Five Techniques To Combat Writer’s Block

For the month of December I have been participating in a daily writing challenge and let me tell you something, it is definitely a challenge. There are various issues I face in my writing on a daily basis: sometimes I am over critical of my work, sometimes I think I’m being too vulnerable, other times I think I am not being vulnerable enough, and sometimes life just gets in the way. But one of the bigger challenges I didn’t expect to have is writer’s block.

Then an idea occurred to me: what do I do that helps me fight against writer’s block, and why don’t I share that with the rest of the GMP community?

Here are five techniques I use to combat my writer’s block, and hopefully you can apply them to your work and it will help you too.

Look at a piece of art

This definitely helps me when I am working on my creative writing, but it can also help with whatever you are trying to write. Write down the emotions the piece evokes, or simply describe it the best way you can. Or you can create a story that’s inspired from the piece. I have done this many times when setting up scenes in my short stories and occasionally entire stories have been generated out of them.

Write a list of 10 ideas

I learned this technique from author James Altucher and it has helped me in writing and in other areas of my life. The idea is to write down ten ideas, no matter how far fetched, in order to create an endless well of creativity and ideas.

Meditate

This is another technique that helps me in more ways than one, and there are specific meditations to help with your creativity. I’ve done it with painting and I have done it with writing, and when I have, the creativity poured out of me like water from a cup.

Explore different writing styles

Not a poet? Try poetry. Are you travel blogger? Create a fictional short story from your travels. Hate listicles? Write one. Even if you don’t publish the piece you’re working on, it will help you draw inspiration toward what you are actually aiming for.

Write about writer’s block

Last but not least, write about your frustration with writer’s block. Simply putting pen to paper can help you get to discover what you actually want to write about.

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Admittedly, these tips don’t always help when you’re on a deadline, but hopefully they will activate some creativity in you and you meet your writing goals.

Good luck!

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Now that your writer’s block is gone—we’d love to publish what you wrote! When you’re ready to submit, click one of the colorful boxes, below.

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