A few weeks ago, I did a short video writing workshop on writers block and I thought that rather than letting it languish on an instagram page, I’d turn it into a blog post!

Writers’ block is as much a part of writing as actually writing, and the reasons for getting stuck could fill an entire book (eh, see what I did there?). For centuries writers have commiserated over the shared misery of being stuck, or not knowing what comes next and having no idea how to work themselves out of a proverbial corner.

If this sounds familiar to you, what I’m going to say next is probably going to really rub you the wrong way:

I don’t get writers’ block.

Ever.

Am I some magical being whose stories appear fully formed in the ethos? No! But I’ve learned a lot in the 13+ years I’ve been writing novels, and among those is how to avoid writers’ block.

Here are my five tips to avoid writers’ block.

Are you ready? You might want to write this down.

1: Outline

If you’re not a fan of outlines, I can already hear your eyes rolling. But an outline doesn’t have to be scary. Or elaborate. Or even look like an outline. Mine consist of a brief paragraph describing what happens in each chapter. Sometimes there’s a bit of dialogue. But it always tells the very basics of what happens and it shows me how the story progresses throughout the book. This helps me identify scenes that may not be important, which is especially helpful when I write myself into a hole.

2: Cut the Boring Bits

If you’re stuck or bored or don’t know how to continue, your reader will be too. We’ve all been there. The scene that starts out promising morphs into the asdfghjk scene THAT WILL NEVER END. If this happens, don’t throw your hands in the air and declare it a disaster—take a step back and reevaluate the purpose of the scene. If it’s crucial to the plot, figure out how to change it, otherwise eliminate it. Knowing where you need to be by the end of it should help you see what needs to happen to get there. Or maybe it needs to be cut altogether. Or maybe you need to…

3: Skip to the next scene

Sometimes we just need to skip to the next scene where we know what’s going to happen. I’m a fan of using brackets to mark words or sections that I know need to be addressed in edits, and I know a lot of writers who use this method to save time now, only to curse themselves later. A big favorite of mine is [insert interesting dialogue] or [add cute interaction]. The best was when I bracketed an ENTIRE CHAPTER with a note to [add party here]. Thanks past Melanie.

4: Write the Bare Bones

If you really don’t want to skip the scene, write the bare bones just to get through it. You can go back later and fill it out, but as we all know, it’s impossible to edit a blank page. And when I say bare bones, I mean bare bones. Half sentences, unfinished dialogue, and stage directions that are completely out of character. These notes may feel like cheating, but they’ll get you through to the scene.

5: Lower Your Expectations

If you’re like me, you put a lot of pressure on yourself to accomplish perfection on the first draft, and if you’re also like me, you know that’s impossible. So scribble out a few half sentences to get through it. Or if you’re really feeling the pressure to make it perfect, pretend you’re emailing a friend about the scene you’re writing and describe what you want to happen. THEN GO BACK AND EDIT IT INTO A SCENE.

And there you have it! *magic wand* I now declare you free of writers’ block! But seriously, getting stuck is a completely normal part of writing. What sets you apart from other writers is how you deal with it.

Or just go on Twitter and chat with other writers until you figure out how to get past your block.

Recap:

1. Outline!
2. Cut the boring bits
3. Skip to the next scene
4. Write the bare bones
5. Lower your expectations

BONUS

Write something completely different — a poem, short story, something completely new — anything to get your creative juices flowing and get yourself unblocked. It may feel like cheating since you aren’t advancing your current project, but you weren’t writing anyway, right?

I hope this has been helpful. If you’d like to chat more about writers’ block or anything else writing-related, leave a comment or reach out on social media — even if you think my suggestions are completely crazypants.

Happy writing!