10 tactics for avoiding writer's block

10 great ways to keep the wheels of creativity turning!

i once saw an interview with lucy dacus, a very important artist to me, in which she explained her songwriting process. she said that she couldn’t imagine herself just sitting down at a desk to write a song. instead, she likes to go for walks, and she likes to record ideas as they come to her. lucy says she has an enormous google drive which, among other things like shadow selfies, contains lines for potential songs. when she wants to continue the creative process, she has a huge repository of ideas, and all of them are hers, even if they are not developed or currently hold no clear meaning.

photo my own

“always an angel, never a god.” lucy says that this was one of the lyrics that suddenly came to her and she recorded in her notes.

“always an angel, never a god,” once a mysterious string of words recorded from lucy’s mind, reflective of a deeper meaning which she had suddenly found this way to express, became the basis for a grammy-winning rock performance. this grammy did not come from lucy sitting down and deliberately writing a song on her bed or at her desk: this grammy came from the fact that lucy is constantly capturing her ideas so she can return to them later and build on them, either alone or with co-creators.

the story about this boygenius hit, “not strong enough,” is why there is one central theme running through all these tactics:

keep the wheels turning, even if you have no idea where you’re going.

fuck your parents: 5 reasons why

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more writing tips: i’m not a cool writer, i’m a serious writer

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1. notes app

if you think a thought has any possible connection to something you even might want to write about, then you should always somehow be capturing that thought.

it does not matter if you have no clue where a thought is going. oh, you thought of a cool sentence that captures some feeling you have? write it. did you see a detail in the world while walking around that you sense you could later build on or integrate into some broader idea? just write it down! did a title for a post pop into your mind, but you’re not sure how to run with it? just: write. it. down. literally anything that floats through your brain must be captured in the notes app.

you don’t have to stick just to sentences or details, though.

write a whole paragraph! write two or three paragraphs! maybe you have no clue how these paragraphs will ultimately tie into a bigger piece, but it does not matter. any time you are struck with an idea that connects somehow to these paragraphs, add another sentence! add another paragraph!

i spent two weeks accumulating details, thoughts, paragraphs, and observations for my post about identity drones before i even opened a document on my computer to start formally writing the essay. when the idea of an “identity drone” came to mind, i simply wrote it down and kept running with it, no timeline.

i knew i wanted to write about berlin, a city connected with so many turbulent feelings for me, but i did not know how. i spent a week simply capturing random thoughts, memories, and feelings about berlin in my notes app. this resulted in one of my favorite posts i’ve written — “berlin: feelings from a city.” thank you notes app!

recently i was going through a friendship breakup. the feelings and thoughts were overwhelming, but i just kept capturing them in my notes app. eventually, all these details accumulated into an essay about the nothingness of male friendship.

when i am not sure what to write about, i open my notes app. often i stumble across something i totally forgot i had written down: these are little snapshots of our minds which fade away into oblivion if we do not record them. it was among these little snapshots that lucy dacus found a key line for “not strong enough.”

what will you be able to find once you scroll through your notes app after weeks and weeks of recording all your beautiful thoughts?

2. walks

how many people have said it already: “some of my best ideas come to me when i’m out for a walk.” that’s what i loved about this boygenius interview, the reminder that we can be creative and “productive” when we are just walking around outside.

when we walk we are stimulated by a huge number of details in the world, and each of us has our own unique relationship with these details. each of us has our own way in which we interpret, understand, and navigate these details, and so each of us has something special to say about them. as you walk: think, listen to music, jot something in your notes app when a thought comes to you, but avoid simply staring at your screen. you will not benefit that way from your submersion into detail.

additionally, walking is just relaxing for your mind! writing does not need to be a process of sitting alone at a desk agonizing over your life while a cursor blinks. the writing process is a creative process and the creative process is an ongoing one: on your walks, allow your mind and soul to roam freely. let your genius wash over you.

i especially love listening to music when i walk. but not just for the pleasant atmospheric effect. i like to really listen to the music, sink down into the music, feel all the feelings. i like to think about how the music is making me feel, and i like to record those feelings. my many walks, music playing in my ears, have formed the basis for posts about clairo, phoebe bridgers, lucy dacus, and olivia rodrigo. all i am doing is thinking about how this art makes me feel and writing it down. the walk is my means for being immersed in this music without distraction.

