I’ve been struggling with writer’s block for a while, feeling like there’s no point in me writing anything when there’s already so much out there for people to read. When you have writer’s block, how do you get out of the rut and start writing again?
First of all, I want to make sure we have the same definition of writers block:
Inability to write because,
- Don’t know how to start
- Don’t know how to continue something already started
- Lack of motivation
I’ve found that something that works is to force a start. Pick a word, any word, write it, and then figure out a sentence. The sentence may not connect to anything, but that’s not important. Try to expand the sentence into a paragraph. Then a scene. I find that scene building is a great way to get started, even if the scene itself is of questionable usefulness or quality.
Don’t sorry of it’s poorly written. Embrace the potential for cringe. The important part is that you’re writing. Think of it like warmup similar to the physical equivalents athletes do beforehand.
How long to do this is all up to you. It may distract you from what you originally intended to write and become its own thing, or it might accidentally fit reasonably well with some unfinished work you have already saved. Either way, once you feel that creativity is properly flowing again, you can try to transition into writing what you intended to. You you can let the warmup-writeup become its own project (one of my better stories started as a warmup), or otherwise decide later what you’re gonna use it for (if anything).
It’s hard to force motivation, but the above will at least (hopefully) get you into the right headspace.
And then you write the rest of the owl.
I blow a couple of really good dudes .
I guess it depends on what you’re writing. I don’t write stories, as in novels, but i have written things down to try and plan 3D projects.
First it starts as research for the topic i am working on, then i write things down like settings, and goals, then it just branches out into loads of writing paragraphs and doodling charts.
I write some short fiction, mostly just worldbuilding with a thin plot attached to make it more palatable. Sometimes just sitting down and forcing myself to put one word after the other helps. Sometimes I read similar stories to get inspiration. Sometimes I browse images to get in the mood. I have a mood board using Pureref that I fill with sci-fi stuff like mechs.
Since I’m first and foremost a world builder, not an author, I’ll try other media besides writing to express my imagination. Visual art is hard for me for various reasons but I try anyway. I’ve tried pixel art as well as 3D models (hooray for Blender!)
Drugs baby.
You just write.
Write garbage.
Write a fan fiction
Read a shitt book and re-write the shitty plot.
Its a momentum thing for me. I’ll write absolute ass and then re-write it until its what I want.
I often ask an LLM to write the thing I want, get so fucking mad that they wrote AI Slop and then write good shit. That’s a good trick IMO.
I’ve been thinking about how to respond to this post for 5 mins now…
I don’t do any fiction writing, most of my writing is for professional reasons When I am stuck with a write up.
I give up on the proper structure and just start writing random shit about about the proposal/project, even if it is shit that is worthless to the end product.
Such as team composition, what a Firewall tech does etc.
I do this sooo often. Often times I just write intro stuff to cool ideas that might or might not be connected to what I should write about. I find honing a page much easier than writing it, so I try to write something and recursively make it into what I need.
I usually overcome this by reading something new. I’ve often found that hearing a new idea will dislodge ideas of my own.
I’ve often told students: Don’t try to be creative in a vacuum.
Don’t write for others. Write for yourself.
Sometimes challenging yourself works for me. Look up a writing exercise e.g.: Write a text without using pronouns. Set your clock to 10 minutes amd write whatever comes to mind. No right or wrong.
Think about all the absolutely terrible writing that’s out there. Writing that people are reading because they feel like they’ve read everything else in their
fetishgenre already.You can do better than that! Surely!
It’s so bad that people are resorting to using AI to write (awful) stories for them. These stories don’t make any sense yet people read them anyway. Why? Because they ran out of the other stuff they like in their little
fetishgenre.Tell your story! I’m positive someone will be interested in it.
I recently wrote a novel for a writing contest: https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novels/22194
Many people thought it was funny and entertaining but most stopped reading after the second or third chapter. The people that made it all the way to the end expressed an attitude like, “Finally! A story that’s actually unique!” And that’s exactly why I wrote it! Because I’m sick of “the same old shit” (in the isekai genre) 🤣
Write your story for you and be satisfied 👍
If everyone was discouraged from writing because of the amount of existing reading material, we would never have anything new. That’s only putting unnecessary pressure on yourself if you are writing recreationally. Write what you like and adjust it for an audience later if you have to.
Write down any ideas or thoughts that come to you - they don’t have to be organized. Once enough of them are on paper, you’ll instinctively look for ways to connect or refine them. Ask for feedback, look for works in your preferred genres for inspiration.
Initiate a Writer’s Grapple to defeat an opponent using Writer’s Block.
Readers are voracious and always looking for new things to devour. But your writing isn’t for them, its for you. Every page is slowly honing your craft, getting your ideas onto paper, and turning an amorphous idea blob into a tangible story.
I hate when people tell me this but annoyingly it works, but sometimes ‘just write’ is a solid strategy to just start putting words on the page. Sometimes its rough and you’ll want to go back to edit it, sometimes seeing things start to flow is a great feeling, and the words get easier.
The other trick is spite. Just lots of spite. Spite for the sometimes terrible writing that gets published anyways, spite for the reader who you might lure into falling into love with a character you plan to brutally murder, and spite for the music player that can’t seem to find the right song to match your mood for the scene you’re writing.







