So I’m lucky enough to have never experienced what most people think of as writer’s block. That iconic image of staring at a bright screen and literally having no idea what to write. That’s never happened to me. I have occasionally worried I might run out of ideas for stories, but inevitably something will strike me at the oddest time. I’ve had two ideas while listening to NPR so I give my local station a monthly donation because they are awesome!!!

I have gotten stuck before in a WIP (many times!), but I’ve never thought of it as writer’s block, per se because it isn’t that I don’t know what to write, I’m just having some sort of issue with my manuscript that I need to work through before I can continue. My subconscious knows there is a problem with the story.  And now after an epiphany about my current WIP in the wee hours last night, I’ve begun to think of what I typically experience as a writing blockage. The story is temporarily clogged, but with some prodding, the blockage will clear and the story will flow freely again.

Sometimes I don’t even realize I have a blockage until after I’ve figured it out. And then I’m like, oh I should have known there was something wrong with the story, since I’ve been so reluctant to work on it! Hopefully, others will be better at recognizing it than me because I have some ideas on how to be a plumber for your own story (am I taking this metaphor too far? I think I might be!).

This time I attributed my lack of eagerness for my WIP to still being burnt out from NaNoWriMo. I wrote 80k and there’s still so much story left! It was a little overwhelming. But I didn’t really worry about it because I’ve been busy with other writerly and productive things this month. So that’s my first suggestion: take a break. Do something else creative for awhile. Let your brain rest from one story to work on something else. Then, when you go back, you might see the problem more clearly. I realized that I was having my character do something because PLOT REASONS and not because she would actually do that thing. It made sense at the time when I was outlining, but when I was writing, it felt wrong. I pushed that thought away because NaNoWriMo, but my gut was correct. So I went ahead and revised the scene a little bit, toned it down some and now I’m much more comfortable with the direction.

If you don’t have time to take a break or don’t have another project to work on, try rereading what you’ve written. You may not want to start revising (you can if you want to), but think about the choices your characters make or the things happening to them, look for problems with the story that may be causing your blockage. Brainstorm some different choices for them. What would happen if they chose differently at a key point? Or maybe the problem is with what you’re going to write next. Brainstorm different ideas for where the story might go, maybe your brain is telling you you need to rethink the direction. Brainstorming is awesome because none of it is set in stone (and by stone I mean in-story words, which obviously aren’t set in stone, but may be hard to delete since you worked so hard on them). See where it takes you.

And finally, pick up a writing book. Something about plot and structure or character development or anything storytelling/craft related (I don’t think grammar books would have the same impact). Read a couple chapters and let your mind wander down whatever path it wants. Jot down notes. My brain is always sparking when reading books about writing, even if I’ve read the book before. And even if the book doesn’t relate to the issue you are having, you never know what connections your brain will make. Two of my favorites are Donald Maass and James Scott Bell, but there are so many writing books out there. You don’t even necessarily need to take any of their advice either, but if there are exercises, try them out. The main goal is to get your story flowing again.

Hopefully, I will remain blockage free moving forward and I hope you do too! But if the worst happens, maybe one of these ideas will help you out. Happy writing!