How To Never Get Writer’s Block

I’ve never had a significant episode of writer’s block. (Quick—get me a piece of wood.)

I’ve had little minor blocks here and there, but after several of these I noticed something important when I was in one.

When I would get blocked up one thing always occurred right beforehand—

I would resist writing something that was coming out of my imagination/inspiration.

For whatever reason, my inspiration would be giving me something to write and I would refuse to write it down. I didn’t like it in some way—it was gross or crude, I didn’t like the phrasing, I felt it wasn’t the “correct” way to say something, it might offend somebody or it might be a mistake in some way (like something that would prove to be inaccurate.)

Whatever the reason, I didn’t like what my inspiration was giving me and so my inspiration stopped giving.

It would stop right then and there as if to say, “You don’t like what I’m giving you? Fine. I won’t give you anything else.”

But if I would start to write those words I didn’t want to, the flow would start again. The block would resolve itself immediately. This got me in the practice of always writing what was in my imagination to write and not judging it (at least not too much for too long). Even if I had to pause for a few minutes, as soon as I wrote the words my inspiration was giving me I would get going again.

And upon further reflection, I noticed something else.

This practice required trust. Trust in my own inspiration.

Trust that what I was getting was the right thing for me to write down. It’s so easy to have doubts but ultimately I’ve come to believe that I can trust my imagination/inspiration. It’s not going to give me the wrong thing to say.

Photo by Christian Fregnan on Unsplash

Amanda Linehan is the author of North, about a young woman on the run from her past, the law and an old adversary out to get her. Her newest release is Bored To Death: A Vampire Thriller, about a 300-year-old vampire trying to restore the balance between life and death. She has published five novels. Get a free short story every month when you sign up for her newsletter.