10 Writer's Block Beat-Downs

Paul Donnett

Anyone who's ever put pen to paper (or fingers to keys) has experienced it.

You felt so smart half an hour ago, as you rolled up your sleeves with every hope and intention of creating something truly clever, elegantly worded, and above all, relatable. And now you're staring a hole through a blank page like your life depends on it - and wondering how you ever got it in your craw that you could write in the first place.

Ah yes. Writer’s block.

Writer’s block is sneaky. It doesn’t send a calendar invite. It doesn’t care about deadlines, confidence, or the fact that you told someone you’d “have a draft done by tonight.” It just shows up unannounced, kicks its feet up, and says, “So… what are we not writing today?”

Here’s the good news: writer’s block isn’t something happening to you. It’s something happening inside you.

Which means it’s not permanent. It’s not a verdict on your talent. And it’s definitely not proof that you should “finally be realistic” and start that exciting new career in spreadsheet management.

It’s just your brain doing a weird little dance.

And you have options. Lots of them. You can wait it out. Work through it. Distract it. Trick it. Bribe it. Sometimes you just let it sit quietly in the corner until it gets bored and leaves. Very mature.

Also worth saying: writer’s block happens to every writer. New writers. Experienced writers. Published writers. Writers you secretly compare yourself to and assume never struggle because they look so confident in their author photos.

It only starts to feel truly unbearable when there’s a deadline involved, or when we start taking it personally. When it turns into a whole thing. You know—the moment where throwing your laptop out the window feels like a reasonable problem-solving strategy.

So let’s talk about dealing with it—calmly, kindly, and without shouting.

Psychologists Michael Barrios and Jerome Singer identified four common causes of writer’s block:

1. Being extremely hard on yourself (perfectionism strikes again)
2. Comparing yourself to other writers (perfectionism, but social)
3. Not getting enough external motivation (praise, feedback, attention—any of it would be nice)
4. Losing internal motivation (self-doubt, fatigue, or temporarily forgetting why you cared in the first place)

If you nodded at any of those, congratulations—you are extremely normal.

Quick side note: if your block is tied to deeper mental health issues, trauma, or neurodivergence, some of what follows might not be enough on its own. Support helps. Therapy helps. Nothing weird about that at all.

For everyone else, writer’s block usually comes down to one of two things:

your brain needs a break… or your brain needs to be gently but firmly told, “Okay, we’re doing this anyway.”

So I split solutions into two very scientific categories:

Brain Breaks and Dig-Ins

Brain Breaks: Sometimes the best thing you can do is step away and reset. Not quit. Just… pause the spiral.

Try one of these:

Get some sleep. You’re not terrible at writing. You’re tired. These two things look shockingly similar.
Move your body. Preferably outside. Fresh air and blood flow do magical things for the brain.
Watch something or play a game. Carefully. This can inspire you—or become your new full-time job.
Talk to real humans. Not just the ones you invented who live in your story.
Freewrite about something you can see. A coffee mug. A tree. A stranger. No editing. No judging. Just words moving forward.

Dig-Ins: Other times, getting up is exactly the wrong move. The answer is to stay put and change how you’re approaching the work.

A few favourites:

Write regularly, not just when you “feel inspired.” Inspiration loves a routine.
Dump the words on the page without fixing them. Ugly writing is still writing. Pretty comes later.
Revisit your outline. Sometimes the block is just confusion in a trench coat.
Visualize the scene instead of thinking about it. Let it play like a movie in your head.
Remove distractions. Phone. Notifications. That one tab you absolutely don’t need open right now.

And finally, the bonus move—the one that works disturbingly well: Set a deadline.

When I wrote comics fresh out of film school, I had to deliver a full episode every month. Final draft, no excuses. You know how often I had writer’s block? Almost never.

Deadlines are terrifying, yes. But they are also excellent at shutting up the part of your brain that wants to “just think about it a bit more.”

So, what works for you?

Which of these writer’s block busters helped? Or maybe you’ve found your own strange but effective ritual. If so, share it. Someone else is currently staring at a blinking cursor, wondering if writing was a terrible life choice.

It wasn’t. They probably just need a snack!