i don’t need to sit down at a desk and wonder: what is the unique thing i can say about these artists? as

peyton

would remind us in another post, “on jealousy”:

“if you are itching to write something, write it. if you’re thinking it’s just going to look like i’m copying this other person’s idea, know that this work screams you and you can make it your own. if you’re reading a book, or listening to a record, or looking at a great piece of art and your brain starts buzzing, don’t let that voice whisper jealousy. let it declare, “inspiration!”"

go out into the world. breathe it all in and breathe it deeply. remember: you have something unique to say, and you have something unique to say about all of it.

3. coffee table books

honestly, have you ever like legit read a coffee table book?? i love my coffee table books. i have coffee table books about art, architecture, ancient history, world religion, nature, geology, and other random topics. what i love so much about coffee table books is:

a) they have incredible pictures and are extremely relaxing to flip through;

b) they actually contain a lot of really interesting information in the text, but you never need to feel a need to read it all (although i do read coffee table books cover to cover sometimes);

c) because of the combination of stunning photography, interesting information, and variety of detail in a coffee table book, a coffee table book is a reservoir of inspiration.

it was after reading a coffee table book about architecture that i had an idea for a post about gender fictions carved in stone.

after reading a coffee table book on ancient history and observing the behavior of ancient greek men, i came up with a post about the construction of heterosexuality.

and it was while reading a coffee table about earth science that i had my idea for how clairo’s music is a way of navigating our own internal emotional geology.

so, can’t go for a walk on the iciest day of winter? stroll through a coffee table book! you just might stumble upon your next great idea!

coffee table books broaden our minds such that we gain new analogies, new descriptors, new imagery which we can deploy in our writing!

the details you put into your mind are the details you have to work with when you sit down to write. coffee table books are an excellent way to constantly feed your mind with new images, words, and ideas. coffee table books provide nourishment! the coffee table book will take you to other worlds and fill your mind with new concepts and new details that can inspire you. all you need to do: grab a coffee table book or two about a topic that interests you, and dive in for some inspiration!

my choice at 16: stop masturbating or burn in hell

4. “creativity tourism”

you must read this entire piece about creativity tourism by

Adrianna Nine

.

adrianna writes:

“One of my new favorite ways to deal with writer’s block is through something I’ve dubbed “creativity tourism.” It involves taking a short break from my own discipline (writing) to “visit” others, whether by doing or hands-off learning. The “tourism” part of the name is important because it emphasizes a lack of seriousness or permanence: writing is my true home, but I’m going to pop on over to watercolor or baking or collage, because it will be fun and my travels might teach me something.”

i think this is such a great idea. one way to do this is by actually working on artforms outside your box. but adrianna offers additional suggestions:

“Don’t want to spend a bunch of money on new materials? Already have so many craft supplies that bringing more into the home makes you feel like you need to explain yourself to your boyfriend? No problem—you can do a little hands-off creativity tourism! Go to a museum (on one of their free admission days, if they have one—most museums do) and see if anything about the paintings and sculptures there inspire you. Watch YouTube videos in which mixologists or potters or jewelry makers explain their process. Chat with a creative friend whose discipline is entirely different from yours. How do they prepare for a new project? Where do they commonly get stuck? What helps them get unstuck?”

in the same way that browsing through coffee table books can expand our minds, so can exploring other art forms: whether by connecting with the art or the artists!

adrianna’s substack, creativity under capitalism, is highly worth your subscription.

5. journaling

there is of course a lot of pressure when we know and feel: oh no, i am writing for an audience! will they like it!

this is one of many reasons why journaling is so important. i only want to focus on one reason: journaling every day will fuel your creativity. it does not matter what you write in your journal because your journal is for you. in a journal, you can take risks; you can go wild; you can write the most absurd paragraph and no one will read it. you can enter into writing like writing is a playground rather than an assessment.

crucially, journaling each day keeps the wheels turning. journaling combines with all these other methods: walking, “creativity tourism”, the notes app. journaling is where you can bring all these inputs together on paper and never forget them.

so, when you’re in a rut, flip back through your journal! you never know what you could have written and forgotten about. your journal might just become the source of your next great idea!

