Just over a month ago, The Maverick shared her ode to writer’s block. And, following an initial idea for this post falling through I have found myself staring at a blank computer screen willing words to write themselves, and quickly, it’s late and I’d quite like to sleep. So I thought I would share with you a few tips I’ve picked up about how to deal with writer’s block and rediscover your inspiration.

Find your passions

What are you passionate about? What gets you going? What do you never shut up about?  That’s what you should be writing about. It doesn’t matter how obscure your interest might be, it’s highly likely that a publication exists that would be interested. And of course, websites should also be considered. Writing is so much easier when you’re writing about what you love and it will reduce the amount of research you need to do by drawing on knowledge you already know.

Contacts, contacts, contacts

Have a quick look through your contacts book. Who do you know that is interesting and might be interesting to others? Who might be willing to be interviewed or have the expert knowledge to help out? And before you start with the excuses, you do know someone who is interesting, you just need to think hard about it.

Stop making excuses

I am the queen of excuses. I will find any reason I can not to do something, particularly if I know it’s not urgent. One of my favourite excuses not to write is that I don’t have anything to write about. But I think I’ve already suggested that there is always something to write about. What are the excuses you make? Are they true reasons not to write or just excuses to help you pretend? Stop making those excuses, get up, go to your desk and write.

Write

If you’re still struggling with what to write, try just writing. Don’t overthink it too much. Yes, inspiration can be hard to get but sometimes you have to just write whatever comes out and worry about turning it into something interesting and coherent later on.