An infamous mysterious man is rumored to lurk behind a writer’s back; intently watching, occasionally breathing down on the neck’s of unfavorable writers, laughing at us as we bang our heads to our keyboards in agony. A blank screen sitting idle for a good 30 minutes while we venture ourselves to the thought of closing the window and hope that the client will understand that we need our mood to come by. Your thought processing ceased and you caught the dreadful writer’s block.

I had a client who needed a 10,000 word eBook about a type of herbal medicine. After discussion, I played on my usual routine- writing a draft outline and doing intense research dumped on another document. When I was about to start the introduction for the whole book, it hit me. I stared at the blinking cursor in the document trying to compose the best introduction ever but ended up wasting a good 45 minutes typing and deleting the random bullshit I made. It was obviously my own moment of writer’s block, the fearful creative blockage.

I’m not saying what’s written here is what will make you overcome your own writer’s dilemma in dealing with writer’s block; there are in fact a lot of articles about dealing with the writer’s block, but I do hope it helps you just as it did and does to me and keep your creativity and mind flowing.

1. BRAINSTORM AHEAD

While you’re all hyped up on starting what to do, you realize you don’t have a concrete plan on your actual steps and you’re in the verge of saving yourself from wasting time.

Study your topic or story, form your attack and have your idea all set. Do this between your  sessions and not directly prior from your writing. When I write, I usually save an entire day or two for this and even though I still have time, I postpone the writing process the next day.

2. ASK QUESTIONS

The 5W’s and How is probably the most handy guide of any writer. It saves yourself from getting all confused on what’s happening while doing all the work. If you think you’re in a creativity drought, keeping a note of your thoughts will keep the ball rolling in your favor. All the questions, from the “what if’s” to “why now” will keep yourself on track with your thoughts and in path with your mind and avoid the writer’s block.

3. WRITE REGULARLY

Don’t just practice your creativity whenever the need arises. Clients do spring up a lot, but grinding your gears and keeping yourself in check will do just the trick. This goes especially when writing long pieces of article. It doesn’t matter if you write a bit of something every day, at least progress is at hand. But if you decide on getting back to it on a specific date, you’ll lose the momentum and require yourself to reread what you have; this has a high chance of you letting go of continuing it.

Who knows, you might also learn a thing or two you can use on your next project just by writing about your pinky finger… or big toe.

4. GET OUT OF YOUR USUAL ZONE

Have you been writing on your office desk for quite a while? Chances are, you got used to what you see everyday and end up being to relaxed in your comfort zone. Try hitting up a coffee shop  from time to time and you might just meet your inspiration there.

5. AVOID OVER THINKING

You’re probably thinking way too much on the topic or why you’re not producing any results. Because of this, it kills your mind to process better, leaving out the good crops of your ideas. Relax a bit. Watch a short film or two or call a friend to catch up. When your writing mood finally gets back to where it should be, you ‘ll be surprised how you’re actually progressing and getting over the writer’s scariest dilemma- the writer’s block.

Writer’s block is almost like any other ghost story. It scares the guts out of us, but if we find out how to overcome the fear, it won’t be as overwhelming as it used to. Matching it up with keeping your creativity intact will maximize your productivity.