Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Thirteen Ideas on Breaking Writer’s Block
Last week on the Ricochet podcast, it seemed that Peter Robinson (@peterrobinson) was suffering from a bout of writer’s block. It made him irritable and had him implying that those writers who didn’t suffer from it might have ridden to their parents’ weddings on bicycles.
I have more than a bit of experience with writer’s block. Half my vanity-project books are unfinished due to it. (Either that, or because I came to my senses and realized those dogs were never gonna hunt.) As part of one project from my past, I started cataloging and categorizing bits of advice that I had for writers, especially poets. In that catalog are thirteen tips for dealing with writer’s block.
Now, none of these bits of advice are original to me. Writer’s block has been around since the day after the invention of the alphabet. Naturally, people have been using ideas similar to these since those early days of writing. So, if you’re suffering, consider these to be bits of wisdom from the ages.
Read past works.
When you come to a stopping point, stumbling block, point where you just can’t write, maybe looking at your past works will help.
The reality is that all of these points in this section boil down to the advice to relax and get away from what you’ve been trying to write. By putting aside your performance anxiety and looking at your past glory, it can change your mood and attitude toward what you are currently writing.
Read other people’s work.
Maybe reading someone else’s writings will help re-inspire you and re-energize your writing.
Put it aside for a time; write something else.
Some authors have multiple projects going in different formats so there is always something to write, but there’s no pressure for one specific thing to be written. I presently have these writing projects going:
-
Seven science fiction novels,
-
A mystery novel,
-
At least four poetry self-help books,
-
A business marketing book,
-
My own poetry, which could be gathered into a compilation book,
-
Twenty-nine unfinished poems to work on when the mood strikes,
-
Two-hundred-six poetry ideas for new poems in a database,
-
-
Newspaper opinion columns, which also could be compiled into book form.
-
Two unfinished columns,
-
Seven column ideas.
-
So, that’s fifteen book projects at once, plus numerous shorter writing opportunities, such as show up on Ricochet. It gives something different to work on each day. This may not be the sanest way for a professional writer who is under deadlines, but if you are writing for fun, why not? You don’t have to be constrained to write one thing and finish it immediately. Even if you are under deadlines, sometimes working on something else for half an hour or an hour lets your brain process the more urgent work behind the scenes.
Write in another format.
Can you turn what you’re writing into a short story, a novel, prose, non-fiction, etc.? Can you write a short story, a novel, prose, non-fiction, etc. on a different topic that will allow your current poem (or other work) to brew in your unconscious? (As I mentioned above, this started as a list for poets.)
Write in another format. (Episode II)
Try a different format of poem. Perhaps you’ve been writing in free verse? Try writing it as a villanelle or sonnet. The structure might help bring it together. You say you’ve been trying a very structured form? Try a less structured form. Perhaps the final product has to be in a certain form? Try writing it in another form first to break the block. Then go back to the original form.
For those writing prose works, can you outline it? Can you put it in some other form that will be a spur for the final form? Can you do something ridiculous, such as writing it as a poem? You don’t have to finish it, just get yourself started writing again.
Don’t force it!
Sometimes, the words just aren’t flowing It’s better if the writing flows when it’s ready, not when you are. Again, if you are under a deadline, try a short break and come back to it, or edit what you do have and see if it starts flowing again.
Write something silly.
The main way to get over writer’s block is to be writing. Write something. Anything! Do it now! Seriously though, starting out to write something totally silly can break the mood and hold of writer’s block. Once you start writing something silly, you are writing again. Will it be long before the serious stuff starts again?
Unless, of course, you’re a comic writer or poet. Then you might consider writing something serious for once. Basically, get away from your norm for a bit.
Write about not being able to write.
A poem or bit of writing doesn’t have to be good to get you writing again. Sometimes you just get stuck and need to get something out to unblock the inspirational passage. The key is to find something to write about. It primes the pump for more inspiration out of the well.
Free associate.
There are various methods of free association that writers can use to break the block. One of these methods is called clustering, where you write down the central idea in the middle of a blank sheet. Then write related ideas all around it, and then write ideas related to those ideas. If you do this for long enough, you might decide to get back to work on your own or run out of paper.
Another free association exercise is as follows:
-
Think of a word and write it down. It can be any word. It doesn’t have to fit the theme you might have been trying to write on. The objective is to get back to writing.
-
Now set a kitchen timer or watch for at least one minute and start it going.
-
Write down a word that rhymes with the word you have chosen.
-
Use the time you have set to write down words that either rhyme with or are associated with one another. The point is to write quickly.
There are many other variations, but they all use the idea of free association. Don’t let your internal editor or critic in the room, just write quickly with whatever comes to mind.
Get away for a while. Clear your mind.
Put down the pen; step away from the keyboard. Come out with your hands up! Take a walk in the woods, or just take a walk. Get writing out of your mind. Come back in a half an hour or two hours and try again. Maybe you need to combine this with another suggestion already mentioned? Get away, and when you come back, write something else, or change formats.
Show it to someone else for comments or suggestions.
At the very least, most negatively critical reviews will anger you into focusing your purpose more and taking off with it. Better criticism might even be able to express what needs to be changed.
