Hellooo, everybody!
Today we're talking about writer's block. That little bitch. Writer's block is when you don't
know what to write next, or you don't know how to write it. And it's a pain in the ass. Some people
say it's not a real thing, and that it's all in your head Which is like, duh, that's the entire point!
No one actually thinks there's a legitimate boulder blocking your path. Bottom line,
all writers at some point in time struggle to know what to write, or how to write it. It's annoying,
it can make you feel creatively constipated, and it can be kind of demoralizing. At least if you
take it too seriously. The thing is, writer's block isn't the end of the world. It's just your
brain being a bully. Stop it brain, go to your room! It's actually pretty easy to overcome.
If you understand that it's not a big deal and totally manageable. Stop treating this shit
like the end of your career. It's like those men who treat the common cold like a death sentence.
[Fake feeble coughing] I've got the black lung pop.
Fortunately, I'm here to give you my top ten tips for conquering writer's block,
and honestly, you will not need all ten of these tips. You will probably only need one,
but I'm giving you ten anyway because I have a merciful god. And also because it's the format
of my channel. Which of these steps works best for you? Let me know in the comments below.
(The sound of a pen scratching. LOGO.)
Quick announcement: I am currently recruiting ARC reviewers for
Shut up and Write the Book! If you are interested
in receiving an advanced reader copy in return for an honest review, please sign up using the
form in the description below. I won't be able to send ARCs to everyone who applies, but I will be
sending out as many as I can. All the details are available in the form. Get to signing up.
Don't forget to subscribe to my channel. I post new videos on Wednesdays, and you wanna be alerted
as SOON as I upload, ring that bell. Shut Up and Write the Book is available for pre-order right
now in these formats. And everyone who pre-orders is eligible to receive a FREE digital workbook as
a thank you for your support. In order to collect your workbook, please send your proof of purchase
to preorder@jennamoreci.com, and bam, you've got yourself a free workbook. On top of that all ebook
formats are 50% off to those who pre-order. So if you wanna get a hefty discount, ORDER NOW!
Now let's break down my ten best tips for conquering writer's block.
If you are feeling creatively blocked, these tips will do you a world of good.
Number One (1): The only way out is through. Often I save my best or most important tip for last,
but I'm saying this first because I want it to be the very first thing you try. Quite often
nothing is actually preventing you from writing, except your own mental state. You're not blocked
by anything but yourself, which means you need to be the one to change that. And how do you do
it? By putting your fingers on the keyboard and typing. Just write something! Whatever content
for your novel, no matter how slow, painful or terrible it is. Get words on the page and
keep typing until it starts to feel natural. Think of this process as unclogging a drain,
right now you're pullin’ out all those gnarly clumps of hair. The ladies out there know what
I’m talking about. It's gonna be disgusting. You're gonna write some foul sentences that
absolutely need to be deleted, but you're doing this for the sole purpose of getting over the
hump. You're releasing all that garbage, so your inspiration can once again flow freely.
I'm telling you nine times out of ten, this is the solution. If you're feeling blocked, write
anyway. And if you give yourself enough time to write through that feeling, the block will pass.
But if on the very rare chance this doesn't work for you, we can move on to the remaining points
Starting with Number Two (2): Outline. So you don't know what to write next. Have you
consulted your outline? Oh, you don't have one? Did you ever consider that that might
be the problem? Listen, people who outline do occasionally experience writer's block,
but they experience it a whole lot less than people who don't outline. That's because the
outline literally tells you what to write next. That's the whole point. The pantsers I know
who thrive with this method do so because they love the freedom, but for a lot of people that
freedom just results in block after block. If you repeatedly find yourself not knowing what
to write next, put the manuscript aside, craft an outline, your future self will thank you.
Number Three (3): Create a habit. Sometimes writers claim they're experiencing writer's block,
but really they're just experiencing a lack of motivation. They know what to write next,
they just don't feel like it. The thing about motivation is that it’s unreliable. Here one day,
gone the next. What you need to do is create a habit. Make writing a consistent facet in your
weekly routine and stick to it. I gotta warn you, It'll take at least a month to make the
habit stick. That means you have to toughen up and put in the work. Create a routine that works for
your schedule and power through it no matter how much it sucks. Once you plow through the suckage,
the habit will start to stick. And so, whatever routine you've created will begin to feel natural.
Number Four (4): Take a break. I am so hesitant to list this because I know
a lot of people are gonna take it and run with it.
“Did you say take a break at the first sign of hardship?
Awesome! I'll get back to my manuscript in a year or so.”
Most of the time taking a break isn't helpful, but there is one specific situation when it is
absolutely necessary. Sometimes what writers are experiencing isn't writer's block. It's burnout.
Burnout shares a lot of similarities with writer's block, except it's a whole lot worse. Yes,
you're creatively constipated. But on top of that you have no motivation, your body feels heavy,
maybe even painful, and you are so incredibly tired. If this is how you're feeling, you are
burnt out. Which is your body's way of telling you to stop. Writer's block is the least of your
problems. You need to focus on your physical and mental health. This means stepping away from your
manuscript, and taking some time to rest. This usually entails extra sleep, extra downtime,
and limiting your work to the bare essentials. People who experience true burnout usually need
at least a few weeks to recover. So don't feel guilty about giving your body the relaxation it
needs. But again, if you're not actually burnt out, taking a break probably won't do shit.
Number Five (5): Ask a friend. This is exactly what critique partners are for.
