30 Practical Ways to Get Round Your Writing Road Blocks

February 11, 2009 · by Joanna Paterson · in

Don’t start with a blank page. Take a line from a poem, or a song, or something someone said. Don’t start with a blank page (Liz Lochhead*)

Starting with such a practical, block busting suggestion seemed like a good way to open this compilation of tips, suggestions and strategies for getting round your writing road blocks.

Thanks to everyone who took part, in the comment box here and via Twitter.   I’ve tried to bundle the suggestions together into categories to make them easier to read and digest.  Some comments straddle more than one category, and some could have gone in more than one.  I’ve also bolded key words to make the suggestions more scannable. Apologies if I’ve over-simplified what you meant.

The Twitter contributions are inevitably a little cryptic, being compressed into 140 characters or less.  They’re the ones where the attribution starts with @

Here’s what you came up with: 30 Practical Ways to Get Round Your Writing Road Blocks

Change Location or Environment: Get Into the Flow

1. While struggling through the final stages of my thesis, I frequently found blocks to my progress. Largely they were caused by moments of panic when all I could think was, ‘You’re not going to make it. You’re going to miss your deadline.’ When the panic struck, the words did not flow.

My tactic was to have a shower. Something about the movement of the water would relax my mind, connections would begin to occur, sentences would leap into my head fully formed, just waiting to be committed to the page. As a tactic for breaking through those writing road blocks, it never failed! Amy Palko – Less Ordinary

2. Take a walk – sometimes you just need a break @jayfrawley

3. Listen to inspiring brain music;talk to critic/fear; walk @jenlouden

4. Often I head to the nearest spot of nature, always with a few index cards and a pen in my pocket. When I try to force an idea or just the right words to come, I will draw a blank. But when I relax a bit and immerse myself in the natural world, I often find the ideas start to flow naturally. Then I plop myself down on the nearest log or dry space, and scribble as fast as I can. Bo: Seeded Earth

5. I go away from the house with just a notebook and pen. I stay out, doing whatever, until I’m itching to pick up my pen. B J Keltz: Enriched by Words

6. What I find works for me is to just get up and do 20 mins of Tai Chi after that I’m 100% focused and ready to go. David Atkinson

7. The main things that seem to work for me are: workout, meditate, go somewhere inspiring and quiet. If none of the three works I have a few drinks so that my mind can relax and allows me to write Alexander – Quest of a Warrior

8. I do something completely different : going for a walk, listen to music, watch a candle. Suddenly the idea comes my way – Ulla Hennig

9. Writing badly just grabbing a pen and scribbling on the back of an envelope. When I was really stuck writing my website copy I took myself to a cafe and wrote there – sometimes moving locations helps ! Creative Voyage

10. What usually works for me is to get away from the computer and phone. I go to Starbucks and find a comfy chair, get some tea, and open my notebook. Somehow I always wind up with anywhere from 5-20 topics. Brad Shorr – Word Sell

11. I take a shower, do 10 minutes worth of yoga, then sit down and just write anything at all (even “I don’t know what to write” ) until something usable appears. Works every time. Jean Gogolin – Word Tales

In the Cafe by DWinton on Flickr

Put Your Fingers on Your Keyboard, Move Your Pen on the Page

12 Extemporize. Record writing/ideas on dictaphone. Listen. Engage. Automate Pencil & paper. 10 mins write ‘automatically’. @LondonTheatre

13. Fingers on keyboard, internal edit function disabled, capture random thoughts ’til wisdom flows…To disable internal editor: forbid yourself from re-reading a single word. I use ideas scribbled on index cards 2 start flow. @bethbeck

14. I get writers block thinking I have to say something beautiful at first go. I make myself type something, even “This sucks.” @tracymueller

15. Free writing is often helpful since I’m often obsessed with structure and flow. Another is to jot down thoughts about another topic that personally interests me. If necessary, I’ll reward myself for completing a smaller phase of the overall written project. Rewards vary, but often include sweets Gennaro – Enduring Wanderlust

Learn to Work with the Gremlins

16. I give them a space to be what they want to be – I call them idontwannas. They just want to be heard, really! @TheCharmQuark

17. Sometimes… I like to use meditation. I sit with the part of me that’s struggling, and accept it completely. It can take time to do this.  I go for walks. I read books. I do anything else until the ideas flow. Joely Black (aka TheCharmQuark)

18. I’ve also found some success with refusing to write for a few days. I let words build up until I’m choking on them, and then free write them out over a day or two. Sometimes all a log jam needs is a big wave from upriver. B J Keltz: Enriched by Words

Play with a Different Format

19. I outline or use a mind map using paper or pen or sometimes I skip around writing the middle or end first. @KaraSwims

20. I sit down and take the time to brainstorm and write down everything that comes to my mind. Not everything that gets written down can be used, but some ideas are worth working on Ulla Hennig

21. I sit down, open Google Docs and take my time to choose the weirdest background and font-color I can find. Colours that really hurt the eye and don’t match. Then I write down the exact thoughts moving through my brain, however strange or senseless they may seem, as fast as I can. Most of the time I manage to get into a flow – and I can work from there. Detlef

22. The blocks I encounter in business writing are: Lack of excitement about subject matter and not getting the message quite right (the copy must engage, have warmth but also sell and sometimes the words simply won’t come).  To work through lack of excitement, I try to find something other than the subject to get excited about – the excitement of discovery, the challenge of making boring fun for the reader, etc., this takes the focus off the words and always helps me to break through. Karen Swim – Words for Hire

Read a Lot, Write a Lot… and Watch Movies

23. If I’m stuck, I usually do some reading – of good writing. As far as actions, writing everyday makes you good at writing everyday. Quinn Creative

24. I discovered most of my writing topics from the movies and dramas (You can call me the “Drama King” lol) When I’m lacking of ideas, I’ll spend hours watching movies or documentaries… wilson – Will You Mind

25. When the words simply will not come, I turn to my swipe file and writing books (Words that Sell, Phrases that Sell, Writing Magic, Writing Down the Bones) to find inspiration. Often just reading aloud other ideas sparks my creativity. Karen Swim – Words for Hire

Get Structured

26. For my fiction it’s not just a matter of letting the ideas come floating up. There’s all the nasty masochistic writerly stuff going on. So I’ve decided to get structured about my writing, following The 2 Year Novel program by Lazette Gifford – a little bit each week that keeps me going. Plus for another stalled novel, I’m going to move through the program more quickly on my own as a way to get unstuck. Alex Fayle – Someday Syndrome

27. Plus I track my goals daily with a group of writers on http://www.fmwriters.com – a great resource! Alex Fayle – Someday Syndrome

28. I have an accountability buddy and for the past 26 days have followed advice and written a post every day. this has given me both joy in writing and inspiring others. Suzie Cheel – Abundance Highway

29. My roadblock removing device is my recently-found ability to prioritise projects and think about what I want to be doing this time next year, and not just in the next ten minutes. Iain Broome – Write For Your Life

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Comments and suggestions were in response to this question: How Do You Get Past Your Writing Road Blocks?

* Liz Lochhead speaking at a Lapidus event on Freedom and Belonging, 7 February 2009 – and her suggestion is #30 :-)

Photo Credit: In the Cafe by DWinton on Flickr

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