Writing Through Writer's Block: Five Ways Back to the Page
Every writer gets stuck.
Sometimes it's because we're tired. Sometimes it's because we're afraid. Sometimes we've simply been staring at the same paragraph for too long. And sometimes, the real problem isn't that we don't know what to write—it's that we've temporarily forgotten why we wanted to write in the first place.
Writer's block isn't a sign that you've failed. It's part of every creative life. The good news is that there are always ways back to the page.
1. Begin with Your Breath
When writing feels impossible, resist the urge to force the next sentence. Instead, pause.
Take a few slow breaths. Notice your feet on the floor. Pay attention to the sounds around you or the feeling of your hands resting on the desk. You don't need a long meditation session. Even a minute or two of returning to your body can quiet the unrelenting panic that often accompanies writer's block.
Writing asks us to pay attention. That begins with paying attention to ourselves.
2. Read Until You Want to Write Again
One of the best remedies for writer's block isn't writing at all—it's reading.
Not reading to study craft or keep up with the latest bestseller. Reading because another writer reminds you why you fell in love with writing in the first place.
Every writer has a bookshelf they return to: the poets, novelists, or essayists whose sentences make us want to make something of words ourselves. For Piper Center Director Sheila Black, one of those writers is Isaac Babel, who once observed, "No iron can stab the heart with such force as a period put just at the right place." It's hard to read a sentence like that without wanting to write one of your own.
It may sound counterintuitive, but another writer's delight in language can be the best reminder of why we wanted to write in the first place.
Find the writers who make you want to pick up your pen again and spend some time in their company.
3. Write Before Your Inner Critic Wakes Up
Writer's block often has less to do with a lack of ideas than with an excess of judgment.
Try setting a timer for five or ten minutes and writing without stopping. Don't edit. Don't backspace. Don't worry whether the words are good.
The goal isn't to produce polished work. It's simply to remember that you are a writer.
4. Leave the Desk
The page is rarely where every breakthrough happens.
Take a walk. Wash the dishes. Make a cup of tea. Sit outside for a few minutes and watch the trees, the sky, the hummingbirds. These aren't distractions—they're part of the writing process. Writing begins by being in the world, paying attention to it, and letting it move us.
5. Find Other Writers
Writing may happen in solitude, but a writing life rarely flourishes there.
Classes and workshops offer more than accountability—they offer a community of readers and writers. We discover that writing is, above all, a conversation: our attempt to communicate a thought, a feeling, or a memory to another human being.
A writing community also reminds us that we are not alone. Every writer struggles, experiments, starts over, and occasionally gets stuck. At the Piper Center, we see this every day. Writers encourage one another, borrow courage from one another, and sustain one another even through moments of doubt.
The truth is that writer's block is part of every writing life. As Zadie Smith says, "Writing at every point is a leap into a complete unknown... At every point, you have the possibility of not being able to do it at all. You restart at every blank piece of paper."
At some point, we all face the blank page and wonder what—or why—or how to begin. The best news is that this feeling doesn't last forever.
Smith also says, "The very reason I write is so that I might not sleepwalk through my entire life." Perhaps that's the deepest answer to writer's block. Writing isn't simply about producing pages. It's a way we stay awake to the world.
Sometimes all we need is a deep breath, a great book, a few honest sentences, and a community that reminds us why we started writing in the first place.
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