Issue 153 – November 2025
Recharge to beat writer’s block
Many things can cause writer’s block, including anxiety, fear of criticism, perfectionism, being too busy to write and a lack of inspiration. But you might just need to recharge.
Hello, writer’s block. Fancy meeting you here.
For the first time since launching this newsletter in March 2013 — 152 issues! — I drew a blank on what to write about.
I’m gonna blame my tendency to wing it with this newsletter for coming up against this eternal writer’s nemesis. Oh, there’s a loose plan of “words and ways to reach readers” that Wordnerdery will cover over a year. But the timing of the content often responds to what’s going on. For example:
- When Taylor Swift was in town last November, her lyrics provided good examples of expressive writing.
- Wildfires in Los Angeles in January prompted a look at how explaining numbers can help readers grasp the significance of something.
- All the talk about tariffs this year led to a March roundup of analogies that compare the known to the unknown to explain how tariffs work.
- A confusing investor letter that only a lawyer could love came in the mail, demanding the “Before & After” rewrite treatment in June to make it more easily understood.
I can take a hint. What’s going on is writer’s block, and everyone runs into it sooner or later.
Many things can cause writer’s block, including anxiety, fear of criticism, perfectionism, being too busy to write and a lack of inspiration. I found lots of advice, but much of it was specific to authors struggling with a book, or students trying to wrestle a paper under control (been there!). AI wasn’t much help either.
But to bust a block, you might just need to recharge. Here are 10 ideas:
- Work on a different project. Switching gears to a second project might help you take a fresh look at the first. Just don’t spend too long here or it turns into procrastination.
- Change your writing method. Get off the computer and use pen and paper, or even a typewriter if you have one.
- Change your writing location. Leave your home office for the dining room. Leave the house for a coffee shop.
- Set a timer and write quickly without editing. It doesn’t matter what you write, just write.
- Use placeholders. Try “Clever opening line here” to get you started and move on from there.
- Write out of order. Leave a placeholder and jump to a section where you know what you want to write about.
- Use bad ideas to get you going. Write “10 awful ideas” at the top of the page. See if they spark any good ideas.
- Try mindmapping. Write down your main idea in the centre of a piece of paper, and write down related ideas around it.
- Take a break from writing. Go for a walk, call a friend, read a chapter of a book, listen to music.
- Do something playful. Doodle. Draw. Write a poem about your block.
In the end, I worked on different projects. I went for my usual daily walk and scuffed through some piles of leaves that are still hanging around (both a break and silly fun). I brought my laptop to a different room, used placeholders and wrote out of order. Eventually, my brain gave in and here we are.
How do you handle writer’s block? Please share! I’d love to know — for next time. And happy Thanksgiving to my friends in the U.S.!
Related reading:
The four causes of writer’s block and what to do about them
How to overcome writer’s block: 14 tricks that work
In the Red Jacket Diaries:
Digging out of a business slump, not writer’s block
Fun gifts for readers and writers, 2025 edition
© Copyright 2025 Get It Write. All rights reserved. She/her. Find me online at GetItWrite.ca, connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on X (I’m still there; are you?). And why not subscribe to Wordnerdery?