Need help with writer's block? Here's how to regain inspiration.

At one point or another, we all hit a wall. Learning to overcome those challenges is a task central to ever becoming a published author. Usually, writers start their novels with a burst of energy and purpose as they excitedly write their great ideas down on paper. They start off running, but it isn’t long before reality sets in. Some writers give up at this point. After all, no one asked them to write anything. No one is waiting for their work. It’s not a paper that they have to hand in to their teacher or professor. A book or short story is something that is done (almost always) on the initiative of the writer. They don’t have to do it; they want to. Further, without any experience, writers will often doubt their abilities. I know I did. Yet questionable skill is very much beside the point. The job of an indie writer is not to create a masterpiece that will be discussed for generations to come. No one should write expecting to be critically acclaimed or end up on a bestseller list. Such expectations can only lead to disappointment. Instead, writers should focus on making their stories as enjoyable and unique as possible. They shouldn’t worry about what people will think. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be your best. Sometimes people confuse the two. They try so hard to make every chapter “perfect.” This only slows down the process to the extent that it might take years before your novel ever sees the light of day. This is not a good path, in my opinion. Much better to power through and finish something. Remember, you can always edit later.

Here are some strategies to overcome writer’s block that I have learned while writing my debut novel, The Malignancy. These strategies helped me to power through and finish something. It isn’t my masterpiece, and it probably won’t be on the New York Times bestseller list. But it is mine, and it will exist forever. That is worth something. And if you are a writer, and you have only written like 5k words or whatever it is...you have already done something of consequence. You have created something that, better or for worse, was not here before. So thank you. Now, more than ever, we need creative minds. The decline of the humanities is a tragedy best saved for another post. Anyway, here are the three writing block strategies:

1.) Set deadlines. This is important. Everyone works differently, but I know I needed a deadline to release The Malignancy. As I mentioned earlier, since it is on your own initiative, it is easy to abandon your writing when you hit some writer’s block. This is unfortunate, but completely avoidable. Set a deadline to release the book and then enforce the deadline. “How can I enforce a deadline?” you may ask. Well, the answer is simple; you must tell other people about your book or whatever it is that you are writing. You must tell them that you are releasing on a certain day several months in the future. By all means, give yourself lots of time. But set a deadline. That way, you will have to deal with the shame of telling everyone that you gave up and that the book that you’ve been hyping up to them will never see fruition. Some people can handle shame like that, but I know that I, for one, cannot. This strategy serves a double purpose by creating organic buzz for your book release. People like mysterious books written by someone they know. It can be intriguing if you do it right. You may be wondering...how does this help with writer’s block? Well, if you have to finish the book, then you will have to sit down and force yourself to get through the difficult parts of your book. It might take a little longer, but if you sit there for hours and hours, you’ll get something down even if it doesn’t feel like much. Most writers would never subject themselves to such strenuous and lengthy writing sessions unless they had a deadline to meet.

2.) Plan your chapters out on paper. I have sat for hours and hours and gotten nothing done. Usually, it works, but sometimes it doesn’t. So, in that case, it might be a good idea to plan out your chapters on paper. You should be doing this anyway, to ensure that each chapter has a good story arc. Yet sometimes people forget. They are writing and writing and suddenly they get stuck. It is truly wonderful to have an outline to fall back on, even if you stray from that outline later. More than that, though, ideas often flow out better from pen to paper than they do when trying to type something. At least, that’s what I have experienced.

3.) Incorporate new things into your writing. If you see something out in the world that intrigues you, or maybe a story has inspired you...don’t be afraid to add new styles and ideas to your work even if the project is well underway. Remember, it is your work and you can do whatever you want with it. If you need to add some new elements to keep things fresh, do so. That may sound confusing, so I’ll give some examples. I wrote The Malignancy at a Starbucks. Most of it, anyway. The people coming in and out of that café were all from some tier of the middle class, like me, and they all had the most extraordinary stories to tell. Not that I would ask them, exactly. I would be sitting there, writing, drinking my tea, and I would hear the most outrageous stories. They were often entertaining, sobering, and infuriating. One woman in her mid-twenties considered her longtime boyfriend to be a perfect match, but she wanted to live her life like Julia Roberts in Eat, Pray, Love, and travel the world alone. Her boyfriend offered to go with her, but it was something she needed to do on her own. Besides, he slept in too much. There were two sixty-somethings, a man and a woman. They had not met since the beginning of the COVID lockdowns years earlier, and they reminisced about their shared hatred for Justin Trudeau and the communist liberals. They also discussed their mutual love for a local butcher that they used to visit all the time before he died from brain cancer. Horrible disease, they said. The man had lung cancer, but it was in remission. The woman was shocked, but happy that he was better. Of course, then there was the mysterious man in the grey suit who sat next to me for an hour and shook my hand. Who shakes people’s hands anymore? No one. It was weird, to be sure. Very old-fashioned. He introduced himself, but I don’t remember his name. All I remember is that he was making phone calls the whole time, and he mentioned something on the phone about owning a manufacturing business. He was leaving for Singapore first thing in the morning. So writing in public brings all sorts of inspiration. But one can also be inspired by the literature that they read. Writers should always be frequent readers. It is essential to creating a dynamic literary work. One can find certain writing styles that they can partially replicate or build from. For example, Sinclair Ross likes to use weather metaphors to describe the feelings of his characters; “the wind thrashed violently against the worn-out barn.” Stephen King likes to focus on rural American communities, perhaps because that is what he knows best. The result is dynamic and well-rounded characters with believable personalities. He uses phonetic words to help describe accents. Hunny, gunna, etc. So basically, this third strategy is just to read more and pay closer attention to the world around you. Don’t be afraid to include new things. Experiment a little, or experiment a lot. You have nothing to lose. Have some fun with it. Go wild. This is your writing and you can do whatever the hell you want.

In conclusion, overcoming writer’s block is sometimes a difficult task. There is no easy, one-fits-all solution. You have to experiment a little and find out what works for you. These three strategies are some of what worked for me, and I hope that they will provide to some fellow indie authors who could use a little push or sprinkle of inspiration. Try to set deadlines so that you will force yourself to finish certain chapters. Enforce those deadlines by telling other people. Make sure to plan out each chapter in outlines. Write down your ideas from pen to paper as they flow better. Lastly, don’t be afraid to try new things. Take in your surroundings, try writing in public spaces, and don’t forget to read.