What To Do As A Writer When You Have Nothing To Say
All the tricks that have worked for me
Having nothing to say is the worst, especially as a writer.
You can only scroll through your Notes app trying to glean a morsel of content so many times before you. Just. Get. Tired. It’s even worse when writing is your main source of income so there’s always an inescapable pressure over your head to write, write, write. Somehow, you’re giving your all, but it still isn’t enough. There has to be some way to overcome this, right?
There are, aplenty.
However, it isn’t always the easiest to find them. Sometimes, no matter how many articles you read on writer’s block, that ‘aha!’ moment always seems to elude you. As someone who has been stuck in a writing funk for a few days, let me tell you the effective ways that I got out of it and back into the game.
Good art breeds good art
I’ve realized that sometimes the reason why I fall into a creative slump is because I forget to remind myself why I started writing in the first place. This causes me to feel unmotivated and, hence, hinders my artistic process. The reason why this happens is because something’s… missing.
You know that feeling after watching a really good film where you feel like the main character who can take on anything the world throws at them? That feeling is the genesis of art. It is where the primal need for achievement festers inside of you. If our hero can slay the dragon, why can’t you? If someone can write a film that great, why can’t you? If someone can write that life-changing article, why can’t you?
You see what I’m getting at here?
Seeing something great can remind you of the greatness that lies dormant inside of you. The person who made it is just that: a person, just like you. Sometimes, in order to get that push you need, you have to be reminded of the amazing things that are possible when you put your heart into your work. Rewatch your favorite film. Reread your favorite book. Have a hardcore workout session. Just do something to remind yourself of how good it feels to achieve.
Make your own story
Every story is a product of experience. No matter how fantastical a story is, at its core, it’s meant to represent the human experience. When you fall into the same boring routine, you may begin to feel that there’s nothing new or exciting to write about. And why would there be? You wake up everyday in the same bed just to get out of it and have the same cereal (or whatever your breakfast of choice is, mine’s eggs). There’s not going to be anything new or exciting to write about if you don’t take the time to find opportunities for spontaneity in your day.
Stories are everywhere, but you’re not going to find them doing the exact same thing you did yesterday.
Otherwise, you would’ve found one yesterday.
Try to do something different in your day, even if it’s just a small change. Walk on a new street. Listen to some new tunes. You can’t create if you don’t have any new material to pull from. Or even worse, you will create but it’ll feel stale because it’s uninspired.
Remember that you chose to write
Trust me, I completely understand that sometimes writing doesn’t always come naturally and can sometimes feel like a chore. However, when you start to treat it that way, it also becomes a chore to read. People can tell when someone hates what they do.
Remember your first service job? The times when you had to get all dressed up in your tacky uniform, wash dishes, scrub prepping stations, and perform more menial tasks until they let you clock out? At mine, I had to “stay until the job was done,” even if I was supposed to be clocking out; this led to me staying until 1:00am just to come back the same day and do it all over again.
I obviously didn’t want to do this, nor did I enthusiastically choose to. I just knew I needed work experience and some extra cash.
With writing, however, it’s different. I’m guessing you chose this path because it is something that makes you feel fulfilled. When I write, I feel powerful because I’m constructing my own narrative of how I can wake up everyday and choose to do something that I love. It’s a luxury to have your passion be your means of living. It’s very easy to forget that.
Always remember how lucky you are to be able to write everyday and have it be your profession. Taking pride in what you do can inspire you and sometimes that’s all you need to get out of a writing funk. When I begin to feel a (very) slight resentment towards writing, my writing speed begins to lull and I’m not as productive as I could be. This is because when you feel that you’re stuck writing, you build up pressure and think that you have to do it, which creates an aversion towards it.
No one likes to be forced to do something.
Remembering that you’re doing this out of choice reminds you that it’s not that you have to write, but more so that you have the freedom to.
Embrace the silence
Sometimes, the ideas just aren’t there. If you try to force them and they never come, you may just fall deeper into your funk, which can make coming up with ideas take even longer.
Sometimes, you just have to be patient. In this output-driven society, it can be hard to wait for inspiration to strike when results are prioritized over respecting the creative process. But I’ve realized that, if it isn’t urgent, it’s best to just take your time. Somewhere within the blankness of your mind, an idea is waiting to pop out of nowhere when you least expect it.
All of my best ideas have happened spontaneously, without having a process. They didn’t happen because I coaxed them out of myself. If the idea fountain has run dry, wait for it to rain and then pick up from there. It’ll feel much more organic and fresh than trying to fill it up with buckets of tap water.
Thank you for reading! I hope these tips are as helpful to you as they were to me.