Breaking the block - 10 ways I get myself writing every day

Writer’s block can halt productivity for days or merely hours, but it can be broken with positive action and a deliberate motivation to do so and a few techniques. With the amount of writing I do by choice and out of work requirements these days, I need to churn out a lot of content each week. I am no expert on th subject, I just know what works for me. So here are some of my personal techniques for lubricating the cogs.

1. Just write!

Write anything, about anything. Write about the dirty coffee mug you still haven’t moved from your desk to the dish washer, the dead tomato plant in your garden, the fact you cannot think of anything to write. A writing session is just like physical fitness in that the initial period can be sluggish and inhibiting, but after a short period of time something kicks in, your mind engages with the process of stringing words together, and it all starts to happen. Fight the resistance and just write - I have to admit, I’m still only just getting the hang of this one.

2. Use a notebook and pen

Move away from the computer and that terrifying blank screen and the temptation to surf for ideas. Writing by hand engages your brain in a completely different way and can often lead your ideas in new directions. I generally write with notebook and pen when traveling as it is more convenient on a busy train or more constrictive environment - and you have no fear of the battery running low. Resist the temptation to buy a more portable gadget or device for on the move writing - the notebook is the key here (see No.3 for another reason why).

3. Transcribe from your notebook

At some point the most valuable content in your notebook - and there will be valuable content in there if you allow yourself to use one regularly - needs to be moved over to whatever electronic device is your preferred writing tool. By spending some time transcribing your notebook’s scrawl into electronic text, you are writing, you are being productive, and you are re-visiting what you have previously written which is a great way to discover little gems of ideas you had not previously spotted.

4. Change location

The local coffee shop, your garden, on a bench outside your local cemetery. A lack of writing productivity can easily slide into a routine, so break that routine and write in different surroundings. If nothing else, this offers new surroundings with new objects, people, and situations which may trigger new ideas. I am writing this post from my local coffee shop.

5. Create a niche blog

As well as this blog and my personal writing projects, I have a niche blog which I commit to working on for up to an hour a day. The blog is separate from this one and forces me to read, research, and write every day, and covers subjects I do not write about elsewhere. This provides alternative subject matter if I simply do not want to write elsewhere at that time. This is similar to changing physical writing location in that the difference helps to generate focus.

6. Comment on other blogs

Commenting is much easier than composing from scratch as you are responding to something which exists, rather than starting with a scary blank screen. Commenting on other blogs not only gets you writing but makes valued connections with the other commenters and the blog author. And if you have your own blog or website, can help your audience grow. In addition, the comment may spark an idea for a piece of writing either right there and then, or later. Use a service such as CoComment to keep track of comments, replies, and entire conversations so you do not lose the potential for new writing ideas.

8. Answer questions

In place of your writing to-do list containing tasks such as “Write 500 words about the dog”, consider how much easier it would to begin to write something if the task was worded as: “What are the five benefits from having Rover in my life?”. A question focuses the mind a great deal more. Turning the general task into a specific task to create a list means you can write the piece first as a series of points, then fill each one out form there. For the purposes of keeping the flow, try and phrase each of the main points as another question - you can always change them to a headline later. Another benefit of writing a list of items is that you may discover one or more points are worthy of longer pieces in themselves, therefore you have found a whole bunch of subjects to write about.

9. Randomize & surprise

Lack of ideas can often be a result of linear thought processes leading inexorably to dead ends. Before you lose your paddle entirely, break your journey up the creek by injecting a random element. Try setting this page as your browser’s home page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Randompage. Each time you open a browser window, a completely random wikipedia page will appear. Set yourself just five minutes to write a flurry of words - they do not even need to be fully formed sentences (see below) - about the random page. Perhaps add to that a new random page and attempt to write a credible segue between the two, likely unconnected, subjects. Brief bursts of writing are much more important here than long pieces - this is purely an exercise to get the juices flowing and get your mind into “writing mode”. You never know, though, as with any writing, this may lead to something you can develop in the future.

10. Permission to suck

This has to be the most important step in my writing journey, the discovery that initial drafts of text can - and in many cases should - be utter drivel. When you decide to use any of the above techniques, or those of your own devising, always remember that what you initially write does not have to be prize-winning, after all how many times have you been told that writing is editing. The primary motivation in any of these exercises is to trigger your brain to start thinking in words and expressing ideas, and the moment we apply some form of constraint - such as a particular quality standard - we doom ourselves to staring at the blank white screen even longer. Always ask yourself this: what is worse, bad writing, or no writing?

What you may find interesting is this post came out of getting up this morning and not really having the energy, mindset or inspiration to write a blog post. So its existence is a practical demonstration of how a simple technique can generate value, and I am now all set up in just the right frame of mind to hammer my way through some ‘real’ work.

If you have any, please take a minute to let me know of any idea or productivity generating techniques you have found to be successful. Writing this I have realised I have more techniques I employ, so expect another post like this in the future.
Title image from StockXchange.

Other articles about breaking writer’s block:

• 20 Sure Fire Ways to Break Writer’s Block
• Don’t Wait - Stop Writer’ Block Now
• Writer’s Block / Writer’s Anxiety
• How to Get Unstuck: Overcoming Writer’s Block 
• How to Get Out of Writers Block 

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Categories: Writing
Tags: creativity, ideas, productivity, techniques, Writing