Also, it just helps to be able to discuss a piece with a living body. Usually, if they actually say much, it just gets in the way. The act of formulating your thoughts about the problem with a piece often gives you the solution, and what they say doesn’t matter anyway.
Write a blues song to clear away your troubles.
You got troubles? Nothing going right? Can’t write your way out of a paper bag with a sharply pointed pen? Maybe it’s time to sit down and unburden your soul in a blues song. Get it all on paper, and wail it out into the night. You’ll feel better in the morning. This author usually feels a lot better about half way through writing it down. There’s just something about writing a blues song that unblocks everything and brings a smile to the face. If you can write how bad it is, maybe it isn’t so bad after all.
Breathe!
Stop. Close your eyes. Take three of four deep breaths. Pay attention to your breathing. Visualize breathing in through your feet and out through the top of your head. Breathe the power and energy of the universe through your body rather than just air.
Techniques from Yoga, TM, and other metaphysical and meditational practices can bring you back and clear you out. They can free your inner Muse to write again.
One might even consider a bit of prayer, followed by enough silence to let G-d speak.
More from the Ricochetoisie?
So many of us are writers here. What has helped you overcome writer’s block in the past? Can you help Peter Robinson out, so he’ll be back to being the polite, loving, and kind Peter we’re all used to?
Published in Literature
I’d think blockchain would be the solution for writer’s block.
I’ve written 50 published books, 30 of my own and 20 for other people. I’m also a college professor of professional writing. What I tell my students is that there is no such thing as writer’s block. Ninety percent of the time what we call WB is, in fact, ego. That is, you think that what you are writing isn’t as good as you think you are capable of doing — “I’m a better writer than this”, “this is junk”, “I’ve lost my talent”, etc.
The trick is to approach your writing without such impossible expectations. Don’t look upon yourself as a great writer, just a hack trying to meet a deadline, or a daily quote. Simply write and don’t worry about the quality — just tell yourself you’ll fix it when you edit it later (which you’ll do anyway, even if you write something great) . Remind yourself that you have the last word — no one gets to read your stuff until you are ready to show it to them — after you edit it or throw it out. Finally, tell yourself that you’re not a writer if you don’t write — even if the first draft is crap — only some guy (or a gal) sitting at a keyboard dreaming of being a writer.
As for the other 10 percent (and I suspect that this is my friend Peter’s problem) is simple exhaustion. Either the rest of your life is wearing you out, or you’ve been writing too hard. I just finished writing 30,000 words on a big new book in 16 days PLUS a 3K word essay for a major magazine. My brains are running out my ears and my left elbow is killing me. Other than this comment, I’m not writing today. I can’t. But that’s not Writer’s Block, that’s me being wrung out. My batteries are dry. Experience has taught me that there’s no point writing until I’m ready again. Instead, I’ve been walking in my garden.
After that, sounds like a reasonable thing to do to me.
That’s me, by the way. A hack trying to meet a deadline.
I’m just a keyboard monkey, myself. Someday, I may write Shakespeare.
He won’t write back.
Well, he certainly hasn’t yet.
And do you know how hard it is to find his e-mail address?
I love this OP! I write by hand and with a computer. I’m proficient in typing. Learned how on a typewriter. Arthritis flare-ups make it hard to write. I do what I can anyway. Thanks for the tips!
Writing is a discipline. I’m the most undisciplined writer. I can think of a million excuses not to write…mostly to do with life stuff (errands, my son’s needs, movies, yada, yada, yada) even as I waste time watching college football (well, that UCLA / Washington State game was fairly amazing on Saturday) but I digress. Okay, I have been writing blog posts for some clients, so, that eats up some time…and they pay me money. And then once in a while, I feel compelled to write something that I found interesting for Ricochet because the shorter form essay of about 500 to 800 some words is so much easier to crank out. I can often do that in about three hours…or quicker if I’m on a roll.
As I write this, I’m not writing my novel. I should say I’m not writing my damn novel because I’ve come to hate the thing…even after some have praised me for the chapters I have released.
It’s approaching 500 some pages at a glacial pace. Because I’ve written so much, with about 12+ key characters in a setting that has to be pretty historically accurate, I find that if I wade back into it, I need to refresh myself on where the heck I was when I left off and the next series of actions that I was going to write to keep the story going. This is also an excuse. I spend the better part of day polishing stuff I already wrote which is really procrastination.
Occasionally, I hear other writers talk on podcasts or YouTube videos talk about the dozen or so novels they’ve started and are at various stages of completion, some probably never to be completed. That initially makes me feel that I’m not the only undisciplined writer on the planet but the little voice in my head tells me to get over myself and stop justifying my laziness by pointing to others and claiming that “Well, they do it, too!” …and get back to work.
About ego. Without sounding too arrogant, I know I’m a good writer and most of what I’ve written for my novel is actually quite good, and in parts, quite moving…if I do say so myself. So, I’m not sure I buy into the 90% of writers’ block being about doubting one’s talent – at least in my case – because some of the best writers have occasionally suffered from writers’ block which may be why some of them drink. I don’t drink to excess. A bottle of single-malt may last for a year or two in my liquor cabinet. I have maybe a beer or two every 4 or 6 months. Same with wine. Maybe this is my problem.
Get back to work. Stop perusing Ricochet. (Says the guy who is on Ricochet instead of writing.)