Whether you’re a student, book author, grant writer or advertising director, there’s nothing worst than being up against an important deadline and your brain seizing up. There can be many reasons your block may occur. Maybe the timing is off and you aren’t in the right state of mind to produce creative copy. Or maybe it’s fear. Many writers struggle with being afraid of putting themselves and their ideas out there for everyone to see and critique.
Staring at the computer screen as the blinking cursor taunts you can be beyond frustrating, but don’t worry…there’s hope! Here are five powerful ways you can bust your writer’s block and get back into the flow.
1. Just Walk Away
Go grab a coffee, start making dinner or go for a run. The key is to distract your brain temporarily, and then when you return, you’ll have a fresh perspective. Don’t keep banging your head against a wall. Take a break. It’ll still be waiting for you in an hour or two.
2. Write Early in the Morning
According to science, the best time of the day to write is the very first thing in the morning when your brain is most alert. While it might sound unrealistic to start as soon as you roll out of bed, the arguments behind this approach are very compelling. Your willpower is at its strongest before you've had to use it for anything else in the day.
3. Stick to a Writing Schedule
Carve out a time to write every day. Show up to write, even if nothing comes to you right away. When you show up to the page at the same time and place every day, eventually your creative inspiration will do the same. It may also be helpful to set a word limit you try to hit every day.
4. Eliminate Distractions
It’s amazing how many distractions there can be for a writer. Turn off the phone. Clean your workspace and eliminate clutter. It’s also not a bad idea to have a conversation with friends, family or coworkers about honoring ta set period of time so you can write without interruptions.
5. Freewrite
As much as it may remind you of your high school writing class, freewriting exercises can loosen up the mind and get you to write things you would never write otherwise. If nothing else, they get words on the page, and if you do enough of that, some of it is bound to be good.
Even Dean Koontz, who has sold more than 450 million books in his successful writing career, knows all too well the reality of writer’s block. “The best writing is borne of humility. The great stuff comes to life in those agonizing and exhilarating moments when writers become acutely aware of the limitations of their skills, for it is then that they strain the hardest to make use of the imperfect tools with which they must work,” Koontz says.