Writer's block?

[thelinesoflearning]

So. What are your writers block breaking thoughts/tips/links?

Bonus points for breaking writers block for nonfiction and/or things you don't actually have much desire to write.

Comments

[sharpeningthebones]

Forcing myself to write in five to ten minute chunks. It doesn't matter what I ma writing, even if I am just writing the words "I have no idea what the hell to put on this page." Eventually my brain gets bored with that and comes up with something else.

[thelinesoflearning]

I think I'd have a better shot at that if I didn't have to write something specific? I might give it a shot but I don't know that I can make the right thing come out.

...though usually when I try things like that I really do just end up writing 'I don't know what I'm doing, here are the words to the song in my head' for five minutes but I'm fucking desperate to be honest.

[redsixwing]

I break it down into pieces and write one piece at a time, with treats (maybe as simple as "you can click three links, then you have to write again") to keep me rolling.

It helps that some of the things I write have lots of reusable pieces. Then I'll break it down into structure, write all the reusable things first, and then when I can call one from the main thing, it's a little bonus of "ha ha, didn't have to write that again."

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Prompts can be useful. This is especially helpful if there are markets putting out very specific submission calls, so you have a chance of getting paid for what you write.

Sometimes I alternate between writing a section, and reading or doing something else to raise energy, if I'm having motivation trouble.