At some point, we all have experienced writer’s block, whether it was writing an academic paper or just writing in general. We come to a point where we don’t know how to continue, or the frustration increases because what we have in mind wasn’t perfectly translated onto paper. It could be only for a short moment or minutes, hours, days, and even weeks. Having writer’s block is not fun, but it is part of the process. While writers use many methods to overcome writer’s block, the most common suggestion I have always heard is to keep writing.

During my creative writing program, most writing classes often discussed methods to overcome writer’s block. Most students discussed how they keep writing without taking a break because they feel like it would ruin their rhythm. This is true for most writers and partially true for me. When working on a story or blog post, I want to write down everything that comes to mind, even if it may not make sense. While all ideas are fresh, it’s better for me to write them then than to wait later and struggle to remember.

So, if you’re stuck on writing the next sequence scene, try writing out of sequence. If you know how you want the story to end, write the ending and work your way backward. There may be a conflict in the middle of the story, but you’re unsure of the events that led to the conflict and the results of the conflict. It would help if you wrote notes or short paragraphs detailing the conflict. It can be monologues, dialogues, fight scenes, whatever it is; write it down. It will help you develop more ideas later on.

If you ever run into an issue running out or low on ideas, one thing I like to do is to stop where I’m at after making note of any ideas I have left. Then, I go back to read what I have written and see if there is anything I can improve on or any details I want to change. Every time I do this, there are always so many things that I want to change. While making those revisions, I can come up with more ideas.

There are many more methods for overcoming writer’s block; keeping writing is one of them. Not every method you hear or read about is going to work for you, and that’s okay. The key is to keep pushing forward and not to be discouraged, so use effective methods that can help you persevere, leading to more productive and fulfilling writing experiences.