10 Action-Based Strategies for Overcoming Writer’s Block
Writer’s block. It’s a thing. But it doesn’t have to be your thing anymore.
It’s frustrating to feel stuck in your work, but you often only need to take a smallish action, usually one you’re not used to doing, to get through it and beyond it.
Writer’s block is not the same as being burnt out, so I’m not going to tell you to take a break or a bath. These strategies are about staying at your laptop or notebook, digging into your work, and making progress. If it helps you to take a walk and think about your next chapter, sure, go ahead and do that. But my list won’t offer any ideas that take you away from the page. These are “butt in chair” strategies.
I’m thinking about prose writers here, but many of these ideas can be modified for poets. It’s all about taking action to break through the barrier that’s popped up in your brain. Here are ten doable actions for you to choose from that will get you producing new words.

1-Let yourself jump around in the timeline
Drop whatever thread you’re trying to follow in your piece and move to a completely different place. If you’re struggling with the beginning, think about your ending. If you have an idea for a scene that will happen chapters later, go ahead and do some work on it now. That climactic scene that will be a blast to write when you get ¾ of the way through your planned outline? Take a stab at it now.
2-Open someone else’s book
You’re not going to read it for pleasure, you’re going to scan it for inspiration. Flip through random pages and find a section of witty or tense dialogue and use it as a model for a conversation in your own work. Look at how the author opens their chapters. Notice how they imaginatively begin a scene or introduce a character. Where in your story could you try something similar?
3-Change the point of view
If your story is written in third-person, write the next scene in first-person. Or take a scene you’ve already written and rewrite it from a different character’s point of view. This can help you get fresh insight into your character’s psyche or even give you new story ideas by jumping off your current track for just a bit.
4-Impose routine
Put an hour of daily writing time on your calendar—like you would an exercise class—and show up. If you need accountability, invite others to join you (Zoom makes this easy) or find an existing writing group to join. Don’t let yourself do anything (including research) except write new words during this hour. This is going to become your anti-writer’s block power hour.
5-Write an easy paragraph
Pick one small and specific thing you could write about and write one paragraph. Don’t worry about trying to begin or end a scene or chapter. Know you can set it aside to use later or not at all. And don’t put pressure on yourself to write more than one paragraph. But the truth is that one paragraph often leads to another…
6-Use mini-rewards
If you’re having a tough time getting words on the page, give yourself a small but significant goal (say 250 words) and then have a treat planned. Maybe making yourself an iced coffee or cuddling with your dog or 30 minutes of reading time.
7-Set a timer
Set a timer for 30 minutes and try to write as many words as possible. The objective isn’t to create lovely prose but rather to maximize word count output. I’ll note here that I don’t take a word-count-above-all stance. Writing well requires the study of craft. But not during your 30-min. timer session.
8-Cut your deadline
One of the biggest writing pitfalls is giving yourself too much time to complete your work. If you’re like most writers, your deadline is “whenever I finish.” Yearly goals are often too large and vague. Monthly, weekly, and daily goals are more valuable. So decide how much you want to write in the next 12 weeks, break that down into weekly goals, and then nudge that word count goal up by 25%.
9-Get out of your pajamas
Maybe I’ll find out that Stephen King writes in his jammies. But he’s not you and he’s not me and we’ve got a mindset problem to conquer. We’re not lounging here, we’re going to treat this writing business like real business. So get up, comb your hair, and put on some clothes that make you feel like the professional you are.
10-Use a writing prompt
Google “writing prompts”, or go to the writing prompts page at the Poets and Writers website, or email me. I’ve given tons of writing prompts to my students.
Here’s a prompt I snagged from George Saunders and I’m sure he’d love for you to use it:
*Write a 200-word section in which you describe a house.
*Write a 300-word burst in which a person approaches and thinks about…his or her fondest wish…and enters. Please use the words “blast of” and “regret” in this section.
*Now write a section of any length, in which, inside that house, we meet a second person, whom the first is surprised to find there. This person either offers the main character his or her fondest wish or informs him or her of a death. Give the second person an interesting habit of speech. I would also like some sort of pet to be moving around in there. Then have that second person leave, saying, as he or she does so, “And that is all I’m going to say about it.”
*Finally, write 200 words in which our main character drifts into the backyard of that house and….thinks. Please insert a crow in here somewhere.
It’s possible to develop an intolerance for writer’s block. Simply refuse to be a writer who allows yourself to sit there while it snuggles up to you. You probably won’t *think* your way out of it, but you can force it to shove off by taking a small yet doable action.