Q U E S T I O N

What is a good way to get rid of writer's block?

M Y    A N S W E R

First, identify what's causing your block. In my late teens/early twenties, I struggled so much with my self-confidence that even when I had a great idea, I couldn't do it. I'd sabotage myself before I could put the words down, thinking about how stupid it was and how stupid I was for liking it. So, if this is what's happening to you, the issue you need to address is your self-esteem, not your writing craft. You may also have (like I had and still have) other mental health stuff going on that you need to address. <3

Even if your self-esteem is fine (hooray!), writer's block can rear its ugly head for all of us from time to time. Usually, in my experience, the problem is I haven't done enough pre-writing, meaning I haven't spent enough time thinking about the concept, plot, and characters before I jumped into writing whatever it was. If you always write thirty pages and then get stuck and stop, that's probably what's going on. It's important to spend some time and energy getting to know your characters and world really well. You don't necessarily need to write all of it down, though that can be helpful. Character and world building techniques can comprise entire how-to books all by themselves, but to me it all boils down to how real it feels to you.

Once you get there, then you can figure out the plot, based on your characters' actions and motivations, and the types of obstacles this particular world would throw in their way. This is basically how you plot a novel: what does your main character want, what's stopping them from getting it, and how do they overcome it (or not)? Once you know your plot, whether you outline it in detail or just sketch it out broadly, you will know where you're going and you won't get stuck (...as much :-) ).

Plotting can be extremely complex and difficult, and it takes time to learn, so be patient with yourself. Set Me Free took me literally years to write, and I wrote a novel before Set Me Free that also took years. Sometimes "writer's block" is actually just time your subconscious is spending to process or to learn, and that's okay, too. Everybody is different, and you will come around to a method of writing that works for you in time.