6 Hacks for Writer’s Block

Writer’s block, two words every writer dreads. It’s something that all writers deal with at various points in their lives and during projects. There’s hundreds of articles that define what it is and why you may have it. It’s when you feel stuck and unable to put clear thoughts onto the page. It’s because of self-doubt, boredom, anxiety, or one of the other various moods that may have taken up occupation in your mind. The only thing that we all have in common is that we have to get past it and get back to writing.

The very nature of the art of writing incorporates uncertainty, experimentation, and a willingness to create art from the depths of who we are. Writing is a mentally challenging occupation, which requires more hard-core, cognitive expenditure than many other lines of work.

Susan Reynolds, 2015, Psychology Today

In her article in Psychology Today, Susan Reynolds (2015) provides 5 reasons why we maybe struggling to put thoughts to page. The first is that you’ve lost the plot. No, you’ve not gone insane, you’ve literally lost the plot, wandered off the reserve and found yourself in unfamiliar territory. The second is that you’ve lost the passion for the current project (understandable, as this is my fifth year working on the same project), the third that your expectations for yourself have become unreasonable, or fourth, you are burned out. I have to admit there are some days when I do feel like I’m burned out on my current project. The fifth is that you are too distracted (Smartphone issues). The truth for me is a mixture of the above. The passion is waning, there are other more interesting project ideas on the horizon, I’m a little burned out and as a result I’m allowing myself to get distracted by other things.

There’s a bunch of suggestions in Reynolds’ article, and there is a bunch of other articles on how to deal with it. My solutions so far have been to try and (1) do all the house work and (2) get a big travel mug of coffee ready before you sit down. (3) Don’t put your phone on charge the night before so that you can plug it in when you start working (ideally in a different room). (4) Try a few writing exercises or (5) read something related to your work. (6) Write something else (like a blog) to get your creative juices flowing. I’ll keep you posted on whether they work for me. In the meantime, share some of your hacks on dealing with writer’s block.