You’re sitting down to write, fingers hovering over the keyboard, or pen in hand over the paper, but all you can do is draw a blank. You grow frustrated. Writing shouldn’t be this hard!
As someone who has been writing almost daily for the last several years, I can tell you there are definitely times where I encounter the dreaded writer’s block, even when I have a topic to expand on.
Whether it’s something that I want to blog about or a topic that’s been chosen by a client, I can easily run into a roadblock that slows down my productivity.
Overcoming writer’s block isn’t always easy
It can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few days to find the inspiration that I need to write something I’m really happy with. Here are the common writer roadblocks I run into, and what to do about them:
Roadblock: Drawing a Complete and Total Blank
Anyone who’s been blogging or writing for any length of time has been here.
Maybe you’re trying to come up with a topic entirely on your own, or maybe you’ve been given a topic to write about. Either way, you’re staring at the blinking cursor, trying to formulate your thoughts and find the words, but all you can do is draw a big, fat blank.
What to do:
When I’m stuck for ideas, I can almost always find inspiration from everyday life. Just stepping away from the computer for a while is a great way to get the creative juices flowing.
Ideas will come at the most random and unexpected times, so it helps to have a pen and piece of scrap paper handy. I’ll jot something down, then enter it into my drafts folder as soon as possible so that I can start writing.
Another thing that works is reading. Whether it’s other blogs, books, magazines, whatever!
As you’re reading, you might find something that grabs your interest. This doesn’t mean taking someone else’s idea and copying it, but being inspired to write your own take on the topic.
Some light research can always help me jumpstart my own writing process.
Whatever you do, don’t try to force the writing, because you’ll just end up frustrated. Â Take a little break, then return later.
Roadblock: Over-thinking & Over-editing
Sometimes, in an effort to produce the perfect piece, you can end up over-thinking your words. You have a great idea, you have the outline, but getting the words right suddenly becomes 10 times harder than it should be, and it’s all self-imposed.
This happens to me a lot when I’m trying to make a good impression with work. I’ll end up spending a lot of time reading, re-reading, and editing a piece, so much so that it takes up way more time than is worthwhile.
As a freelancer, you definitely don’t want to take up so much time on a single project that it drags down your hourly rate to a tiny amount.
What to do:
It always helps to go over a piece of writing with a fresh set of eyes.
If you aren’t writing at the last minute before a deadline, step away from the piece for a few hours. Come back to it and read over it. You can catch errors that you missed the first time, and you should spend less time fussing over word choices and sentence structure.
If you really want a fresh look, ask someone else to read over it. Time is money, and you want to make sure that you’re valuing your time and still producing quality work.
My Quick Tip for Being More Productive!
Roadblock: Resistance & Procrastination
You have an assignment, but it isn’t due for a few more days. You can let it sit on the backburner- there’s plenty of time to get it done! Suddenly, the deadline seems to have come out of nowhere. Now you’re scrambling to find the time to sit down, research, and write.
Or perhaps you have an assignment on a topic that isn’t very exciting or interesting to you.
Sometimes the issue of overcoming writer’s block is more self-imposed than you realize.
You put off working on it as long as you can. You resist doing proper research because it’s so dull, and now you’re down to the wire, trying to come up with a decent article or post, having only minimal research and knowledge at your disposal.
What to do:
If you take on assignments for topics that you aren’t interested in, it really can be tough to write. Do some basic research right away to familiarize yourself with the topic. The more you start looking into it, the more you may find that it interests you.
I can procrastinate like nobody’s business, and sometimes I think I work best under pressure. When it comes to writing though, I do like to give myself some breathing room.
You aren’t likely to produce your best work when you’re scrambling to finish at the last minute. At the very least, get an outline down, then come back to complete the piece later.
So, start with an outline as soon as you have the topic or idea. Do some basic research. Do the writing in sections, and set mini-deadlines for those. By the time you need to have it ready, you should be able to just give it a quick re-read and edit before calling it done.
Okay, your turn- how do you deal with overcoming writer’s block? What’s your method for overcoming the dreaded writer’s block?Â
All three of these feel very familiar to me! Great tips. I find my solution to writer’s block can vary depending on the day, my mood, and the work in front of me. Sometimes I can keep writing until something of better quality comes out, and some days, like you said, I just have to walk away for a bit.
I’ve definitely used the first two. A lot of times, I’ll think what I wrote was absolutely awful, but then I’ll come back and realize there’s nothing to fix ..it was all in my head. We can be our own worst enemies.
So true!
I often edit things again and again, and procrastinate occasionally. Stepping away and giving my eyes a rest really helps. I get my best ideas in the shower or when I’m biking to work.
Isn’t it funny how we get ideas when we’re not really trying?
I also often do what you first suggested which is to step away and just go with the flow of the day and usually that will help me to find the words that were escaping me.
Procrastination is my biggest issue, and something that I need to overcome. Probably going to work on developing a schedule and creating some consistency in order to deal with this better. Thanks for getting me thinking about it!
Hope that helps you! I try to set small goals, like finish this paragraph, then take a break- usually helps me to power through the urge to procrastinate.
I find I get some of my best ideas while I’m out for a run. As soon as I get back, I open my “blog topics” file and write them all down.
Procrastination and drawing blanks are the two big ones I deal with. Some times it just feels like all the writing I do all runs together so it can be difficult to get started on new things at times. I usually either just step away or read something non blog related to get my mind going.
I had a very good writer friend. And I have observed his having some difficulties with his work, thanks for this. I’m gonna share this to him.
Thanks Hannah!
One of my biggest issues is trying to make everything perfect, even for my own blog posts. I’ll re-read and edit things for over an hour, and not realize how much time has passed! I can also be bad with procrastinating; I used to write essays at the last second in college all the time.
I hate it when I find myself over-editing. I just have to stop and remind myself that there’s no such thing as “perfect”.
Procrastination is by far my biggest hurdle to overcome. Sometimes I find a million things to do to put off the inevitable. I’m usually okay if I sit down and just force myself to begin working.
Hey Lauren, I always do what you do, walk away. When I get writer’s blog, I step away for a little while, if I’m not sure something looks right during editing, but don’t know what to do about it, I step away for a minute. It seems to be a great approach for all sorts of issues.
Yep, I agree!
Hi Lauren
I often get ideas from posts I’ve read. I usually start a shell post with a link to the post that inspired me. Consequently, I have a lot of started pieces and by the time I get around to using them, the linked posts can be a month or more old. Do you think it’s okay to link to old posts? How far back is acceptable in your opinion?
I think it’s totally fine! I think fellow bloggers would always appreciate a link to their posts, no matter how old, plus they would probably be pleased to know that their post inspired someone else 🙂
I agree with that 100%!