Are you having trouble coming up with new and exciting pieces to write for your clients or even for your own personal blog or book?
Did it seem like the stars were all aligned and your creative juices were flowing just yesterday – but now you’re stuck? Believe it or not, you are not alone!
Writer’s block rears its ugly head when you least expect it.
This is actually a fairly common occurrence – so common, in fact, that it even has a name.
That name is Writer’s Block.
It rears its ugly head when you least expect it and robs you of your peace and valuable time. In that moment, it may seem like there’s no way out – but, do not fear!
If you follow these five steps, I guarantee you that you will be back to your normal, amazingly fantastic writer self in no time!
1. Change Your Writing Environment
Have you been writing for a while in the same room or area?
Before I go any further, understand that it is extremely important to have a dedicated workspace in your home.
This can look like different things to different people-a guest room, the patio, a corner in the bedroom, wherever – but it should be where a majority of your writing takes place.
Yes, there will be a couple of times where you decide to write at the Starbucks down the street or a hotel room in Jamaica, but for the most part, you should be creating content in your designated space.
So don’t be afraid to update your “office.” We are living, breathing creations.
We don’t stay the same for very long – if we’re doing this life thing right – so why should we expect the place where we spend a majority of our time not to change with us? Our workspace should be a space of comfort where ideas and creativity can flow!
If your room is blue because that used to be your favorite color, but now you absolutely loathe it, it may be time for an update.
Okay, that was an extreme example but if your chair is worn out or your plants are all dead, it may be time to be do some rearranging. It’s amazing what one little tweak can do!
2. Read
I don’t know about you, but I love self help and motivational literature – so much so that I often get called obsessed by those closest to me!
For me, it’s therapeutic. Taking a moment to sit down and read about what others have done to become successful – by their own definition – is like a shot of adrenaline directly into my veins! It’s extremely motivating and shows me that if they can do it, so can I.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I need that.
Even if self help books aren’t your thing, you can still benefit from reading. Maybe you like books about travel destinations or Greek mythology.
Just taking the time out to read something that isn’t work related can do wonders for your brain and your morale. Think of it as almost a mini vacation. You’ll come back feeling refreshed and perhaps full of ideas that you otherwise wouldn’t have gotten.
3. Human Interaction
It may seem pretty obvious once I state it, but a lot of people often overlook this next course of action for breaking through their writer’s block.
That option is to simply back away from work for a little while – and actually talk to people. Have a conversation with them. They are your audience, after all.
One thing you can do is create a survey or questionnaire to find out what your friends, family, and followers are currently – or would be interested in – reading.
You can then collect that feedback and take it from there. SurveyMonkey offers a great tool if this is something that interests you.
By doing this, not only are you directly engaging with your audience, but they are offering you valuable information that you can use on your current project and future ones as well. If that’s not a win, I don’t know what is!
4. Stay Current
Sometimes we have written so many articles and posts on a certain topic that it seems like there’s nothing else to write about it.
Fortunately for us though, this is not the case. Depending on what your genre is, things can change fairly often. Technology, health, and finance for example, have advances that cause them to change daily.
Subscribing to websites that are related to your niche or following them on social media is a great way to stay on top of things.
I don’t watch much television, so the main way that I am able to stay up to date on current events and news is through the world wide web.
Twitter, for example – which surprisingly is where I get a majority of my news – is one of the first places to show breaking or developing situations as they are happening.
It’s also very important to be a part of a community of like minded people.
Whether this is an in person meetup or a Facebook group, having a safe space where you all can bounce thoughts and ideas off of each other is crucial.
You may be stuck today where someone was stuck last week or vice versa. Having that support system can help you get through so many more things than if you were just trying to do it all on your own.
Elna Cain’s support group for Writeto1k has been all of this and more for me!
5. Take Time to Do Whatever Recharges You
Here’s the thing – we all get burned out.
Even if you love what you do, taking a break from it is necessary. Our bodies and minds need it.
If your favorite food is pizza and you eat it everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, pretty soon you will get sick of it and it will no longer be your favorite food.
The same thing applies to our careers.
If all we do is write morning, noon, and night – eventually we will become sick of it.
We will associate it with the exhaustion we feel and lack of sunlight and fresh air that we are getting. We’ll no longer have the joy or motivation that we once had, and our content – and incomes – will suffer the consequences.
The good thing is that this doesn’t have to be the case as long as we take time out to do the things we enjoy, outside of working.
Maybe going to the gym for a work out rejuvenates you – or taking a quick trip to the movies or the mall.
For me, I love going to the beach or a nearby park to soak up the sun and take time to think about the things that I can’t think about while I’m focused on my work.
We may not be laptops or cell phones, but we do have some things in common with them.
If our “battery” gets too low, our functionality diminishes – and we are not as useful as we otherwise would be. It is important that we take the time out to recharge ourselves so that we can be at a hundred percent and in turn give a hundred percent.
Nothing to Lose
While you may not be able to implement all of the above suggestions at once, applying even just one or two of these tips is enough to get you started.
Don’t beat yourself up when writer’s block comes knocking on your computer screen. Take a deep breath and repeat steps one through five. It has worked for me on numerous occasions and I believe that it can work for you, too!
What other methods have you used to help when you’ve hit that writer’s wall? I’m very curious to know so please feel free to share!
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