Have you ever heard of writer's block? It is a dreadful moment in a writer's life when ideas seem to be elusive. You stare in front of your laptop, or your pen and paper, but words just do not come out. You try to type in some random phrases but things do not seem to make sense.
If it happened to you, congratulations. Welcome to the club!
I hate it when it happens to me. Especially when I am trying hard to develop a daily writing habit, writer's block sucks.
After literally hundreds of posts, blogs, journal entries, and articles from various platforms, I have learned a few tricks to help overcome this dreaded writers' block.
Jot down ideas in your spare time
As soon as blog ideas come, jot them down on your notes app or notebook. Even if you have no time to write the full article yet because of other preoccupations, at least you have an idea ready to be written. If you can supply supporting points, the better. This way it will be easier for you to elaborate on your topic. This is the most proactive approach. You are storing up ideas in case the drought comes.
Read books and other blogs for inspiration
If you lack the ideas, you can go to other books or blogs and fish for inspiration. I am not suggesting that you plagiarize their works. You just draw ideas from what others have written. You can elaborate on their points, create an article from your point of view, or further their ideas. This is the reason why writers should be readers as well. They expound their capabilities by reading other thoughts.
Watch movies or videos and make a review
When ideas run out, you can also try watching movies or videos and make a review out of it. Discuss why it interests you or why it fails to meet your standards. You can also write a reflection and lessons learned from the video you watched. One of my most read blog posts is my reflection on the movie Hello Love, Goodbye which ranked in SEO. Try this trick the next time writer's block visits you.
Write about what you did for the whole day
A journal entry of what happened to you the whole day never fails. Write about any interesting thing that happened to you as you go to work, as you go to school, while you are in the market, while cooking, etc. Personal stories like this are interesting because it is fully grounded and often relatable. This is the reason why there are lots of mommy bloggers out there, forming their social circles because they learn from each other's experiences.
Follow a writing prompt
Writing prompt is a list of suggested topics that you can follow to deal with writer's block. It is effective because the topics are already listed for you to follow. You do not have to follow the prompts rigorously but it gives fulfillment. There are lots of writing prompts available on the internet, usually a 30-day challenge.
Bonus: Take a shower (or go for a walk)
This is my personal favorite. Weird right? But whenever I want to write something and I lack ideas, I take a shower, and as if magic, ideas pop out. Do you believe that some eureka moments happen when you shower? It is not scientifically-proven but hey, it happens to me! For the fun of it, try it on your next writer's block. Alternatively, you may go for a walk and breath fresh air. Connect with the environment, listen to the sound of nature, as you wait for the next surge of inspiration.
How about you? How do you handle writer's block? Share some tips!
Hi, I am Marts! I am a writer, and aside from my stint here in read.cash, I also have my own blog - martsvalenzuela.com. I appreciate it if you pay me a visit! I plan on growing my readership as I learn to improve my craft and journey towards my passion to write and publish books that add value to people.
Nice tips! I have been putting some of those in practice. Specially the jotting down of ideas. I always have glimpse of ideas so I always have to write it down or else i'll forget about it. And the part of what happened to your day tho mostly I share personal experiences. And lastly, the shower part, it works well with me too. It's just refreshing and I don't know but really, ideas came rushing when showering. odiba bars pa yan hahaha