How to Overcome Writer’s Block: 10 Ways to Always Keep the Ideas Flowing
Writer’s block eventually comes for all of us. It’s unavoidable, and it does not discriminate. Whether you’re just getting into writing or have been writing for 50 years, there are going to be days when you just cannot think of anything new to write. Sometimes it comes in minor forms, like you have a good idea but don’t know how to translate it to the page. Other times, it’s pretty major and may leave you without a place to even start. But that doesn’t mean it has to be a death sentence. There are countless ways to beat writer’s block, boost your creativity, and get your script back on track.
Here are 10 tips for overcoming writer’s block collected from both personal and famous writers’ experiences.
1. Always Be Writing!
Writing doesn’t just mean sitting down and putting pen to paper. Limiting your process to this specific act prevents your creativity from reaching its full potential. That’s how so many aspiring writers end up hitting roadblocks. They sit down at their desk, stare at the blank page, and simply try to make ideas appear out of thin air. But any real writer knows that brainstorming ideas is a full-time job. No matter where you are, what you’re doing, or who you’re with, just try your best to always be thinking about potential inspirations for a story. A conversation with a friend could inspire your next great monologue. A dropped beer glass at a bar could end up being the perfect way to cut tension in your scene. But unless you’re always thinking about your writing, you may never make these connections. Which takes me to my next tip…
Read more: How to Write Scenes
2. Take Inspiration From Everywhere
Everybody and everything has a story. Like I said before, great ideas (usually) don’t magically appear in a writer’s mind. They have to come from somewhere. So go outside and take a look around. Talk to people. Introduce yourself to strangers. Ask your grandpa about his first love. Ask your uncle about his time in the war. These conversations may not inspire the next great biopic, but they can help you come up with realistic characters, create more in-depth scenes, and even help improve your dialogue. And if you have social anxiety and don’t want to leave your house or talk to anybody, just use the internet. YouTube and Wikipedia have enough information to inspire a million great scripts. Look up old interviews of your favorite athletes. Read online biographies of your favorite comedians. Check out that documentary about a natural disaster from 1947 that you’ve never heard of before. As long as you’re willing to accept ideas from anywhere, then sooner or later something is going to catch your attention and inspire you to create something new.
3. Write Down Every Idea You Have
Ideas hit you when you least expect it, so instead of attempting to remember every little thing that comes to your mind throughout the day, make an effort to document every single one of them. Whether they’re good ideas or bad ideas, just write them down! Log them in a journal, put them in your Notes app, or even write them on napkins and tape them to your wall like you’re hunting the Zodiac Killer. As long as you know where the ideas are and you can refer back to them later, the medium doesn’t really matter. And most importantly, make sure there’s absolutely no barrier to entry for your idea journal. Don’t think about who may see it one day. Don’t think about whether it’d be embarrassing to read out loud. These notes are to help you and your thought process only. The more ideas you write down the better, so their quality should be the last thing on your mind. It doesn’t even matter what they are. They can be a joke, a dream, a character–ANYTHING. Just write it down. If you track every single idea that goes through your mind, you eventually will have the ultimate resource to fall back on the next time you encounter writer’s block. When you suddenly can’t think of a single thing to write about, that bad idea from four months earlier might not seem so bad anymore.
Read more: What is a Spec Script?
4. Free write for 10 Minutes to Get Started
Sometimes, sitting down to write without having anything specific in mind is the best way to boost your creativity. For ten minutes a day, write without a goal. Write about your day. Maybe draw a picture. Just do anything to clear your mind. This will help organize the chaos and give you a better idea of what you want to focus on when you eventually get to your script. Additionally, freewriting opens up your subconscious. So whenever you let your mind roam free, you may end up having an epiphany regarding that story you’ve been working on.
5. Identify Your Most Creative Hours and Write During Those Times
Utilizing the time of day when you’re most creative is one of the most productive writer’s block exercises. We all know that writing is mentally exhausting, so the best way to maximize creativity is to write when your mind is working best. For some, they find they write better when they wake up early and get started just as the sun is rising. For me, I’ve found that my best work comes out late at night (something about being exhausted makes me more creative). It’s all subjective, but as long as you’re able to recognize what time of day works best for you, the ideas will start coming in more frequently.
