5 Writing Exercises to Overcome Writer's Block

11/20/2020

Here are 5 writing exercises to overcome writer's block and free yourself from the creative blockage so those words start flowing again.

What is writer's block? The causes of writer's block can range from a lack of inspiration, internal or external pressures, or not knowing how to proceed with your writing.

Dealing with writer’s block doesn’t need to have psychological rationale behind it. It is usually the fear that the finished manuscript won’t be good enough or the final draft won't become a reality.

This article shows how to overcome writer's block with prompts and writing exercises to reignite your creativity so your writing flows once more.

Also, check out these invaluable tips from MasterClass on what is writer's block and how to overcome it with a step-by-step guide and writing exercises.

Whether you need writer's block prompts or simple ways to get rid of writer's block, here are 5 writing exercises to overcome writer's block so you can generate ideas and achieve a more productive day.

1. Go through the Alphabet to Create Prompts

When creating your A-Z list, write the relevant words for your particular characters, storyline or even genre.

You might not be able to apply a word to every letter, but there should be at least one prompt for you to expand on which will help you to move in the right direction.

Hopefully, you won’t have to reach anywhere near Z for this to work!

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2. What Advice Would You Give to Your 15-Year-Old Self?

A bit of soul-searching and coming to terms with a few life choices may be involved here, whilst also realising how far you’ve come and what you have accomplished.

As the old adage states ‘all the answers lie within’, this exercise may bring a few things to light which you can expand on or use at a later date.

3. Write What Would Happen on Your ‘Perfect Day’

If you could do anything because you didn’t have to work or have any responsibilities for 24 hours, what would you do?

The people you would be with
The places you would go to
What you would eat and drink
The emotions you would be feeling
The musical soundtrack that would accompany it (imagine it as a film)
Fill every time slot from when you wake up until you go to bed

4. Write for 5 Minutes Non-stop

Even if it’s gibberish or a diary entry or you start with ‘I have no idea what to write…’, just keep writing.

Time yourself so you don’t stop before the time is up.

It will probably feel like a very long 5 minutes, but it could throw up something of value – and you’ll be amazed at the word count!

5. Pick a Word to Make up Headlines

Get a dictionary or a book, open it a random page and pick a word. Use this as a basis to make up some headlines.

This is a good exercise when you need inspiration.

For example, the word 'power' could be used in the following:

Why does power lead to corruption?
Do our thoughts really have the power to affect reality?
Top 10 secrets of the rich and powerful.
Who holds the balance of power in your relationship?
How the power of natural healing can help you.

In Conclusion

Even if what you've written is not great to start with, you can improve on it later; whereas, you can’t use the blank space that is filling your page or screen.

The key is not to think too long or deep about the situation and to just write something, anything, to clear the mental stalemate you have found yourself in.

Hopefully, these exercises will provide you with a kick-start to loosen your mind and produce something you wouldn't have written otherwise.