Welcome to the world of writer's block! I will be your guide on this not-so-mystical journey we'll be taking today. Now, you may be wondering, "what is writer's block?" If that's the case, you're probably in one of the fewest percentages of people that have never struggled with stringing words together on a page. You've been able to weave together tales with few issues on telling what comes next. My hat's off to you.
To be honest, I would be jealous of you never having struggled with writer's block, but literally everyone does. Thankfully, when you struggle with writer's block keeping you from your writing goals, you pick up a few tricks on how to break the block. Some people have a few methods for tangling with it, and some people have numerous ways to combat the barricade. As for me, I've got a few methods that are tried and true for me.
1. Change your venue.
If you're used to writing in the same place all of the time, try a new location. Sometimes, writing in the same location for long periods of time can stagnate your idea pool. Changing scenery refreshes the mind and lets you explore new options, and it lets you physically see new things that can help you to break the block. If for some reason completely changing scenery can't work for you, alter your venue. Change your musical background, or switch up the smells around the room. Alter the lighting; do whatever you need to do.
2. Change your ideas.
Writing from the same pool of ideas over and over and over again will eventually dry up the pool. If you've ever wondered why I bounce back and forth so much with my content, this is why. My idea pools vary in size, and some of them dry up as quick as you can imagine. That being said, changing the things you write about periodically can save your pools from completely disappearing and may provide a chance to revisit them in the future with an expanded perspective.
3. Ramble through it.
Sometimes rambling through your ideas can provide insight for moving forward with your writing. It doesn't really matter how you ramble or what you ramble or who you ramble to, although it might be best to only ramble to paper through your pen. Not everyone is going to want you to ramble to them when you struggle with your writing. When you ramble on, just keep pushing out words on the page. You don't have to worry about sentence structure or how your words are strung together; there's plenty of time to make your words coherent and revised later on.
4. Connect your ideas strategically.
If you can't find a way to expand your ideas easily, start connecting your topic to other ideas. Make strategic connections and tie ideas together give you other avenues to explore with your original topics. There's a good chance your topic may have been too focused in the first place; this can give it the broadening you need to sling together sentences and paste together pages.
5. Check out what's happening in the world around.
Inspiration happens around you all the time. All you have to do is take a look around and draw upon the world around you. It can be natural, it can be man-made, or it could be some strange combination of the two. Use your environment to your advantage, and consider revisiting option one above if you're having trouble using your scenery for inspiration.
6. Use your current knowledge and experience base.
You are a vast and great collective of knowledge and experience. Your life is unique to you, and some of the best tales you have to tell are the ones unique only to you. Don't be afraid to delve into your life for ways to break the block. Your life has numerous untold points waiting to be unleashed. Even if you don't want to share your stories specifically, you can pull ideas from your own life and bring out other details to weave your words however you choose.
Some things won't work for some people. All of these things don't work for me all of the time, either. That's why it pays to have a few different ways of dealing with writer's block; different blocks require different tactics. And trust me: not all blocks are created equally.
