Yes, you are about to read something about one of the most common topics on writing - writers’ block. Regardless of how many articles I read on the subject, I still suffer from writers’ block from time to time and during such occasions I need some simple tips that can help me overcome this common challenge. Here are a few tricks I use:

1. Write Anything, You can Always Edit Your Work Later

When I am stuck, I begin by writing one line. That forms the foundation and the catalyst for writing the rest of my piece. Once you begin, you establish some flow and other ideas come to mind and, before you know it, you are well into your article. Other times I will write the first paragraph of a piece that I intend to work on later. This makes me ready and more willing to tackle it when I get the time to work on it.

2. Find Inspiration from Your Past Works

Scrolling through what you have written in the past may be just what you need to kick-start your day’s work. It will give you new ideas that you can develop to create something unique or explore a part of the topic that you had not written about in the past. Try viewing different topics from different angles and ask yourself different questions that are related to what you have researched or written about in the past.

3. Begin with a Draft

When you find yourself stuck, the best thing is to draw a plan which consists of a rough draft of what you intend to write. Planning makes the task less daunting and gives you an idea of where to begin. The draft does not have to be elaborate; even jotting down points to guide you as you write the main article will prove to be useful. With a draft, you do not have to worry about making everything perfect since you can always change ideas or styles when you are writing the main piece.

4. Divide your work into sections

If you are working on a complex task or a lengthy one like writing a novel, divide your work into smaller manageable parts that you can easily work on. When you give yourself unrealistic goals and deadlines, this will discourage you at the beginning from starting on your task. This is because you already know that you are likely to fail in accomplishing what you set out to do. However, if the project is divided into manageable chunks, you will easily start because you know the work is achievable.

The fact that other people will judge your work and that you also have set expectations of yourself is what makes writing difficult. Many times what stops us is not that we cannot actually sit down and write but whether we can produce writing that other people will appreciate. It may not be easy to gauge other people’s reactions to our work beforehand but, still, we can do our part which is to write and continue learning and write some more.