3 Tricks to Beating Writer’s Block
The familiar struggle of any writer.
Are you stuck in a rut? Don’t know what to write about?
Dude. Same.
Writer’s block is a writer’s worst enemy.
I’ve been wracking my brain over what to write for a while and then thought, ‘hey, I’ll just write about writer’s block!’ — and voilà, there’s my topic!
The last article I posted was 2.5 weeks ago and it was about Imposter Syndrome — so yeah, it’s been a while.
That being said, I did put out a post on LinkedIn about being an introvert and what it’s like trying to build a freelance business on a public platform.
The post got a lot of engagement and support from my followers and connections who related to my struggles.
Well, enough fluff — I’m keeping this short and sweet — or at least I’m going to try to.
I’m not going to bore you with my writer’s block struggles but I will offer a few of MY tricks to get through it:
You Can Write About ANYTHING!
I know it’s a cliche, but trust me you can.
When I started my freelance writing business on LinkedIn, a friend told me to just put out one valuable post a week.
‘What? How do I do that? How do I find valuable content to write about?’, I thought.
So for my first post, I wrote about my experience as a freelance writer and the downsides of it.
I got quite a lot of engagement with people experiencing the same things.
There. That was my post.
Writing about your experiences makes you human and relatable.
Drawing on your experiences is also one of the easiest ways to get your writing juices flowing.
Please Read!
“I just want to write.”
But reading is just as important.
Get on LinkedIn, Medium, Twitter, or whatever site you use and read about what interests you and what people are writing about — what are people saying/asking? What is trending?
Quora and Reddit forums are great idea generators too!
Make yourself aware of what people are seeking answers to or are talking about.
This way you write for people and not yourself.
My little tip: When I read something interesting, I usually type the idea in the notes app on my phone and refer to it later on when I sit down to write. Sometimes I will get on Medium and save topics as title drafts as well.
Reading never hurts. Not only with it help you with topic ideation but you will learn a lot too!
Take a Step Back
By no choice of my own, I took a step back from writing for a week.
After that week went by, I made a conscious choice to step back. This time it happened to be for another week.
I wrote this article last week but did not publish it because I was not done. I came back to it this week, in a better frame of mind and I’m finishing it.
Sometimes you just need to take time out for yourself and let life happen. Doing that will naturally give you an influx of ideas to write about.
Taking time out does not have to be for days or weeks on end, it can be for a few hours. Move away from your computer and take a walk, listen to music, or watch TikTok videos (although that could be risky because you can get sucked into it for HOURS — I’m guilty of that).
Whatever it is, just take some time away and then come back to your piece.
And that’s it.
If you need to, take time out for yourself and enjoy it. I know that social media algorithms and all don’t like that but your mental health and sanity are more important.
Putting out content that is valuable and helpful is way more enriching than just putting out content for the sake of it.
