20 Tips to help you out of a writing rut

Everyone feels blocked once in awhile.
It doesn't mean you aren't original or you've run out of talent or you'll never have a good idea again.

This is a little piece I wrote on feeling blocked:

 (scroll on down to the list if you aren't interested I've got an extra tip for you at the very end)

She was blocked.

Blocked from any creative thought or inspiring word.

What could she say.

What could she do.

She thought about love, sadness, and pain but nothing came.

Nothing was coming to her.

Uninspired she thought "why am I even trying".

"Why am I trying" and then she realized.

She realized she tried because she loved words.

Beautiful words, sad words, creative words.

Words that made her feel things.

Poems that rhymed and poems that didn't.

They all meant something.

They all had a mind behind them that thought them up.

It was so simple.

It was so beautiful.

Words where her fuel, her hobby her inspiration.

The minds behind them where friends and the meaning wonderful.

She found her reason for trying.

It lead her to fantastic places.

Places she never thought she could go.

It lead her to people she never thought she would meet.

She found her reason for trying and then she never stopped.

She was free.

Here's a list of twenty things you can do to kick that block out of your way:

1: Read.

Read your favorite blog or your favorite book for a little bit and soak in all the details.

Why is it your favorite book? 

The subject? The writing style? The genre? 

Think about why it's your favorite book and then build on it.

Can you use it for inspiration to make something of your own?

2: Sit down.

Write about anything and everything that comes into your mind. The more cluttered your brain is the less likely you are are to write what you really want to so get everything out.

Word vomit onto that page if you will.

Think of it as free therapy.

3: Go back to your roots.

What or who inspired you to write in the first place?

Go back to where you first felt the want to write.

The first place you took that inspiration and ran with it.

4: Try writing on a different plat form:

A typewriter.

Your phone.

Ink and paper.

In a blank hard cover book.

On a napkin.

On a coffee sleeve.

In a blank soft cover book.

On a paper bag.

On your last receipt.

On grid paper.

On a computer at your library.

Writing is all about being creative so take that to the next level.

5: Go to an art museum.

 Look at the paintings, the subjects the feelings the paintings are creating.

Pick your favorite one and write something in your normal style about it.

Make the painting come alive in a completely different sense.

Take what you see and make it another piece of art.

6: Listen to music.

Put on your favorites.

Or your old favorites.

Listen to a new genera.

Listen to retro listen to indie listen to heavy metal listen to classical.

Let the notes fill your head with new ideas.

7: Take a shower, or a bath.

A lot of people seem to forget how fresh one feels after letting the hot water clear their senses.

Practise some self care. You could be in there for a little longer than usual.

Feel the hot water running over your body and close your eyes.

Just relax.

8: Try writing something that is definitely out of your comfort zone.

Write something the complete opposite of what you normally try to get down and run with it.

Maybe it'll end up being good, maybe it'll end up being a train wreck either way you're working your writing muscle.

9: Take a day off.

Don't write. Sounds weird, I know.

Go about your normal day for as long as you can until you feel that urge. 

That urge to create worlds with your pen.

The urge to make people feel different things.

The urge to make someone who no one has ever met before and have them dance across the page.

You're a writer after all.

Universes no one's ever brought to life before are waiting in your head.

10: Build on your past work.

Go through things you've already written.

You could re-vamp something.

Change something up.

Use a few different words in that sentence.

Read what you've already created and make it even better.

Change the subject but still try to use the same basic structure and word flow.

Give it a new title.

It's yours and you can do anything you want with it.

11: Go out with friends.

Get coffee or see a movie or go for brunch.

Talk with them, what have they been doing?

What have you been doing?

Have they met anyone new?

Have you met anyone new?

Do they have a new hobby?

Do you?

Have a good long chat.

12: Go on social media.

That's what it's there for after all.

That's why you're reading this right now.

Google "writing inspiration".

Go on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Snapchat, or Wikipedia.

Look on blogs, in magazine articles on Google plus.

Social media is full of endless ideas.

13: Write from a different perspective.

In the third person.

As an onlooker in the protagonists world.

From a child's point of view.

From an animals point of view.

An aliens point of view as he comes to earth for the firs time.

From an elderly person's mind.

Get out of your own head into someone else's.

14: Use emotion.

Think of the times you've felt an emotion so deeply the memory is forever carved into your mind.

It doesn't have to be a positive emotion. It doesn't have to be complicated.

Maybe it was just the pure bliss you felt when you were hugging someone you love and you both breathed deeply at the same time.

Maybe it was the deep pain you felt when you lost someone.

Use it.

15: Work in a different space.

Go to your local park.

Go to the swimming pool.

Go sit on a picnic blanket.

Go to a coffee shop.

The library, the front porch, your best friends house.

16: Push,

Sometimes you just need to push through.

Sit down and describe something. Anything.

Describe the room you're in.

Describe the people you see or the people you saw of the bus yesterday.

Describe how your coffee tasted this morning.

Describe how the sun shining through the window feels on your skin.

Describe how a  dog looks when it's on a walk.

17: Go somewhere alone.

Sad? No forget that. Whoever said going out alone was sad is wrong.

Go out alone, take yourself on a date go do something you've always wanted to do.

Come home and write about how you felt, what you saw, who you crossed paths with, what you ate, what the whether was like, what shoes you wore. 

It doesn't matter as long as you're writing about a new experience. 

18: Spice up your normal routine.

Take a different route to where ever you're going today.

Look around, take everything in.

Read a blog post you normally wouldn't.

Get yourself a new scarf or a new tie.

Buy yourself some new food you've never tried before.

19: Sleep.

Much like taking a bath or a shower people forget how magical sleep can be.

Your brain gets tired.

Your body wears out.

Get some sleep.

Read a book, curl up with something to sip on and tuck yourself in bed.

If you have dreams, write about them.

Change them up.

Make them a whole new story or poem.

There you go a whole new work and all you did was sleep and embellish!

20: Write about what you fangirl over.

Write about books.

Video games.

Sci-fi.

Siamese cats.

The Bermuda triangle.

Cosplaying.

The sun.

Sports.

Writing poetry.

Calculus. 

Whatever you geek out over- write about that.

Bonus tip:

21: Ask people.

Ask people you know what inspires them to write.

Strike up a conversation with your favorite blogger if you can.

Call up your friend. 

Email people.

Reach out for people's advice and see what they have to say.

Remember there are endless possibilities.

Endless subjects.

You'll never come up empty for to long.

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The picture above was taken and edited by yours truly.

Happy scrolling!