jelevs:

This is mostly for fiction. But most things are effective for nonfiction. Please be aware that I am not a writer’sblockologist, and therefore none of these techniques are scientifically proven. 

Do: 

- Shower

- Go on a walk

- Interrogate yourself about what you need to accomplish

- Visualize the scene in your head

- Go back and read it from the beginning

- Sing

- Go for a drive

- Cook something

- Eat something

- Call a friend

- Read the news

- Google something you’ve always wanted to know 

- Change the settings on your computer

- Talk out loud

- Pace

- Yell

- Take a step back and see if there’s a fix

- Work on something else

- Expand on other parts of the project

-Refer to your outline (because you should have made one) 

- If you haven’t made an outline, make one. 

- Read something you’ve read a bunch of times

- Imagine you’re a speaker at an event and someone asks you a question about this particular aspect of your work. Respond.

- Write a poem about your frustration.

- Dance

- Close your eyes and listen to music.

- Go outside.

- Watch a video by the Vlogbrothers or ZeFrank. 

- Target the feeling you’re trying to achieve in the writing. Get it yourself, somehow. 

- Lie on the floor, facedown. 

- Look at your collection of books. Think about all the times those writers felt it. 

- Hatch an idea. If you think it’s stupid, ask someone who is smarter than you. 

Don’t: 

- Go on tumblr/facebook/twitter/other social media sites. You will lose time and hate the fact that it was wasted once you look at the clock. 

- Watch television. Your characters will inevitably end up sounding like the ones you saw onscreen. 

- Sit there and stare and panic. You’ll just freak the fuck out. 

- Think about a deadline. See above. 

- Eat. I’m not saying don’t ever eat, just don’t eat when you’re stuck. It’s too much of a distracting process.

- Do anything without a time limit. 

- Do something boring and logistical, like answering emails or booking plane flights. That’s a waste of brainpower that you’re trying to build up. 

- Take a nap. Ten times out of ten you will wake up groggy and unwilling to do anything, much less write a great (or average) piece of literature.