Being a professional writer is hard. Being a freelance writer working from home is harder.
Sometime the ideas flow, but other days it can feel like you’ve never written a single productive word in your career and you never will again.
We’ve all been there and it is not fun.
It can feel impossible to generate ideas and once you get into that cycle it can be hard to get yourself back out. Luckily there are some tips and tricks that can help you overcome even the worst of dry spells.
Here’s 3 Tips to Help You Overcome Writer's Block:
Make a Bullet Journal
No matter your writing style there’s no doubt that writers draw from their own experiences and day to day lives. Sometimes taking time to consider what you’ve seen in a day can help you come up with ideas. When you spend most of your day writing, keeping a journal may be the last thing you want to do.
That’s what makes bullet journals the perfect tool for a writer. They are quick and simple ways to enhance your writing practice without taking up too much space during your writing time.
Purchase a journal that is attractive- one that will make you more prone to use it. Make space either during your daily writing practice or before you go to bed at night to commit to writing in your bullet journal.
Simply write down three things you have seen, heard, and thought about throughout the day. It may help inspire a piece you are working on currently or can be a great little tool to flip through in the future to get inspiration for whatever you may be working on.
Plus, you won’t feel like you had to waste precious creative energy keeping a diary if it’s only a few bullet points.
Set Up a Separate Space for Writing.
If you’re someone who spends most of the day writing you need to make yourself a productive place to write. No more sitting up in bed and opening the laptop- you need a home office.
It doesn’t have to be huge, but get yourself a desk and a nice, comfortable office chair. Purchasing a desk that is a good height for you and an office chair that is comfortable is essential to helping you stay focused and generate useful ideas.
Observe what happens when you’ve done your best work in the past and replicate it; maybe working outside is good for your creativity- then set up your desk near a large window in a room with a lot of natural light. You can even purchase a sun lamp to help replicate the benefits of sunlight even on the rainiest of days.
Perhaps you need total silence to focus. Make sure you’re writing in a quiet, private place with a door or purchase a white noise machine or soundproof headphones to drown out excess noise.
Or maybe you need music, in which case maybe you should purchase a speaker system for your designated writing space. Whatever you need to feel most productive, make it happen in a single space. Set yourself up to win.
Step Away From Your Work!
Do things other than write. Seriously.
If you’re spending hours a day agonizing over a laptop or a notebook you are never going to come up with new ideas.
Spend time with friends. Go to a beach or a lake or some body of water. Take a walk in the woods. Eat at a restaurant alone and savor your food. Sit in a museum and watch how other people interact with the art around you. Go to a concert.
Experiences elevate your writing.
It’s okay to take a step away from your desk even if you haven’t been productive all day. You’ll be able to generate ideas from the place you go and base characters off the people you see.
Try carrying a small pocket notebook with you so you can write down anything you might find intriguing.
It’s also proven that doing monotonous tasks such as taking a shower, going for a walk, or working out can reduce writers' block because different parts of your brain are activated than when you are staring at a blank piece of paper, allowing you to come up with fresh ideas from a new perspective.
Don’t be afraid to step away from your work- you’ll thank yourself later.
