Three Ways to Break Writer's Block

By Peter Lloyd

There’s no such thing as writer’s block. At least I’ve never suffered it. And when other writers complain of it, my recommendation has always been, “Just sit down and write.” I know that doesn’t quite qualify as practical advice, so let me put it another way. In the form of three tips, three Block Breakers.

Writer’s Block Breaker No. 1
Don’t start trying to write the final draft. Just write. Anything. A list of words. Stream of consciousness drivel. Scenes from a dream. A debate between a cat and an antelope. Bits of conversation you heard on the train. Something your fourth-grade teacher said. Why you hate your most despised politician. An ode to your favorite season. Review what it was like to turn 17 or 21. Read a news headline and invent the story. Copy a sentence from a random book and take it from there. Recap yesterday’s gossip and drone on about what happened. Describe how you feel about it. Some call this journaling.

Try writing a sentence made up of words that all begin with the same letter. “Bob barked better because Betty berated bulldogs bite by bite.” Don’t try to make sense. Sense will come. Consider Bob and Betty. Already a relationship has begun to unfold in that first silly sentence. It may have nothing to do with the project you want to move forward, but if you write enough such nonsense, you can’t help but dredge up what you need to get your Creative Juices flowing, as they say.

Once I needed to insert a song lyric in a murder mystery. The first letter of each line when read from top to bottom had to spell a person’s name. I wrote the letters of the name down the left side of the page. In no time the song “Trouble-less Love” flowed out.

I’m not alone in my faith in random stimulation. The next two Block Breakers come from Sonny Brewer, author of Don’t Quit Your Day Job: Acclaimed Authors and the Day Jobs They Quit.

Writer’s Block Breaker No. 2
In a radio interview, Brewer passed on to NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly some advice he learned from another writer. At the end of a writing session, Brewer says, “Stop in the middle of a sentence, so that tomorrow when you finish that sentence that you knew how to finish when you stopped, it gets you going.”

We learned in John Cleese on Creativity that he finds interruption the greatest danger to creative success. Butterworth’s trick just might help give you the running start you need after an interruption.

Writer’s Block Breaker No. 3
Brewer says that Truman Capote advises simply writing something true. “It doesn’t matter if it fits in the book or not, but if it’s true that the wind is blowing and that the sky is blue… there’s a dog walking down the street... write the truth for a minute.” Eventually, as in Breaker No. 1, you will find yourself using inspiration from your ramblings in the writing task at hand.

If you run or exercise regularly, you know that the best way to get started is to walk or stretch. Non-running movement gets you over the barrier of beginning and into the smooth and welcome routine of your workout. The same goes for writing. Move your fingers. The words will come.

Peter Lloyd is co-creator with Stephen Grossman of Animal Crackers, the breakthrough problem-solving tool designed to crack your toughest problems.

Next Workout »