How To Break Through Writers Block: Become A Content Generating Machine In 2024

Writer block is a term for lazy writers who are not ready and willing to improve their writing skills.

Writing is not just an art. It's a technical skill that demands daily and consistent practice.

It is a tool for mental liberation.

It is the foundation of good Communication and communication is life's most fundamental skill.

From Childbirth to death, we communicate our thoughts, feelings, and worldview to one another.

 This forms social interaction. Without social interaction, the human species will fail to exist.

The purpose of writing is to communicate your thoughts, feelings, and experiences in written words.

So if it's uncommon to get a "communication block," why should there be a "writer's block"?

Writing is simply talking to another person. Whether it's an article, report, or story. 

We write to tell people what we feel, know, and think.

But then, your brain might want to trick you into thinking that it's normal to go through a phase where you're blacked out as a writer.

The truth is simple, as long as you don't stop feeling, you don't stop thinking, you don't stop talking. There should be no interference in your writing.

WHAT IS WRITERS BLOCK; DEFINITION

Oxford Dictionary defines it as the condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing.

Writing Expert Mike Rose defines it as "the inability to begin or continue writing for reasons other than the lack of basic skills or communication."

That means writer's block is not caused by the absence of skills or communication. 

It is a mental invention that keeps writers lazy and frustrated.

But what could be the cause of Writers Block?

CAUSES OF WRITERS BLOCK

1. Distractions:

"Stave your distraction, feed your motivation."

 Writing is a mental exercise. It requires a lot of thought processes.

Your brain works the most when it is focused on completing a task.

  Mindlessly scrolling through social media, for example, or doing something else while writing at the same time often leads to distraction.

These distractions cause disunity or misalignment of thoughts.

That means you will not be able to connect the ideas or the information you want to pass across through writing.

When there is no unity in thoughts, there is no unity in ideas. Your mind won't be able to organize your thoughts and carefully article them.

Avoiding distractions when writing helps you focus on your writing task which will allow your thoughts and ideas to flow without interference.

So even if it's just for an hour or two. Make sure that your mind, spirit, and body are working together to achieve one goal –Writing!

2. Lack of inspiration and Motivation.

Inspiration is the source code of creativity.

Motivation is how you get work done.

Lack of inspiration and motivation will impair your thoughts as a writer. Thus, locking you out of your flow state.

The cheapest way to stay inspired and motivated as a writer is to understand your why.

Why are you writing?

What do you aim to achieve?

What is your goal?

I used to hate writing. I never saw myself as a writer when I was a kid. 

My English teacher back then would torment my soul for having the most horrific handwriting in the class.

It was hell. It made me demonize writing.

Writing became interesting to me when I got to college. I was looking for a way to make money, so I found out copywriting was cool and I could make money online with it.

It didn't go as planned. I did not make a dime from copywriting after 2 years of learning and taking courses. But I learned the basic principles of writing. 

After that, I struggled; joined freelance platforms, and sent cold DMs. Nothing was working.

At that point, writing did not make sense to me again. Until I met Elon Jobs. Elon Jobs taught me how to write properly and also hired me as a writer on his blog.

He was my inspiration and motivation. The fact that I wanted to keep my job made me sat my ass down to write every day. 

So every day I have to produce content. I wrote as my life depended on it.

Little did I know that I was building literary muscles. 

The truth is that inspirations and motivations may not look like it, but when you have them, you work at a different pace.

For me, my inspiration and motivation for writing was to make my mentor proud and keep my job.

As cringy as it sounds, it got me working every goddamn day.

So find your source of inspiration and motivation.

3. Fear:

Fear stems from incompetence. 

Incompetence is a by-product of inconsistency.

When you write daily, you build a habit. Habits form a greater part of your subconscious mind. Thus making idea generation automated.

Incompetent writers fall short of ideas. That's why they fear that their writings will not appeal to a particular audience.

The fear of rejection is common for every writer. JK Rawlings' Harry Potter Novel was rejected by 12 publishers. But it didn't stop her.

There is a different level of confidence when you know what you're doing. It eliminates fear and creates opportunities.

It drives you toward excellence as a writer. And it's this excellence that makes you scale beyond any block.

4. No Pressure.

 Pressure can be good and bad for writers.

It is good when it is used to persuade writers into writing under urgency.

Imagine writing for a publication that demands that you submit 2- 3 articles per day, Your mind will automatically be calibrated to produce such an amount of content.

But when there is no external pressure. When your salary is not on the line. When no angry boss is screaming at you. You tend to cower and come up with excuses like "having writer's block.

5. Laziness.

Laziness is the root cause of writer's block.

 The laziness to think through an idea. To thoroughly articulate your thoughts. 

To read and expand your worldview.

To do research and gather facts. 

Lazy writers will never try. They use writer's block as an excuse to evade the work expected of them.

There is no shortage of words. There is no shortage of ideas. If you're not willing to think and read, you will experience writer's block.

HOW TO BREAK THROUGH WRITERS BLOCK

1. Stave your Distraction, feed your focus.

Pick a particular time to write and focus on writing. 

Don't do any other thing. Drop your phone if you have to, make sure that the only thing you're doing is writing.

2. Find your why.

Knowing your why will propel you to stay consistent and faithful in your craft.

3. Develop yourself.

Read if you lack ideas.

Research to expand your worldview.

Spend more time writing. In this field, you get better by doing.

4. Build a business around writing.

Learn copywriting so you can Sell your services to businesses.

Learn Social Media so that you can get attention and monetize your writing skills.

The truth is that you need pressure and when people throw money at you for your services, you will get serious.

Join Cowritar, it is the best SEO platform for writers to make money and build a name for themselves and their career 

5. Join a writing community.

A community of writers like cowritar can help you build a consistent writing habit and expand your network.

Your network is your net worth.

You need a community that can hold you accountable, vouch for you when necessary, and refer you to people in need of your services.

6. Write.

Set Godin has the perfect formula for breaking through writer's block –Write!

Embrace your ugly first draft.

 Pure out your mind and ideas unreservedly.

William Zinsser, the author of On Writing Well put it right; "the purpose of writing is rewriting".

So keep writing. Don't stop even when you've made mistakes.

Come back again and edit it.