If you're stuck on a scene, ask them about it. During the drafting phase,
the only person who will likely know your manuscript almost as well as you,
is your critique partner. So they're the ideal person to ask for help when you're stuck. What
are their suggestions? Maybe they're considering an angle you hadn't thought of. Additionally,
critique partners usually have expertise in areas we're lacking in. That means if you're struggling
with an issue, it might be their specialty. I know you're a big proud author, but there's no shame in
asking for help. And if you've got writer's block, you need all the help you can get.
On a similar note, Number Six (6): Rubber duck. “But Jennaaa! Are you having a stroke?”
Rubber duck debugging is a technique used among software engineers when they're dealing with all
sorts of bugs. The engineer will explain their code line by line to a rubber duck and in doing
so they usually figure out the solution. This method works in all kinds of fields,
especially the writing industry. And it is a godsend if you are having writer's
block. Explain that the scene you're having an issue with, piece by piece, either to a
critique partner, a family member, or even an inanimate object. More often than not the act
of describing the issue out loud will allow you to hone in on the solution. I hit up my critique
partners all the time, just to rubber duck. I'll chat with them online about whatever
I'm struggling with, and every single time I come up with a solution. Then I run it by them
to make sure they think it's a good idea, and if it gets the green light it's time to write.
Number Seven (7): Find the source. What about the scene are you most struggling with? Say you
know the exact location. That means world building or setting the scene aren’t the
issue. Say you know the characters involved, then characterization isn't a problem as well. So what
is the problem? Is it the dialogue? Is it the action? Is it the plot point? Maybe you don't
know what actions need to happen next. Finding the source of the block makes it a million times
easier to fix it because now you have a goal. You've located the problem and you can focus
your attention there. Say the issue is the plot point, you don't know what action needs to occur
next in order to move the story forward. You can then research structural templates to see what
types of plot points usually occur at this part of the story. If you're approaching the climax,
then maybe the plot point should be a crisis or breaking point. Boom,
just like that you have a direction and writer's block is a thing of the past.
On a related note, Number Eight (8): Look to the future. What is supposed to happen in the
next scene? Not the scene you're stuck on, the scene after that. In my previous point,
I mentioned how the writer realizes they're approaching the climax. This means the scene
they're working on should probably be the breaking point. If you know the next scene occurring in
your story it makes it a whole lot easier to navigate writer's block. You have Point A and
Point C. You just need Point B to bridge these two moments together. Think about it logically,
what needs to happen to bring characters from A to C? Say Point A is a first kiss,
and then in Point C one of the characters is mad at the other. What would need to happen
after that kiss to warrant anger? Maybe one of the characters told everyone about the kiss,
and now the partner is super embarrassed. Maybe they think their partner kissed someone else.
There are so many options to bridge the gap, and look at that, writer's block is gone.
Number Nine (9): Tap into your go to inspiration. This is especially helpful if you know what to
write, just not how to write it. Say you have a battle scene coming up, and you know people
gotta fight but that's it. Fight is a pretty vague word here. You need to know the maneuvers,
the characters involved, the injuries, the death toll. In situations like this I recommend
tapping into your go to source of inspiration. Whatever gets your writerly juices flowing. A
lot of people scour Pinterest looking for mood boards or aesthetics. If that's your thing,
I totally support you taking an hour to scour Pinterest and take notes. My go-to inspiration
is music. So if I'm struggling with a scene, I will pause my manuscript, put in my earbuds,
and listen to my writing playlist. I will flip through song after song, looking for the perfect
match to the scene, and then I will listen to that song on repeat until I have the entire
scene choreographed in my mind. Then I write a skeleton outline for that scene. If it's a fight
scene, I write down each important maneuver, each sensation, each deck.
After about an hour of listening and note taking, I have a scene ready to be written.
And Number Ten (10): Reassess. Has your writer's block lasted for months or years? Do you really
NOT know what to write? Or do you just not want to write? Maybe you truly don't know what to write,
but you also kind of don't care. If this sounds familiar, it's time to reassess the situation.
Your passion for the story has withered away, which could be the result of a few things. It
could be burnout, which we already covered. Get some rest! It could just be that writing
isn't what you thought it would be. Maybe you got into it because you want it to be famous,
not because you love to write. Or maybe you're not writing the right story for you. Sometimes
we write a story because it's trendy, or we think it's what people expect, but it's not
actually what we're passionate about. If that's the case, maybe put this manuscript away for a
while and start brainstorming. What it is that YOU want to write? Most of the time writer's block is
just a bump in the road, but on rare occasion, it's a message. If this story isn't for you,
there's no shame in that. Take some time to figure out what it is you're truly after.
So that's all I got for you today. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel.
I post new videos on Wednesdays, and you wanna be alerted as SOON as I upload,
ring that bell. Shut Up and Write the Book is available for pre-order right now,
and everyone who pre-orders is eligible to receive a FREE digital workbook. Simply send your proof of
pre-order to preorder@jennamoreci.com and you will receive your digital workbook as a thank
you for your love and support. And don't forget to follow me on social media. I'm on Instagram,
TikTok, Facebook and BookBub. And of course you can tweet me @JennaMoreci! Bye!
(Female Voice) Hey everyone! I'm Emma Tigan, narrator for The Savior’s Sister written by Jenna Moreci.
If you enjoy her channel and want to hear more writing advice and updates about her books,
be sure to subscribe and ring the bell! That way, you'll know as soon as her content goes live!