3 Ways I Beat Writer’s Block to a Pulp

I have been fuzzy-brained for the last week because of several severe allergic reactions I’ve had since moving back to Washington from NYC. And whenever I get that fuzzy feeling, whether it’s from illness or allergies or whatever else, I get really unenthused about writing. Yet, as a daily blogger and an all-around creative person, writing and doing creative things are really important to my daily life. So, in an effort to motivate myself to write again, I made a list of some simple ways that I use to break through the fuzz and get back into a creative mode. While simple, I think they always bear repeating, so if you are in need of a pick-me-up, read on!

1. Cram yourself with knowledge and information. It seems counter-intuitive, right? But when I am in a haze or a slump, I start to amass tons and tons of information and experiences. I seek to gain so much information that I will explode. It’s a bit extreme, but I believe that if you are up to taking in more and more info, eventually it will bubble over as ideas. Something will connect up and you’ll make it happen.

2. Face your demons. Metaphorically speaking, facing your demons means looking in the face of insecurities and attempting to eradicate them. While I may not have gotten through the eradication, facing them at all forced me to make a plan and get some strained ideas down.
Planning is something I often do mindlessly – making to-do lists and such – but when you have a specific problem, such as looking at what your inner critic keeps telling you, then it becomes more fine-tuned and generates a challenge for you to knock heads with beside the fuzzies themselves.

3. Curl up in bed and grab a pillow. I am always contradicting myself, it seems, but while this may seem counter to the last point, giving in to some restful and self-indulgent behavior is also a remedy I use. However, this one I use in dollops rather than in broad strokes: I will allow for a few hours of hanging out with friends, playing video games, and (of course) rolling around in bed thinking “why am I even trying today?” As you might understand, this process is very specific to your own form of indulgence, so you may instead find that organizing meticulously or eating a bunch of chocolate is more up your alley.

So what about you? Which one of these are you most likely to try/have you tried before? What are some other tips that you’d give to reduce the fuzziness around writer’s block? Let me know in the comments!

If you’re taking my first point to heart, you can check out the Caught My Eye series I’ve done that samples a bunch of different information sources from around the web.
Want a soundtrack to indulge yourself with? Check out my Musical Interlude series for music suggestions.
You may also like to read my post Lists: 19×19 Lessons and Loves, which includes writer-ly advice.