6. daydreaming

do you ever just sit around and daydream? i used to daydream all the time that i was a girl. i wanted to be blossom from the powerpuff girls, but i knew i never could be. i wanted to go to claire’s and buy earrings for myself, but i couldn’t.

there are many things for which we must resort to daydreaming. i think sometimes people can make us feel ashamed for daydreaming: daydreaming is for children. adults focus on productivity, provision, and the accumulation of physical objects. true, age is mostly a made up concept, but the adult takes adulthood as a fixed stable thing and the adult says: “i am an adult and i have no time for silly daydreams.”

but daydreaming is so crucial! when we daydream, we are free to explore parts of ourselves that we otherwise might not. we can even imagine ourselves in other worlds as a way of envisioning what we want for our own lives and futures. it is crucial for us to be in touch with our dream world because it is in our dream world where we find our own true selves, and once we find that self, our writing becomes authentic.

i don’t mean to encourage anyone to become one of the “reality shifters” that

Emma Carmichael

describes in an extremely interesting post about people living permanently inside fantasy worlds, but we should not be afraid, even as adults, to embrace our imagination and just… daydream for a while!

when i daydream, i like to just sit on the porch, listen to music, and look at nature. otherwise i daydream while i am out on my walks. and obviously, your daydreams can be captured: your notes app, your journal!

7. fun with friends

we sometimes like to think of the artist as an isolated being. i used to romanticize these young women musical artists: i imagined that this “bedroom music” came from them literally just sitting in their bedrooms where they wrote, recorded, and produced the songs they released online.

but this is an illusion. the independent being is, firstly, a myth. it is through conversation with friends, and connection with other humans, that we stir up our internal feelings, thoughts, and ideas. it is partly through socializing that we advance our own inner life, grow as people, and end up having more to say.

peyton

has an interesting take on this when it comes to how literary salons must have fueled the enlightenment:

“salons became increasingly popular in france in the 17th and 18th centuries. high class, educated women would host salons in their own homes, curating a distinguished guest list of writers, painters, poets, musicians, scientists, and philosophers to engage in lively discussions and sharing of new ideas & art. since women were not allowed a formal education, these salons offered a chance to further their education in a socially acceptable way. and while salons were always hosted by a woman of the upper class, the guests were not always in the upper echelon. talented artists, writers, and musicians who came from a lower class were often on the guest lists, making salons a unique space in which the classes and sexes mingled and shared ideas freely. salons are thought to have helped somewhat in shaping the enlightenment movement, a time when free-thinking was encouraged outside of religion.”

i share peyton’s request: “bring back the literary salon.”

do you really believe all those artists, philosophers, and writers would have produced the kind of art they did if, instead of being thrown into these enriching social spaces, they had isolated themselves in the name of constant productivity? there are some artists who do this i guess, but most of them end up miserable, and i refuse to believe that they truly rose to their full potential.

don’t isolate yourself from your friends in the name of being a better writer or in the name of “focusing on your craft.” you are a social being and you need friends to function, whether as your best self or your best writer.

in the absence of old school literary salons, go to your friends! converse! and while you’re conversing, keep the wheels turning.

my middle school memoir

8. old photographs

when i need new ideas, i look through my old photography! there are so many pictures i have taken that i have completely forgotten about. little moments that inspired me and that i captured and then never really dwelled upon again. but all of these moments are recorded, and when we see them in photographs, some part of us can go back to that place, access those feelings, be in that moment.

i like to look at old shots with friends, pictures of fun experiences, and of course my travel photography. it’s a cliche but true: “a picture is worth a thousand words” — and a thousand words is a decent sized post!

so look through your photos! maybe there’s a photo that really stirs something in you, maybe you want to write about it, but you just don’t know how yet. jot down the first sentence that comes to mind right there in your notes app or journal, and then just keep adding on as those feelings flow into you in the coming weeks. eventually, you’re going to have a damn good and damn authentic post.

