I’ve been struggling with writer’s block for a while, feeling like there’s no point in me writing anything when there’s already so much out there for people to read. When you have writer’s block, how do you get out of the rut and start writing again?
First of all, I want to make sure we have the same definition of writers block:
Inability to write because,
I’ve found that something that works is to force a start. Pick a word, any word, write it, and then figure out a sentence. The sentence may not connect to anything, but that’s not important. Try to expand the sentence into a paragraph. Then a scene. I find that scene building is a great way to get started, even if the scene itself is of questionable usefulness or quality.
Don’t sorry of it’s poorly written. Embrace the potential for cringe. The important part is that you’re writing. Think of it like warmup similar to the physical equivalents athletes do beforehand.
How long to do this is all up to you. It may distract you from what you originally intended to write and become its own thing, or it might accidentally fit reasonably well with some unfinished work you have already saved. Either way, once you feel that creativity is properly flowing again, you can try to transition into writing what you intended to. You you can let the warmup-writeup become its own project (one of my better stories started as a warmup), or otherwise decide later what you’re gonna use it for (if anything).
It’s hard to force motivation, but the above will at least (hopefully) get you into the right headspace.
And then you write the rest of the owl.