people, but it’s important to ascertain the time of day your creative juice tap is opened at its widest. For most, this is either right before bed or very early in the morning. It’s in these “almost asleep, barely awake” phases that your brain is churning out its best ideas as you may still be partially connected to your dreams and subconscious. You’ll be amazed at what your mind comes up with when you’re not fully in control of your thoughts. Once you’ve determined the most creative parts of your day, it’s easy to make a note of when not to write, such as just before lunch when you’re low on blood sugar and energy.
7. Set stricter time limits
When we tell ourselves we have the entire day to complete a task, we often land up doing a lot more procrastination than completing because we think we have so much time left. To combat this issue, give yourself strict deadlines of only a few hours. This is not to say that a whole book is to be written in 190 minutes, but it it’s an effective trick for getting a good few, meaty paragraphs under your belt.
8. Read
It’s not just an old wives’ tale, but reading a lot really does improve your knowledge and writing skills. When you’re exposed to so many different contexts and types of material – be it creative or factual – the brain picks up on certain patterns, structures and techniques. Sometimes without you even realising it. If you’re reading a newspaper or magazine, headlines and phrases can spark motivation if something appeals to you or you feel it is written in a unique and clever way. Perhaps reading another story line that inspires you and brings out positive emotions will be enough to induce the feeling of wanting to write your own. We often find that reading a novel transports us into an alternate reality, and in writing your own stories or articles, taking our mind out of our immediate surroundings is often times just the right trick to get you going.
9. Make notes any time, anywhere
As many writers can vouch for, some of our best ideas come when we least expect it. So it’s imperative that when these unexpected moments arrive, we are fully prepared for the onslaught of ideas that come bursting through. Have a notepad or voice recorder handy at all times. You don’t want to rush home to your laptop and lose parts of your concepts on the way there. Making notes are important for when you’re on the job too, such as for investigative journalism. You may have experienced a great story that you’re keen to write about, but it would be worthless if you don’t take down the key points. We’re writers, not super humans – we don’t remember every detail. And in writing, the detail is what counts.
Tapping into your inner writer sometimes takes a little bit of effort, especially when we’ve hit a blank. Mostly, we’ve just succumb to the pressure of writing something extraordinary or under a deadline and our insecurities and anxiety prevent us from following through. There are some great institutions who offer short, online creative writing courses such as SA Writer's College - these could help beginners get into the groove and learn the basics and could also assist with getting advanced writers back in line with basics that are sometimes overlooked. Think positively and clearly, try out these methods, and you’ll find it much easier to keep within your creative flow and combat writer’s block.