9. feelings

there is no feeling in the world that you cannot write about in a unique way. the words we have for feelings are nothing more than that: words with no meaning. “sad” has no objective meaning; “happy” has no objective meanig; “devastated” has no objective meaning. they are little words that we deploy to capture incredibly complex feelings that we ourselves hardly even know how to make sense of.

it is our experiences that give these feelings meaning. so literally, just think about your feelings and jot them down. what is your experience with these feelings? how might these feelings relate to the details of the world around you as you experience those details? the answers to these questions are guaranteed to be unique.

for an example, here is an extract from

Freya

’s post, “i’ll choke on august then swallow it whole.” freya writes:

“I started the summer tired, a heavy buzzing deep in my blood that tasted like guilt if I was still for too long, but now the stillness has settled over me like the sweet syrup of figs and nectarines that drip down my chin, the honey of a dwindling youth.

I’m rested, impatient, a young child bouncing on the balls of her feet in anticipation of her next adventure. The summer is falling away in favour of a sharpness to the air and a warmth of the trees that summer only wishes it could emulate. The leaves are dying, but my life is starting up again, stretching out before me and melting into the horizon of possibility, a life that I had put on pause in the hope that it would still be waiting for me when the turning leaves summoned me back with the kiss of colder air and the smell of library books.”

how do you feel about august? or any other month? you have a unique perspective!

as another example, here is how

Alesha 💕

describes her experience of fear in a post called “i am more than my nightmares.” alesha writes:

“fear is like an icy poison. its slow at first, creeping in quietly like a thief. it robs your thoughts, quickens your breath, numbs your hands.

then it spreads to your lungs. they are constantly buckling with pressure.

what is fear like ? my therapist asks. i want to laugh in her face. how do i tell her that i am afraid of her thoughts. does she think this sweater looks ugly on me or that i look like i’m trying too hard or that my hands tremble when i talk or that my breath quickens when i speak. ?”

is there something you’re afraid of? happy about? sad about? whatever it is, i guarantee you that you can write something captivating about it.

in any case, keep thinking about your feelings! develop your perspectives on them in your journal and notes app! maybe you’ll need a whole month just to jot down enough details to adequately express your sadness, and that’s okay. your post will be amazing.

the agony of not being a girl: my first trip to claire's

10. reading

ugh, so obvious right? everyone is like: “to be a great writer you have to be a reader!” and i do believe this is true for many reasons. reading introduces us to new vocabulary and sentence structures which we can integrate into our own writing. reading shows us how other writers express stories, arguments, humor, emotion. a writer who doesn’t read is like a singer-songwriter who never listens to music.

but i want to emphasize one particular strength of reading, especially in the context of substack. reading is not just a source of inspiration: reading on substack is a source of connection, and we are social beings who cannot function as writers without social fulfillment. substack provides a huge community of writers with whom you can connect and from whom you can learn, but only if you read them.

reading other writers on substack has formed the basis for several of my posts.

a post by

Kristen Garaffo

, “the hot girl’s guide to cleaning out your closet,” inspired me to write an essay about how much i love my haim crocs.

a post by

Amanda!

, “i’m not a real writer, i’m a cool writer,” inspired me to write an essay building on hers which i entitled: “i’m not a cool writer, i’m a serious writer.”

when i was dealing with my friendship breakup, it was

Liz

’s post “a diary entry: female friendship” that helped me understand and express the nothingness of my male friendship.

and then there was a post by

sarah cucchiara

, “carrying around a copy of the bell jar doesn’t make you smarter,” that helped me shape an essay about why i love romance novels so much.

in the same way that i have a unique relationship with the art created by my favorite musicians and singer-songwriters, i also have a unique relationship with the posts that i read. they affect me in a different way than they affect someone else, because the details in a post will hit differently depending on the person.

all of these posts are means by which i can expand and develop my own thinking.

if i see another substacker writing about an idea and i like what they are saying, and if what they are saying makes me feel inspired, then i build on that!

because you know what?

in a way, we have our own literary salon here.

here is one place where you can keep the wheels turning.

more writing tips:

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photo my own