How Do You Manage Writer's Block?

[dongsunpai]

What strategies do you employ when the pencil is right in your hand, but the words won't come out?

[Penni]

If I've been heavily writing them they first thing I do is step back for a couple of days and do something not writing related.

Or I work on a another project or look up writing prompts to get the creative juices flowing again

[shapeshiftingmel]

I do a quick writing exercise to "warm up" and if I still can't write a single world I either work on another project, fight against my writer's block fiercely or just let it be and wait to clear my mind. Which method works best for me always depends on the situation though.

[LordLacroix]

As a great couch once said "Writer's block is just an illusion created by ourselves to avoid writing. It is in fact fear of not doing something perfect. Embrace it as part of your life I will send you a link to the video that most helped me fight it:

anything I wirte here will become redundant so watch this video.

Good writting

[RainbowCat]

I just try one of these tips, they work for me almost every time!

Writer's Block - ShanniiWrites

[Maps]

I have to take a step away. It can be days (I've gone two months) where I wait for the inspiration to come back. You can set yourself deadlines and you can meet them, but you may not be getting the quality you hope for. I've looked back on chapters I've forced myself to write with loathing.
Sometimes you have to take a break for yourself. Inspiration comes back, in different ways.
There's been times where I was deep in a block but one song sent a series of inspiration through me. I take those moments to get back to my computer and type.
So, I do listen to music, or read other books when I really need some inspiration. Sometimes lyrics or writing will inspire me to get back into the groove of things.

[sii]

I recently discovered that the most effective method for me has been to set a schedule and stick to it, almost religiously. I was, and still am, a very moody writer. I would go months and years without writing because I wasn't in the mood.
But I finally decided to sit down and just write. I set a goal for myself every day and aim to hit that goal. Some days it's harder than others and I can feel the absolute lack of inspiration. But I still convince myself to push through.

I think the best approach to combating writer's block is to find the method that works for you. We, as individuals, experience and interact with our daily lives in many different ways. Hopefully you'll find that method soon enough.

[kmlangleyauthor]

So much good advice here. I’d say you have two (super basic) options.

1. Soldier on and force yourself to write no matter what. Obviously, if you have a deadline, this is your best bet. Some people work really well with having a scheduled time to just sit and write. But this doesn’t have to be a torture session, either. There’s always variables. Find a new room to write in. Hang up some inspiring art above your work space. Try writing digitally instead of traditionally for a day. Make a cup of coffee or tea. It’s kind of amazing how those little tiny changes can affect your writing and desire to write.

2. Go with the inspiration flow. I think following your creativity is really healthy, so I try to do this one as much as possible. When I’m inspired to write, I’m usually a lot happier with my writing. If that means I write 10k words one day and 300 the next, so be it. With this path, I think it’s really important to look at both input and output, though. Are you reading anything? Most writers get inspired by reading. So when I have massive writers block, I set my project down and I read, read, read until I feel like I’m going to BURST without writing. Creativity and inspiration have an ebb and flow to them, so, depending on what kind of person you are, fighting against the ebb can be detrimental to your future writing too. We’re all human and we all need to take breaks sometimes.

Just a fun thing - if you want or need to write but can’t quite get to the right mental space, try searching on Pinterest, Google, or tumblr for writing prompts. Even if I don’t use them, they usually start my brain working in the right direction happy writing!

[SilverLugia456]

Like others have stated, if I'm facing a form of writer's block I usually stop away from the piece I'm working on and do something else. Usually if I switch gears and watch either anime, or play my video games then soon I find the inspiration I'm looking for and I'm able to continue with my writing. Sometimes I will start working on smaller pieces of writing just to change the mindset that I was in. Changing the mindset gives a break from the same ideas I'm thinking about and exercises my mind where I may be able to come up with new ideas that I couldn't think of before.

[foxnflames]

I take a break because the more garbage I end up writing, the more I’ll have to fix when I edit. If I need inspiration, I’ll listen to music that is close to the tone of the story at the time or I’ll look at memes. When taking the break, if I’m watching tv or whatever I’ll mull over the scene I’m writing and usually things come to me.

[ISNEKO]

I just do stuff that I enjoy that isn’t writing.

Then suddenly I feel like writing.

When it’s inconvenient or impossible.

Having cloud copies of your work and a word processor on your phone helps in this situation.

[Zaboem]

If I don't have time to write, I don't get writer's block.

Behold the self-solving problem! For an encore, I will prove that red is green and get myself killed crossing the street.