Why You Shouldn’t Run From Writer’s Block

It’s conventional advice: Take a break. It turns out that this is the last thing you should do. Breaks let blocked writers reset — theoretically. In practice, breaks can and do get longer, developing into habits of avoidance. It’s hard to come back once a break becomes a habit. In extreme cases, that break grows so long that it turns a writer into a person who used to be a writer.

The solution would then be to push through your writer’s block. Don’t stop pushing until the zenith is yours and gravity surrenders.

By the time you have to push however, you’ve missed the opportunity to level that hill and coast.

Why Inspiration Isn’t What You Need

The trouble with inspiration is that it doesn’t visit nearly as often as people would like, and it’s rarely punctual. Meanwhile you’re on a schedule, which life essentially is — a schedule. You have limited hours as an awake living writer, and inspiration decides to take the scenic route to your desk without accounting for construction and rush hour traffic.

For years I would write only when I was inspired. Because I waited for inspiration, only a fraction of my stories have made it from imagination to posterity. For every story I’ve managed to tell is a sea of stories that will never be told. Many writers drown in seas of untold stories. It’s tragic.

I’ve since found that prevention of writer’s block is more effective than treatment.

The following are things that I do long before I start writing. Give these a try.

Outline. Seriously.

Writer’s block happens to me in mid-story when I don’t know which direction to go. Having an outline prevents that impasse. The outline maps out the course of my story. All that’s left is to drive the story home.

There’s various ways to outline, but here’s a basic one (30 minutes):

1. Determine the premise of your story. Your premise is your message. Are you writing a murder mystery about a colonel and a candlestick? Will you be talking to a middle school class about your profession on Career Day? Ok, write down your premise.
2. Next, write down rough sketches of your story’s beginning and ending. Maybe your story begins with a colonel arriving to a dinner party. Or it resolves with you getting promoted into your dream job.
3. Between the beginning and end, write down the gist of your story’s climax, turning points, and major scenes. Then plan any plot twists that you may have around them.

There’s your outline, the road map of your story. Try not to spend more than 30 minutes making it. Keeping it broad and brief provides room to flesh out the rest of the story.

Evernote is one of my favorite apps for making outlines, but there’s something to be said for the tactile experience of a notebook. Are you a digital person or a notebook person? Try both and see.

Idea Box = Treasure Chest

You should save every idea that comes to you, even when you don’t need any. Random ideas will come to me at random moments of the day. They may be fragments of ideas — like a word (“clown”) or phrase (“clown school student”). It doesn’t matter if they make sense. They’ll be valuable later. I keep these ideas on index cards, one per card. All these cards stay in a box.

The next time I need an idea to start me off, I look through those cards. I combine some cards, which birth more ideas. There’s endless possibilities.

Blanking on ideas for a story? Ironically, you might benefit from keeping an idea box, too. A box of ideas is a writer’s treasure chest.

To start your own idea box, you’ll need:

• A stack of unused cardstock. Index cards are my go-to.
• A sturdy box with ample room such as a shoebox, gift box, Rolodex, etc.
• A pen and easily portable pad, or a note app on your phone.

Always keep a stack of unused cards near your idea box. Keep that pen and pad on you, or keep that note app easily accessible on your phone. Then go about your day and practice your powers of observation. Don’t force it; just stay alert. Preserve those ideas on your cards. Strive to grow your collection.

There’s tons of free apps that do the same thing as an idea box, of course. Simply google, “free idea generator.” You can also speak your ideas into a recorder or recording app, in lieu of cards and boxes. Experiment. Me, I prefer the ideas that I’ve picked and written down.

Write From Real Life

I can’t recommend this enough. Even when writing fiction, I’m rarely out of ideas when I write from real life. Life has already come up with some amazing ideas. I just package those ideas into a neat story.

My flash fiction Toxic Tarot, Twisted Romance is based on real life events that grabbed local news attention years ago. It shocked people and held our attention for years afterwards. It really is a great example of life being stranger than fiction. You can’t come up with this sort of thing.

Keep In Touch With Your Audience

You should be getting your feedback from your audience and no one else. Your audience is already interested in what you write, so your readers know better than anyone what your next book should be. You should find your audience and get their feedback. There’s an audience for everything.

Don’t ask friends or family for feedback, unless they are your readers or work in the publishing industry. Otherwise it’s a lose-lose situation. You put them in the awkward position of choosing whether to be nice or candid. The pressure placed on them to support your work can strain your relationships. In return, you’ll get feedback that you can’t use.

Instead get acquainted with your audience. Learn who your readers are. Look at books from other authors that your readers also enjoy. Get readers to sign up for a mailing list, where you can involve them in your works in progress. Ask them for their honest reviews. Connecting with your readership can take a while, but it has immense long-term payoff.

For my first flash fiction Haunted Loop I involved my readers in nearly every step of the process. They let me know which book cover design was better, helped me settle on the ideal price point, told me what they enjoyed about the story, and told me what didn’t work. Since incorporating their feedback, Haunted Loop has garnered positive reviews. Readers have also given me more story ideas and better ways to tell stories. They like to be included. Including them paid off.

These are some of the things that I do to prevent writer’s block. These techniques might help you too, and by all means feel free to try them all.

Just don’t take a break from writing.