5 Ways To Work Through Writer's Block
The enemy of any writer is writer’s block. All writers have been there; you sit down to write, only to stare at a blank page for what seems like hours. Everything you write sounds wrong, and your eraser does more work than your pencil does. Writer’s block can be a frustrating cycle to break out of that leaves you feeling defeated and uninspired.
Fortunately, writer’s block is less about failing creatively and more about feeling the pressure of perfectionism. This is a feeling that spans across many different artistic and professional mediums, and it is possible to break out of. For writers, there are many different ways to get past mental blocks that keep you from creating your best work.
Freewriting
As a writer, my favorite way to work through writer’s block is to free write. Freewriting is an exercise developed by Peter Elbow in 1973 that aims to get the writer writing “in the state of flow.” The goal of freewriting is to get thoughts out of your head and onto paper. By acknowledging ideas and clearing the mind, the writer can increase the clarity of their ideas and discover inspiration in their own words. Freewriting also allows you to think through your ideas and strengthen your own voice.
Freewriting is an easy technique that can be incorporated into any writer’s routine. Simply set aside 10-15 minutes and write anything and everything that comes to mind. Continue writing even when you feel like you’re out of ideas, even if that means writing about not knowing what to write! The goal here is not to write anything profound, but to get all ideas out of the brain and onto the page to be used as a springboard for new ideas.
Read
The best writers are often the ones who read the most. To be a master of words means immersing yourself in the world of words. Regular reading exposes writers to different voices, perspectives, and ideas that are necessary to be a well-rounded writer. In addition to reading for exposure, reading is also an effective tool in combating writer’s block.
Using reading to work through writer’s block requires a level of attention that you might not have if you are just reading for fun. Like studying for a test, writers who read to combat writer’s block read actively. This means absorbing the information on the page rather than just reading the words. By practicing active reading, writers can find inspiration in some of their favorite books. This can look like fleshing out an idea presented in your reading, putting a spin on something you’ve read, or using certain phrases as a jumping-off point.
Respond to Prompts
As a writing student, one of my favorite exercises is responding to writing prompts. Writing prompts take the pressure off of writers struggling to come up with concepts by providing them with a foundation to begin from. Even if you don’t use the writing prompt for a project, you can take what you’ve written as inspiration for something new. Writing prompts also challenge writers to write in ways that they may not have considered before.
A quick google search will bring up endless amounts of writing prompts. You can even purchase books filled with different kinds of prompts, like word associations, scenes, and memory blueprints. Here are some of my favorite prompts to respond to:
– An old woman has just lost her husband of 50 years. Write a scene in which she observes her surroundings immediately following his death.
– Write a scene with two characters who share a secret. Have them talk about the secret without mentioning what it is.
– Write a scene that involved your favorite fictional character. Do not say who your character is.
Imitation
Author William Faulkner allegedly said that “good artists copy; great artists steal.” While it is important as an artist of any kind to have integrity and produce original work, there is some truth to this statement, especially when it comes to writing. Like any discipline, writing takes practice. Just like a golfer may watch Tiger Woods or a basketball player may observe Michael Jordan, writers learn from other writers. A great writing technique that has proved useful to me as a writing student is taking time to write in the same style as my favorite authors.
Imitating successful writers does not mean taking their work and advertising it as your own. Rather, it is observing things like structure and style and creating something new. Using this tool helps writers work through writer’s block by allowing the writer to write in a style and structure that they may not be totally comfortable in. This opens the writer up to explore techniques and perspectives that they may draw inspiration from to get themselves through their mental block.
Write For Fun
The easiest way to kill someone’s creativity is to put boundaries like time, subject matter, and quantity on them. When writers are given guidelines to follow to create content, pressure can build that can be very difficult to perform under. It is important to be able to make deadlines and create content curated to your intended audience. However, when the pressure of creating something specific makes it difficult to write, one of the best ways to work through the writer’s block to is set the assignment aside and write something for fun.
Like freewriting, writing for fun breaks down writer’s block by allowing the writer to get ideas out of their heads and onto paper. This allows free space in the mind to focus later on assigned tasks that have certain requisites attached to them. Writing for fun also combats writer’s block by giving the writer space to write what they are passionate about. Passion almost always creates a path for inspirational content, and what you wrote for fun may be able to be used in your assigned writing projects.
Conclusion
The existence of writer’s block is a cause of contention for many people in the writing community. Whether you believe it is real or not, all writers can relate to feeling like you have run out of things to write about. The good news is that writer’s block exists as a mental block that can be worked through, and not a barrier that forms after all of your original ideas have been cultivated. One of the most difficult parts of being an artist is the pressure to continually create original content. As a writer, it can be hard to get out of your own way when you are feeling uninspired. By using tools like freewriting, responding to prompts, imitation, and so many more, writer’s can push past writer’s block and find inspiration anywhere.