Ten Ways to Break your Writer's Block (Without ChatGPT)

The worst part about being a writer can be the empty page. It's just as daunting as it is depressing, even though there are some (liars) that say the joy of endless possibilities of the blank page can be the best part.

As a writer of all kinds of articles, poems, short stories, and who is working on some books: I struggle with writer's block constantly, but I'm also a natural extrovert and I'm good at getting out of my head. I can say: the endless opportunities can get overwhelming, and that sense is what traps me in my head.

Giving your senses a direction is the way to beat writer's block. But, depending on your circumstance, you'll need to choose the right strategy to have the desired effect.

1. Remember: Not Everything is supposed to be perfect - or good.

The root of writer's block is the desire for perfection to spill out of your mind and onto the page. The issue is: that's not how it works. Being a writer is much more about editing than you might think, and writing is messy, gross and even cringey.

But you need to write before you edit. You need to write consistently, in fact. So, the first strategy to killing any writer's block is always going to remember not to even try to be perfect at first. Sometimes even that is going to help you burst--or crawl--out of that shell.

2. Write Bad Poetry, cut it up

You know what I mean when I say "bad poetry," even though I'm in the boat where there's not really such a thing as "bad poetry." Everything is subjective. Keeping that in mind, there's going to be poetry that you make that you may want to burn in a massive incinerator.

I get it. Completely.

But, if you're having trouble keeping the creative experience alive, especially that part of you that crafts and finds the flow state, you likely need to just get that "junk" out of your head.

So, set a timer, and write poetry like your journaling in a beat-up journal you use to free-write your cringiest inside-thoughts. Keep the lines short--or long. Just don't stop writing. You can repeat yourself, you don't need to have a theme.

When you're done, cut it up with scissors. Be careful not to cut yourself, but don't be careful with how you divide up your bad poetry. Cut up the lines, the

3. Watch a Movie, Write the Screenplay you see

This is famously how Sylvester Stallone practiced writing screenplays before inevitably creating the Rocky movies. This doesn't necessarily need to be movies, but you can copy-down audiobooks, podcast, YouTube videos, and anything that requires you to put words onto a blank screen or paper to illustrate an idea.

Believe it or not, when you do this, you are writing, even if it's not an original thought. Just the practice of writing does help to make the practice not so scary but, instead, like practicing.

4. Visit the Library

Sometimes you might feel writer's block because you are empty. You might need more words in your mind to feel inspired. I know I get this way. Even if you don't have a library card, you can find a library and visit for just an hour or two and see if you can't find an interesting opening to a book, a chapter, a book cover that you might want to emulate.

Libraries are full of inspiration. What it can be, however, is overwhelming. So be kind to yourself and take a step back if you start to feel anxious from all the words everywhere.

5. Join a Book Club

Sometimes going to a library can be like scrolling Netflix: there are so many options that you have no idea where to start and you wouldn't even have time to enjoy what you find.

A book club forces you to read a book and comment on it--even if you don't even like the book. Just start to read. Just talk about it. There's a lesson to be learned from that.

Once you're done discussing the book with your club members, try to write something true. What did Emily thing? You can write that. Now, what did you think?

6. Change your medium

Do you usually write with a computer? Try a pen and pencil. Do you usually write with a pen? Try a typewriter (if you can find one). Do you typically use all three? Try to paint a picture.

It's about keeping the creative spirit alive more than sticking to one project until you finish, sometimes. Once you get that inspiration back, you can always transfer your work into a different medium, like transcribing your work from a piece of paper into a word document, or turning that picture you painted back into 1,000 words.

7. Design a Blog

This might feel like a distraction, but Designing a Blog is a lot of work, and it uses the same idea as changing your medium. Design a blog for no reason, write a few blog posts about why you think a movie was really good, or even write a blog about how much writer's block you have. This will also get you "on your horse," so to speak. You are writing, on your computer, and using your brain for something.

Chances are, nobody is going to really read it, but that's okay! You can

8. Write a Listicle (haha)

Just like designing a blog, sometimes it helps to get onto your computer. Listicles are easy-to-write articles and you can make a listicle for almost anything.

In fact, a good listicle might even be, "What are the 10 things on my mind that are keeping me from writing my novel?"

9. Speech to Text

Sometimes you know what you want to write, but writing is just exhausting and you'd rather the words magically appear on the page.

We might not live in the era of magic, but we do live in an era of technology, and that's the next best thing. Use speech-to-text on any one of the apps that offer it to at least get your idea rolling.

10. Rewrite one of your old pieces

If you're seriously pursuing writing, then you know how addictive that flow state can be whenever you're writing. Chances are, you've had a point where you wrote something you really like. There's also a greater chance that you've written something you'd rather burn.

Instead of burning that piece, when you're feeling like you have writer's block, go into your archives, dig it up, and change it, even just a little bit. Just like how I mentioned before, how most of writing is editing anyway, editing can also become writing again.

No matter what your writer's block is, well, blocking, it's a worthwhile idea. Don't forget that. Even if it's not the best idea, there's a reason why you're having it and you have the urge to write it down.

Remember that, at one point, the author of your favorite book, article, or poem had an idea in their head and were struggling to bring it to life, too. Who is to say your idea isn't the reason someone else decides to write in the future?