6. Read or Watch Something Inspiring
One negative side effect of writer’s block is that you may start to doubt yourself or your writing ability. You may think a good idea will never come to you again and you’re not sure if writing is the right thing for you, but these are all FALSE! You likely just need to be inspired, and the best way to do that is to read or watch something that reinvigorates your passion for the craft. We all have that one movie or book that made us fall in love with writing, and by revisiting these pieces of art, I guarantee you’ll be more motivated than ever to sit back down and write the next great story.
Read more: 10 Famous Movie Scripts You Should Read
7. Take a Break
As I mentioned before, writing is an exhausting task. If you’ve been writing for 4 hours and can’t figure out where to go from there, the odds are you’ve also been neglecting healthy human activities such as eating, drinking water, and resting. So the next time you find yourself on the verge of insanity after a long writing binge, just step away for twenty minutes, take some deep breaths, get some food and water, and relax your mind for a moment. More often than not, when you sit back down to write again, you’ll find yourself back to your old, productive self.
8. Write by Hand to Encourage New Flow
While writing by hand may not seem like a revolutionary idea, in the age of computers it’s finding itself being utilized less and less. Not only is it a beneficial and cheap way for aspiring writers to get down their ideas, but it also seems to be a fairly common technique used by the best in the business to overcome the hurdle of creating Draft 1 - Quentin Tarantino, J.K. Rowling, and Stephen King all famously write their first drafts with pen and paper. On top of that, it may lead to boosted creativity. Writing by hand helps ideas come out in a more free-flowed fashion, prevents structural restrictions, and allows the addition of ideas in the form of drawings or sketches. Plus, if you primarily write on a computer, it may just be a nice change of pace.
9. Talk to Someone About Your Ideas
One of the biggest causes of writer’s block is that the writer is stuck inside their own head. We’ve all been there. You have an outline for the script in your mind, it’s not going quite as well as you expected, and now you just have no idea where to go. Going over your ideas with another person out loud is one of the best ways to refresh your mind and give you new ideas. And this person doesn’t have to be a writer either. As long as they’re willing to sit down with you and listen to what you have to say, they’ll likely give you some new perspective on your story and characters. Basic questions like “Why are they doing that?” or “What’s the motivation behind that decision?” may just give you the boost you need to finish out your story.
On top of that, if you’re talking to someone creative, they may even suggest to you a couple of ideas that you never even thought of. And in the worst-case scenario, if you find yourself talking to someone who isn’t engaged or willing to ask any questions, simply saying your ideas out loud may be enough in itself to inspire you to write some more. You may realize an idea that you thought was horrible is actually brilliant or a joke you thought sucked is actually hilarious. Remember, you’re writing for an audience, so never be afraid to go to someone with your ideas during the writing process.
Read more: Empathy - A Writer’s Most Powerful Tool
10. Sleep on It!
And if none of these other writer’s block exercises help you, go back to the most reliable technique in the book: sleeping on it. Now, let it be known that this tip shouldn’t be the first one you try, and you definitely shouldn’t become too reliant on it (because you’ll just end up sleeping more than writing). But sometimes a good night’s rest is just the thing you need to clear your mind and approach your script with an entirely new perspective. When you write for too long, it becomes more and more difficult to separate the good ideas from the bad. And the more exhausted you get, the more impossible it may become to generate new ideas at all. Oftentimes, if you take the night off and go back to your script in the morning, you’ll find your headspace clearer and your creativity at an all-time high.
FAQ
What causes writer’s block?
There are a number of causes of writer’s block, with most of them relating to your mental state. Anxiety, mental fatigue, perfectionism, and lack of motivation are the primary contributors. That’s why many of these tips focus on getting proper rest, not worrying too much about the quality of your original ideas, and finding new ways to keep yourself motivated.
How long does writer’s block last?
There is no set amount of time for how long writer’s block lasts. That’s what makes it so frustrating! Most of the time it’s more of a short-term issue where writers can’t figure out what to write that day, but for others it can last for months or even years. Either way, just know it’s not a permanent issue and follow these tips to ensure its effects last for as short of time as possible.
Can writer’s block be prevented?
Unfortunately, writer’s block usually cannot be prevented. Whether you encounter it every time you write or it hits you once in a blue moon, you are bound to experience it sooner or later. Those who say they haven’t are either literary geniuses or people who are constantly creating mass amounts of slop. So don’t worry, it’s a perfectly normal part of the writing process and is nothing to worry about. Just make sure not to get too frustrated when it happens to you and to consciously make an effort to overcome it.