Ah, the writer’s block. Some authors admit it’s something that they struggle with from time to time.

But there are also a handful of us who casually say there’s no such a thing as writer’s block.

They find it strange why writers are the only being in this world that has a mental block whereas a block of any kind seems non-existent in other professions.

You can say the way they don’t believe in writer’s block is akin to unicorn.

So, what about me then?

Do I believe it exists and it’s something many of us struggle with?

Or do I share the same belief as the other camp where it’s nothing but an old wives tale among the author?

Well, I’m sure you can tell from the post title alone where I stand on this issue.

But the good news is you can overcome this issue short-term and long-term when you put all these things into practice.

What causes us to have a writer’s block in the first place

It’s not that hard to tell when you’re having this issue.

For whatever reason, the sentences you want to write don’t seem to flow as you hope for.

You keep rewriting and deleting the sentences you write, thinking none of the things you write are worth publishing.

Well, guess what?

What causes you to be in such a predicament in the first place boils down to these reasons.

Lack of clarity

It’s easy for us to stumble upon a writing block if we don’t know what ideas or arguments we want to convey in that chapter or a post.

Yes, we have a lot of things to say.

But it’s not going to help you at all if you can’t pinpoint the key takeaway that you want to impart to your readers upon consuming your writing.

Sure, having an outline in place helps with getting the clarity you need.

But having an outline isn’t going to help you at all if you don’t know the main point you want to articulate in that chapter or post.

Remember that your outline will still be based on the main point that you want to impart to your readers.

If you don’t know what you want to articulate, you’ll have a hard time coming up with an outline, let alone conveying those points in proper writing.

You’re just tired

This one should be as clear as a day to many of us. Nothing good will come out when you’re tired.

Not only will you have a hard time conveying what you’re trying to say. But any sentences that you write sound like your cat has stepped on the keyboard as you write.

Sure, you can let Quillbot do the job for you when you’re too tired to think of the next sentence or perhaps the ideas.

But that will only end up making you cranky when you see the suggestions that Quillbot gives you are pure garbage.

Remember that tools like Quillbot and ProWritingAid can only provide you with suggestions based on your original input.

They can only come up with better suggestions when the original input itself is good.

And we all know we can’t produce anything decent when we’re dead tired.

Writer’s block begone!

Now that we know what causes us to have writer’s block, here are the things that you can do to put this issue at its curb.

Be clear about the main point you want to impart

It’s easier to write when you’re clear about the key takeaway that you want to impart to your readers.

Once you already identified your main point, then it’s time for you to craft your writing based on your main point.

Or constructing an outline first based on what you want to articulate if it’s your thing.

The beauty of this approach is that not only you can apply it before you begin writing a single word.

But you can also apply this approach to your first draft. Scan your first draft and see if you can find any clues about what you’re trying to convey.

Yes, it’s not fun to only figure out what you’re trying to say after slogging through so many words.

And it’s even more so when you spend hours stringing those words together.

But believe me, those crappy first draft isn’t all for naught if they can help you with nailing down what you wanted to say.

Take a break

Yes, I know. What a bummer, right?

But really, taking a break can help with breaking you out of the mental gridlock.

The reason for that is simple – we tend to have a much better clarity on what we want to convey when we give ourselves a break.

Yes, clarity tends to come after you do some soul-searching and weed out all the unnecessary details.

But it can also come from something as simple as taking a break.

Okay, I get you find taking a break seems more like a luxury considering how pressed for time you are.

You have a deadline to meet and taking a break will only cause you to complete the task even longer.

But believe me, taking a break even for a moment will allow you to complete your work faster than when you slog through your work with no break in between.

When I say taking a break, it doesn’t need to be that long either.

Even a few minutes will do.

There are plenty of things you can do in such a short while.

Stretch yourself for a few minutes, grab yourself something to eat and drink, or give yourself a cold splash of water on your face for a refresher.

If you have more time to spare, then go out and give yourself some fresh air. Touch a grass if you need to especially if it’s nice weather out there.

Give yourself a break to recompose yourself and get back to work once you’re ready.

The mental block that you had back then may already have vanished by now before you know it.

Let go of the perfection

In some cases, what causes us to experience writing block hasn’t so much to do with us lacking in clarity or you don’t give yourself a break.

Rather, it’s more to do with your writing doesn’t match up with the ideal writing in your mind.

We all know the ideas we have in our minds tend to translate differently once we write them down.

If it matches with the ideal writing you have in mind, then good for you. But if it doesn’t, then it’s time for you to let go of the perfection you have in mind and embrace the imperfect finished work.

Now, when I say embracing the imperfect work, I don’t mean you can skimp on editing and publish your work as it is.

You still need to edit your writing before you hit the publish button.

Let go of the perfection for sure, but it doesn’t mean that it gives you the license to skimp on editing your work.

It can become a thing of the past if you work yourself through it

The thing about the block of any kind is that it no longer turns into a shackle the more you work on it.

It’s because of this reason some authors seem to dismiss writer’s block, just as much as they dismiss the existence of unicorns.

They write a lot and give themselves a break between work and projects.

Rinse and repeat and the problem will be banished from their lives once and for all.

Yes, the key to overcoming the writing block once and for all is to write more.

The more you write, the easier it is for you to chuck out words every single day.

Does it mean what I shared before is pointless to get rid of the block?

Of course, the answer is no. Those solutions work amazingly well if you want to get yourself out of the funk at that moment.

But if you do want to kiss the problem goodbye for real, then you will need to write more.

Yes, it’s not a sexy solution. But if it works for best-selling authors, then it should work for you too.