How to Overcome Writer’s Block in Two Simple Steps

You sit down to write your story, but as soon as you look at the page it’s like there’s an invisible barrier keeping you from putting words down.

Maybe you don’t even make it to your page, and you find yourself further and further away from following your dream of finishing your story.

I hear you.

What if I told you there’s a simple method to break through writer’s block and consistently get into a writing flow?

Today I’m talking about how you can finally break through that barrier and beat writer’s block with two simple steps.

And it starts with laundry, a pad of paper, and a bucket. (Yup, a bucket!)

(If you’d like to listen to this post with visual notations, you can watch/listen here!)

Intro

I want to acknowledge that you are not alone in this. Overcoming writer’s block is a thing many aspiring authors and writers face at one point or another. So if you’re experiencing this now, don’t be too hard on yourself.

I’d like to talk about a shift in perspective that’s helped me in my writing: The essence of our stories start a lot sooner than when you sit down to put words on a page.

Right now there are ideas floating around your head of the details for the stories you want to tell.

Things like, what is the vibe of the story, who are some of the characters within it. Do you feel a sense of happiness that you want to express, or some deeper or darker themes you’re looking to explore?

These thoughts are the initial building blocks of a story that, in my experience, come before you even put pen to paper.

Beat Writers Block: Step 1

There are many ways to experience writer’s block, but for me, it looks like this.

I’d sit down to write something and I’d get stuck and not know where to go. After a few times of doing so, I’d start to feel a bit of fear or anxiety as I pondered if I would ever finish the story. This then builds up a resistance over time to even getting to my computer at all.

Here’s the first part of this method that’s helped me immensely in my writing.

Folding laundry. Seriously!

But there’s a few key things that help within this, and one crucial step that makes all the difference.

The core of this step is giving your brain space to explore what you’re looking to write. If we fill our minds with active events or inputs, our brains crowd out any possible ideas and begin to focus on those activities more.

But if we take some time to slow down and carry out a mundane task, like folding laundry, I’ve often found it lets my brain loosen up and start to wander. For someone like me, it also gives me just enough of an activity, through the repetitive motions, to passively think versus active problem solving (which often reinforces writer’s block).

I often find I enjoy having some form of input going on while I’m doing things to pass the time. Maybe it’s listening to an audiobook, listening to music or a podcast..

But when it comes to breaking through writer’s block, these low-activity moments also need to come with low stimulation, or low-stim. This then gives your brain the space, time, and a lack of input to allow yourself to passively ponder.

The Clincher

So you’ve set aside time, you’re passively exploring the ideas you have. Here’s the clincher that makes the effort thus far the most effective. Keep a notepad handy!

A common mistake among writers, including myself, is I think that I’ll remember an idea later on. Turns out, nope! Shortly after the idea has entered my head, it can also quickly depart. And even if I try to remember, the thought is gone like a flash of lightning in a bottle.

Now, I will say, don’t despair if you had an idea and lost it. You may not remember that specific idea again, but I know you’ll have a new idea and it could even be better than the one you forgot.

Now you may be thinking, oh well I prefer to put my notes into my phone directly, and if that works for you, great! But why I recommend a notepad over a phone is that phones have a nasty way of grabbing our attention very quickly. You may not intend to spend 30 minutes scrolling socials, but you’ll blink and that time has passed and the idea is gone.

So after you’ve had a number of ideas and you’re ready to move on, then move your notes to your phone or your computer.

Maybe folding laundry isn’t your thing, that’s okay too! It doesn’t have to be that specifically, but could be a number of things or variations on this core concept.

Set aside time to be alone
Make the place a chill environment and low stim
Have a pad of paper and a pen within reach
And Write down every idea, don’t worry about if it’s good or not at this point

Some other ideas that have worked well for me are, sweeping,, tidying up an area, or doing the dishes! (Fun fact: this is what Agatha Christie, author of Murder on the Orient Express among many other books, credited as the source of her stories).

Beat Writers Block: Step 2

Now that you have prepared your mind and molded the idea, you’re ready for the next step.

At this point, you may want to do further preparation and use something like the Lego method I described in the last video (HERE) to build out the idea in small pieces if you’re more of a plotter than pantser (or writing by the seat of your pants).

For me, I’ve found that writer’s block is very much a mental battle with myself. I can write, I have the ability to write, but for some reason I can’t. It’s like there’s an invisible barrier that’s holding me back and I can’t seem to push past it.

If this is you, let me encourage you. You can do this. You can write your story. I believe it, and this next step will help you to believe it too.

Go to your preferred place and space to write, maybe it’s a desk with your computer in your home office, or it’s a larger pad of paper on a specific couch or chair and do this one thing.

Write one sentence. That’s it. That’s your goal.

Don’t worry about what the sentence is or how long your story is or anything else. Just focus on one sentence. Take the ideas that you’ve been collecting in the previous step and just write whatever comes to your mind first.

As soon as you write that one sentence, in your head or out loud say to yourself, “I did it, I wrote.” Why? Because you did it! You beat writer’s block.

Now you may be thinking, but this is just one sentence.

Speaking from personal experience, I’ve found often that as soon as I crack that one sentence I have a hard time pulling myself away from my computer and stop writing.

The Bucket

Writing for me is very much a concept of filling and emptying, and here’s where the bucket comes in.

I use the first step to give myself space and time to imagine what my story could be, filling my mental bucket with ideas. Then all I do is focus on a little plug at the base of this mental bucket, your one sentence.

I focus my energy on a very small and doable task, take the plug out. Write one sentence.

As soon as I do, the water just bursts out and flows to the point where I often don’t want to stop. This is the power of these two steps together.

In closing

Try this out and let me know how it goes for you.

And if you find yourself wondering after you’ve broken through your writer’s block, how do you keep that flow and momentum going?

Or maybe you’re stuck coming up with ideas, and wondering how do you find inspiration to kick start your imagination?

I’m here to help.

If you want to learn from what I’ve found helpful to help make your writing journey a little easier or just someone to encourage you along the way, Subscribe to follow along, as you walk out your writing journey.

Most importantly,

Keep writing and stay creative!