How I Beat Writer’s Block

Hello! My name is Richard Mertens and this is a guide on how I personally overcome writer’s block. I’d like to take a moment and clarify that this is a rather informal guide. I will be addressing you, the reader, directly and keeping the conversation relatively casual. This article isn’t my literary masterpiece. I just genuinely want to see if I could help any other writers out there. I decided on a conversational approach because I’m not an expert. I’m not a master of the craft. Hell, I don’t even get paid to write. I’m just a guy who likes writing, sometimes has writers block, and has a pretty easy (and fun) way to deal with it.

To put it bluntly, everyone who writes anything gets writers block. Sometimes ideas are swirling in your head but you can’t put it on paper or maybe you have no ideas at all. It’s normal. If you just sat down and wrote everything perfectly without any roadblocks how much fun would that be? I’m kidding, but that block is necessary. Before trying to “break writers block” or whatever cheesy clickbait titles are out there, use it as an opportunity to revisit what you’ve already done. Maybe it will be beneficial. Maybe it will just be extra time proofreading. There’s more to my advice (obviously) but a good way to start is to relax and remember that it happens. Utilize the time if you can.

My ACTUAL advice starts here: If you have writers block, write something else. NOW BEFORE YOU GO AND DISCREDIT THAT LIKE A BIG JERK, hear me out. Whenever I’m writing something and I start feeling the familiar sting of writer’s block, I open up a new document and just write. “But Richard, who is handsome,” I hear you say, “I can’t write! That’s the problem.” I understand that. I’m not telling you to take a break from writing your novel to go write another novel. I’m telling you to take a break from the writing project you want to be good and write something…bad.

I know I’m asking a lot of your patience, but hear me out. Working hard on something you’re passionate about can be exhausting, so taking a break from it can help. Some people like to walk away from writing all together with the intention of coming back with a clear head, but that has never been the best option for me. I like to stay in the “writing mindset” so I try to clear my head with more writing. My suggestion is to write something you don’t care about for a little while, maybe have a laugh, and then take another crack at the important piece. It may sound like a waste of time to some, but my time is worthless so it works for me.

As an example I’ve included a few excerpts from pieces I’ve written while trying to recover from writer’s block. My “serious writing” is mostly film and show scripts, just so you have an idea of what format usually blocks me.

First we have an except from a short story I’ve written, which can be found on Medium, titled “Scary Story #1”:

“Once upon a time there was this house that was pretty spooky looking and was TOTALLY haunted, probably. All the people in the town were all like; ‘yo dude, don’t go to that spooky house.’ But there was this new kid in town named Todd or whatever who didn’t give two shits about what was and wasn’t spooky so he decided to go take a peek.”

Now, did that seem good? Did that seem like the Mona Lisa of literature? No. It’s stupid. But that’s OK. I picked a theme as randomly as I could (horror) then opened up my stream of consciousness. I didn’t have to worry about it fitting in with a novel or matching a character’s tone. I wrote the whole thing in one sitting, edited it the next day, and had a blast. I laughed a lot, it felt good to complete something, and it inspired me to make a “Scary Story” trilogy (all of which are available on Medium *hint*).

Our second excerpt is from a piece I wrote while working overnights at a hotel. I wanted to make the time alone count but the pressure to create got to me. As a way to focus I wrote “4 Nightmares I’ve Had Where I Woke Up to Danny DeVito Holding Me”:

“I jumped awake. My fear was immediately dispelled when I realized I was wrapped in the strong, hairy arms of the one and only Danny DeVito. In my half asleep state, I looked to him and asked:
“Hey, aren’t you famous Hollywood actor Danny DeVito?”

“Yes. Now rest, my child. All is well.” He spoke in a soft but firm voice that calmed me in an instant.”

Ridiculous? Sure. Homoerotic? A little bit. Did I have a lot of fun writing it and got a sense of completion that I was able to redirect to another project? Absolutely.

Another format I’ve used in the past to “shake things up” is lists. I’ll come up with the title of a list and then fill it out. It’s that simple. I wouldn’t say it helps as much as writing something outlandish, editing it, completing it, and releasing it into the world, but it’s definitely more approachable.

For example, I wrote a list titled: “My Rejected Writing Topics” and I used this to a) break up some of that writer’s block by being creative in a different way, and b) compile a list of bizarre topics I could revisit if I ever needed to write another outlandish article. Here some examples from “My Rejected Writing Topics”:

“ I’ve Stolen 19 Street Signs and I’ll Steal Again; Injecting Red Bull Directly into Your Penis: How Much is Too Much?; The Movie “Avatar” as Described by Your Racist Uncle Pete; How Leaving Your Wife Could be as Easy as Being Faster than Her”

Hopefully you’ve found this guide helpful and were able to take something away from it. If you hated it and think I’m a goddamn fool with bad advice, YOU write a guide on how to stop writer’s block. Use my bad advice as motivation to write good advice. Worst case scenario, you write something.

Also remember that I am not an expert. I wrote this as casually as possible because I’m not trying to impress you with words or baffle you with bullshit. The technique I described above honestly helps me a lot and even if it helps one other person I’ll be happy. If you want more examples of my “mind clearing” articles they are here on Medium and hopefully I’ll have some “serious” work to share very soon.

ALSO also, if you use this advice and write something, share it with me. I’d love to see what people come up with. My email and Twitter are below so I’m pretty easy to reach.

Happy writing, Richard

For more comedic nonsense subscribe to the author on Medium and follow him on Twitter. For inquiries, business or otherwise, email: rmertens33@gmail.com