How To Deal With Writers Block

By Claire Winter

Do you often find yourself staring at a blank page? Trying to conjure up words you can’t seem to string together? Wondering whether you’re slowly losing your mind? Writer’s block is the bane of any writer’s existence; how are you meant to do what you love if it just…won’t happen?

Here’s how you can pin down the cause and fight back!

WHAT IS WRITER’S BLOCK AND WHAT CAUSES IT?

Writer’s block is the state of being unable to write. It could occur in the middle of a piece of work, not knowing how to complete it, or it could be an inability to start something new. Either way, it is a feeling of internal dread as you struggle to reclaim your sense of excitement and purpose.

In the 1970s, clinical psychologists Jerome Singer and Michael Barrios theorised what might cause such an occurrence, and came up with 4 reasons why writer’s block occurs:

• Excessively harsh self-criticism

• Fear of comparison to other writers

• Lack of external motivation, like attention and praise

• Lack of internal motivation, like the desire to tell one's story

Writer’s block is simply a state of mind. Whilst this is by no means a reason to brush it aside, it is hope that you can change your thought process to get your creative juices flowing once again!

HERE ARE 5 TIPS FOR OVERCOMING WRITER’S BLOCK:

Establish A Writing Routine

Ideally, we would all write ‘when we feel like it’, but in reality, this doesn’t always get the writing done. Pick a particular day of the week, time of day and setting to write so that you associate that space with productivity.

Give Free Writing A Go

To let go of any self-criticism, select a period of time and write continuously. Try not to think about what you’re saying - let your imagination take control. You’ll often surprise yourself with what you come up with.

Start From The Middle (Or Even The End!)

When starting something new, it can be daunting looking at an empty page. There is an underlying pressure to get it right first time. Instead, why not skip to a later stage? Then, when you’ve warmed up, you can return to the beginning.

Shake Things Up

It’s no surprise that staring at a screen can become monotonous. Sometimes, we need a little excitement. Go for a walk, write from a different location. Explore new places and locations to write or try fun writing exercises. You can even try speaking your words out loud or embody the character. Anything to change your perspective!

Write For Yourself

Often, when writing, we can get too ‘inside’ the heads of outside sources, thinking about our readers and how they will react to the words on the page. As a result, we lose our sense of self which reduces our motivation. Forget about potential readers once in a while. What do YOU want to say?

Next time you feel frustrated with writer’s block, give these tips a go. Like anything, writing is a process and we can’t all be on top form one hundred per cent of the time. Give yourself a break. Let yourself breathe, go for a walk and come back to the page with no expectations, and just write.

Claire Winter has been a content creator, journalist, and dedicated tea drinker for twenty years. She is a trained NCTJ journalist and started her career at ITN in radio and television. Passionate about helping business owners create content that converts via her online mastermind and 1:1 training, she loves sharing writing tips and content tips over in her own community, Cracking content.

Claire currently writes for all 41 Families magazines covering the UK and reaching 9 million parents a year. She has helped hundreds of large and small businesses with content marketing campaigns in print, online, and social media.