How to Beat Writer’s Block the Hard Way: 5 Strategies for Success

Writer’s block is a common problem that most writers face at some point in their careers. Whether you write for personal pleasure, work, or school, you’re likely to find yourself staring at a blank page or screen, unsure of what to write. Unlike what some people may believe, breaking writer’s block isn’t an easy thing to do. However, instead of taking the easy way out, here are some hard ways to beat writer’s block, one day and one bad idea at a time.

#1: Force Yourself

One of the best ways to beat writer’s block is to force yourself to brainstorm article ideas for 25 minutes every day. The idea behind this technique is to not just check off the task and try again tomorrow but push yourself to write something, even if it’s not perfect.

The idea of “forcing myself” brings about a certain level of stubbornness and motivation. People don’t like being told what to do, so use this as a way to motivate yourself to take action, get angry, and start writing.

#2: Write, No Matter What

Even if you think you don’t have enough time, are too tired, did too much work, or have no ideas, the only way to keep writing is to keep writing. We’ve mentioned the 750 words a day habit that even non-writers should keep to invoke creativity and flow in our lives in a previous section.

Making yourself write 750 words a day is an excellent first step towards beating writer’s block. The more you write, the more you get into the habit of consistently writing, regardless of how you feel or how many ideas you think you have.

#3: Embrace Bad Ideas

If you’re not writing because you think that your ideas suck, you’re not alone. Most ideas for writing (or anything else, for that matter) aren’t very good, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to run with them.

Keep a list of your ideas, and start writing about them, even if you think they’re completely horrible. It’s not easy to write about something you believe is a bad idea, but it’s a valuable exercise to break writer’s block and produce great content that is worth your time.

#4: Write About Uncomfortable Things

Writing about difficult topics in life can inspire ideas that you can use elsewhere. You may also learn a lot about yourself in the process and understand why you get writer’s block in the first place.

Here at Lifehack and my site Devburner, I tend to write about productivity and technology. While these topics may be personal at times, it’s nothing compared to writing about what I can’t stand about myself, my feelings, or the people around me.

#5: Publish Something Every Day

Finally, you can combine all the above ways to beat writer’s block into one. Get a personal blog, Tumblr, or other platform and publish something every day, no matter what.

Publishing every single day is an excellent way to get in the habit of writing about anything and everything, such as trying out different/bad ideas and not taking yourself too seriously. Sure, you may be criticized or laughed at, but you can make your site anonymous if you prefer. What’s important is that you’ll produce some fabulous content you can be proud of that may lead to a book or another site.

Conclusion

Instead of being afraid of writer’s block and letting it control you, it’s time to fight back and be a pain in the ass to writer’s block. These ways to beat writer’s block may be hard, but they’re the only way to keep yourself writing for the long term.