All writers have, or at some point will have, the experience of staring at a blank screen with no ideas. You have the information, the idea, the outline, yet the first sentence eludes you. Whether it’s an essay, an article, a blog post, short story, or even a novel, the ability to put together a jumble of ideas into cohesive sentences without some form of writer’s block is nearly impossible.
Over the years, as I’ve developed my own writing skills and process, I’ve developed several techniques that often help me get something down on the page when I’m struggling with the block. This stuff doesn’t necessarily have to be good; a lot of the time it’s just a way to help me brain-dump before I make edits later. Also, some of these tips may not work for everyone, and it’s important as a writer that you learn to sift through what does and does not work for you, and use it to create your own unique process.
That being said, here are five tips of advice I would give to writers struggling to get stuff down:
1) Looking away when typing
We spend enough time on our phones as it is, and having to stare at the blinding whiteness of an empty Word Doc does nothing to help the eyes or the writing process. So, if you are capable of typing without looking at your hands, I would recommend simply looking away from your screen and just typing whatever comes to your mind. You can look anywhere, out your window, up at the ceiling, at nature (if you’re outside), so long as it’s not a screen. Maybe it’s just the sensation of my eyes and brain being focused on something other than an empty page, but just rattling off whatever’s in my head without worrying too much about it makes it a lot easier to start putting ideas down.
2) Writing Drabbles
About a year ago, I started a new note on the Notes app on my phone called “Writing Drabbles” as a sort of info dump place where, if I had a story idea, a poem, or the barest hint of inspiration, I could quickly write it down in a place where I could always access it. This practice has helped me both in my personal and academic writing process. Whenever I have time to work on something, or I see something that inspires me, I just write it down. This has helped me find ideas for poems, short stories, and even some ideas and lines for novels I’m thinking of developing. Whatever you end up using it for, a designated writing spot like this on your phone will help you keep your eyes open and your pen handy so you won’t forget those great ideas again.
3) Set Your Story/Scene to a favorite music piece
I use this most often when I’m trying to develop story ideas for a possible novel. Music has always inspired me to imagine scenes in my head, and many times has led to the formation of new characters or ideas. Often what I try to do is imagine, if my novel were ever turned into a movie, how a certain scene would play out if it had this specific song or soundtrack playing in the background. This not only helps me imagine character placement, action sequences, and key moments of stories, but it also gives me the emotional fuel I need to actually try and write it down. The phrase “I want my book to be worthy of this music” has been my mantra for years.
4) Rewrite a movie scene as if it were in a novel
Once again connecting to the movie world, this trick is one I learned online and have not used much. Still, I found it interesting and had fun while doing it. I happened to see this tip while I was obsessed with Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” so I decided I’d not just rewrite a scene but try to write the whole movie as if it were a novel. Did I get very far? No, but I had fun doing it. Translating characters’ thoughts, backstories, and the occasional musical number onto a page was a great brain exercise. If not for learning purposes, it can also be just done for the fun of it.
5) just walk away
I know this sounds cliché, but it usually does work. If the ideas just aren’t coming, or you’re not satisfied with what you do have, getting even more frustrated by trying to pump more words out isn’t going to help. Whether it’s an article, an essay, or whatever it may be, sometimes it’s better to leave it alone for a few hours or until the next day. Do something else, get something to eat, go to sleep, and when you come back to it, you may find your mind cleared enough to continue and come up with new ideas.