On more than one occasion, I’ve seen people post online that there’s no such thing as writer’s block. They say this shortly before they go into some rant about hustle culture or a listicle of 10 things we can do to ensure we never have it. Those folks are entitled to their opinion, but I definitely believe that writer’s block does exist, and that I have it all the time. In fact, I had it before I started to really get this intro paragraph out.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, writer’s block is “the condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing.”
I’d say this definition is straightforward and accurate. It can happen when you’re starting from scratch on a piece, or when you’re in the midst of writing something. I don’t know why it happens, but whether you write frequently or not, I’m confident that every person has experienced it at least once.
Here are a few of things that I do when I’m overcome with writer’s block:
- Brain dump pages.
Don’t think, just write. Whatever comes to mind, get it down on a piece of paper. I remember doing this in Writer’s Craft in high school. Our teacher would give us a prompt (either a phrase or a single word) and then we’d have to write for six minutes straight without stopping. We weren’t expected to make sense, so the work was never shared aloud, but it really did loosen up the brain for continued creativity and storytelling.
2. Flip to a word in the dictionary.
Open your dictionary to a random page and the first word you notice, make that the basis of your story. Set a timer for five minutes and write out as much as you can in that time. Similar to brain dump pages, don’t expect it to make sense, just get into the groove of writing and creating without any added pressure.
3. Take a step back.
Sometimes, you just need to cut your losses and step away. Take a walk around the block or, if time permits, leave it alone for a couple of hours and try to pick it back up at a different time of the day. I find that early in the morning or late at night is when I do some of my best work, so I just work around what I know about myself.
What are your writer’s block hacks?
Khadijah Plummer Consulting 