Inspiration: The Secret to Overcoming Writer’s Block

Every day I write this blog. It is an awful lot of work. One of the most difficult parts of this process is overcoming writer’s block. Writer’s block is when you are stuck. You just don’t know what to write or how to proceed in writing. I think of it as a lack of inspiration and I think that the best way to overcome writer’s block is to become re-inspired.

How do you become re-inspired? I think this is a function of your personality, writing environment and interests. So let’s explore these three different factors and how they may be used to re-inspire you and overcome your writer’s block.

1. Your Personality – Motivation comes from within you. Sometimes you are stressed. Sometimes you have so much on your plate you can’t think straight. Sometimes you are just not in the mood. These are all personality factors that can impact your writing ability. If this is the case, you have to alleviate these issues before you can sit down and write. So get up walk around. Take a step back from all that you are doing, look at what you have to accomplish and get mentally organized. If you can manage some of these external stressors, it will free your mind and help you create.

2. Your Writing Environment – Where and when do you write? Is the environment calm or chaotic? Are you in an office or at home at a kitchen table? I think the best thing to do is figure out what that best writing environment is and then try to put yourself in that environment each time you write. I write in my office. Most of time it is pretty quiet. But sometimes there are printing presses running loudly, people chatting, etc. I know I write best when it is quiet – when it is too noisy, I get distracted and words don’t come out right. It really isn’t possible for me to tell everyone to stop working and be quiet so I have to be creative. I put on my noise-cancelling ear buds and listen to music without words. This helps me overcome my block. Basically I am taking myself out of a chaotic environment and back to that perfect writing environment.

3. Your Interests – As a blogger, I often write about what interests me. If you can, make sure that you are writing about what interests you. If you are forced to write about something else, try to look at that topic from a perspective that interests you. I love social media. I hate mathematics. When people starting talk analytics, I often cringe. That’s often because people think of it as math. If you look at those same numbers and stats from a the social media perspective, it can change your attitude. When I write about analytics and math, I try to look at what those numbers really mean, it gets my mind away from the horrible things I associate with numbers (like Mr. A. – my Calculus teacher in high school).

Today’s blog is a divergence from my typical social media or technical topics. But as someone who studied psychology in college, it is a topic I love – the cross-section of technology and how people think. Maybe it was just a way for me to be re-inspired.