WRITER’S BLOCK | WRITING | WRITING TIPS | CREATIVITY | PRODUCTIVITY
12 Magic Bullets That Stop Writer’s Block in Its Tracks
Without Writing a Word
The Key to Moving Forward with Writing is Moving!
And that means moving your body, not your pencil, ballpoint, or keyboard.
These tips not only help get rid of Writer’s Block, they work for any activity you’re stuck on, even letting go of negative thoughts. And they work well if your Writer’s Block is triggered by ADHD.
Note: If you have ADHD, skip number 7: “Tidy-up.” You’re already used to working in clutter. Thanks to hyperfocus, you could easily spend the next two weeks tidying up and never get back to writing.
- Meditate
If I can meditate, so can you. Entire books have been written on the benefits of meditation. It works. Five minutes work. You don’t need to sit in the lotus position on a cushion saying “om” for 2 hours. Helps with procrastination, getting rid of negative thoughts, feeling scattered. Learn more about meditating here:
2. Do Cross Crawl
Any physical activity that crosses the center mid-line of your body, helps your brain work better. It integrates your right brain and your left brain, making it possible to have fabulous creative ideas (your right brain), and to keep track of details like complete sentences and correct punctuation (your left brain).
Cross crawl not only helps with brain integration, it can also help you move foward.
Here’s how to do it:
Lift your right leg and touch it with your left hand (better yet with your right elbow). Now lift your left leg and touch it with your right hand (or elbow). See how slowly you can do this. You can also do it sitting down or lying down.
3. Trace an infinity sign.
Draw a large infinity sign (a figure 8 on its side) on plain piece of 8 1/2 by 11 paper. Using your right index finger, start at the center and trace around the infinity sign. Now your left finger. Finish by using both fingers.
This movement helps integrate the left and right sides of the brain, just as Cross Crawl does. It’s especially good for the process of righting. The left is the side that’s good at spelling, grammar. It’s the editor side of your brain. The right side creates brain storms, brilliant ideas, just the right phrase. It’s the creative side of your brain. Writing requires both sides.
You’ll find a picture to trace and more explanation here:
4. Go for a walk
Any kind of exercise helps, but walking gets you out of your office, out of your house. It’s easy, requires no equipment. We think of exercise as good for your health. It’s equally good for the writing mind.
5. Drink water
Often writers (and lots of other people too) don’t realize that being dehydrated zaps the brain. You need to be hydrated to think and write and your best. (Those of us addicted to coffee, including yours truly, often forget this
6. Talk what you want to write and transcribe it.
You can use one of the transcribing services on the internet. However, keep in mind that the inexpensive, automated ones require a lot of editing.
For some folks, speaking instead of writing works well. It’s often recommended by internet marketers trying to get their students who hate to write to produce written content. Some say it’s quicker.
Obviously it’s a work around if you’re somewhere that writing isn’t possible. People who swear by this even suggest recording while you’re driving. Don’t! You need to focus on driving.
It’s worth a try. That it doesn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. If it gets you out of Writer’s Block, go for it.
7. Tidy up . . . a little
For some folks, clutter on a desk or a room gets in the way. Note emphasis on “a little.” If you know you might get carried away and all of a sudden two days have been spent reorganizing your file cabinet, set a time limit. Fifteen minutes is best; 30 minutes is ok.
(ADHDers please don’t use this tip! You’re used to clutter. Clearing up the clutter could easily turn into another distraction, and you have a hard time stopping once you’re into it. It’s called hyperfocus. You need that for your writing.)
8. SNAP out of it
When negative thoughts keep causing Writer’s Block, you can use this odd but effective trick called “SNAP.” (Stop Negativity Action Points)
When a negative thought comes up, close your eyes, place your fingertips very lightly above your eyebrows, and focus on the negative thought or feeling. As you keep focusing, you’ll find the negative thought disappears. You may have a hard time focusing on the negative thought. Or you may sense that it’s floating away. That the negative thought isn’t there anymore.
You’ve just “snapped” right out of negativity. (You’re holding acupuncture points and using acupressure which is acupuncture without needles.) These neurovascular holding points, part of your energy system, act quickly and powerfully. Only takes a minute, so it’s easy to do this several times a day when fear or doubt pops up.
SNAP isn’t woo-woo fluff. The American Medical Association, known to take a conservative approach on all things medical, has approved acupuncture as a valid procedure. Thanks to this approval, some insurance companies will accept acupuncture claims.
SNAP is a form of acupuncture without the needles.
Several years ago I spoke at women business owners’ meetings across New Jersey. (Note: women business owners, not new age spiritual seekers.) Talk after talk, I explained SNAP, instructed the audience to do it with me, and share their experience.
Rarely did I have a woman business owner for whom it didn’t work. Many were startled at the speed in which their negative thought disappeared.
Caveat: It doesn’t work if you focus on thinking about whether it will or won’t work. You have to stay focused on the negative thought.
9. Discover Tapping or EFT
Expand on using SNAP that you learned in Tip 14 to learning a set of acupuncture points for a deeper, longer lasting method of saying “no” to Writer’s Block.
The Emotional Freedom Technique (or tapping as it is commonly referred to) is an approved protocol in Veterans Administration hospitals. Psychologists and counselors use it with Vets who come back from combat with PTSD.
It’s easy to learn, quick to do on yourself, and often effective if your Writer’s Block isn’t caused by unconscious past trauma or deeply-set negative patterns.
Look for EFT or tapping videos for Writer’s Block on YouTube. It’s easiest to learn by watching someone do it. You can tap along with the presenter without even having to memorize the points.
10. Pet your dog or cat
This calming touch increases oxycotin in your brain which although not usually associated with caressing a pet, much less Writer’s Block, can help to get you out of the negativity that accompanies Writer’s Block.
11. Is a past event about writing haunting you?
Even something as innocuous as your 3rd grade teacher giving you a D+ on your “What I did on My Summer Vacation” story can haunt you. And her note at the top that you didn’t do a very good job didn’t help you gain writing confidence.
It’s taken me years to get back to writing after burning my master’s thesis and ignoring a publishing contract for my PhD dissertation. Please don’t wait as long as I did to let go of old stuff.
12. Eat a small piece of chocolate!
Two candy bars and a chocolate walnut brownie is too much chocolate and sugar. Your body doesn’t like that. An unhappy body can cause Writer’s Block.
For more tips on Writer’s Block, see
Watch for my forthcoming book, Oh Look, There’s a Squirrel and Other Stories.
If you’d like to be added to the list to receive a free copy of a short e-book, “9 Tips for Readable Writing” and a free review of one piece you’ve written (no longer than 1,500 words), send an email to [email protected].
While you’re reading here on Medium, catch some good stories from Dr Mehmet Yildiz, Michele Thill, Alena Powell, Margaret Eves, Phil Truman, Tim Maudlin, Vickie Trancho, Alun Richards, Helen Boss, JeffHerring.com, Linda Halladay, Marjorie McDonald, Ntathu Allen, John Kremer, Nomanono Isaacs, Jacqelyn Lynn, Kelda Ytterdal,
Given raging ADHD, it’s no surprise that focus does not come to me easily! In addition to writing about writing and sometimes adoption and ADHD, I also write random stories from my life, what I’ve observed, what’s in the news, what annoys me, anything that tickles my fancy.
For a Black Lives Matter from a white perspective, see my stories For White Folks from an Old Gray-Haired White Woman with Arthritis. And Teaching Kindergarten at an all-Black school.
You might also like musings on Staying at Home because of COVID 19: The Good, The Bad, and the Not So Ugly.