Your writing may consist of short projects like blogging, stories, or essays or longer pieces like in-depth articles, novels or screenplays. Either way, it’s frustrating to sit down to work only to stare blankly at the empty page or screen in front of you.

This wasted work time can lead to stress over impending or missed deadlines, and it can even make you question your talent as a writer.

Fortunately, using the right strategies can make a big difference in your writing productivity. Here are five tips you can implement today that can help you beat even a tough case of writer’s block.

Break Your Routine

As humans, our brain’s hardwiring causes us to respond to familiar stimuli in predictable ways. When you alter your environment or set patterns, you force your brain to think in new ways that can unleash some dormant creativity.

Here are a few ideas for small changes that can challenge your brain and help you break through a block.

Your surroundings. Write in a different area of your home or office, or go to an outside location like a coffee shop.

Your medium. If you normally use a computer to write, try pulling out a pen and paper instead, and vice versa.

Your timeframe. If you typically block out large amounts of time to write, set a timer for a much shorter window, perhaps 20 minutes. Challenge yourself to write as much as you can in the set time, and resolve to be content with whatever you produce. This shorter timeframe sets a small, reachable goal that can feel much less intimidating, and this technique can also harness the power of healthy competition.

1. Stream of Consciousness

The stream of consciousness method consists of writing down a word, phrase, or sentence and then writing down whatever other words or ideas come into your mind naturally.

This method is essentially a brainstorming exercise that gives your subconscious thoughts a chance to come to the surface. After recording all the thoughts that spring up, you can then go back and organize them into a usable structure. If what you’ve written is no good – at least you’ve got your mind going and perhaps some inspiration will pop up.

By using the stream of consciousness method, you give your brain a relaxed and safe space to release thoughts without the pressure of having to produce an actual text. Whether your goal is to write a novel or a blog post, this technique can help you break through writer’s block by generating creative thoughts and new ideas to explore.

2. Ask for Feedback

Getting another person’s perspective on your writing can give you some fresh insights into your work and point out specific areas where your text is either weak or strong. However, not all feedback is equally helpful, so it’s critical to choose the source of your feedback wisely.

Unless you have a friend or family member who is a writer or editor themselves, getting feedback from people close to you is usually not the best route. Rather, seek out people who can review your text with a trained and objective eye.

A writer’s group or workshop can be a great place to meet other writers who can critique your work from a writing standpoint. If your project deals with a topic that requires specialized research, reach out to a professional in that specific field.

While unhelpful feedback usually consists of vague personal opinions or preferences, constructive feedback points out individual areas where your work may lack clarity or raise unanswered questions.

These insights can help you overcome writer’s block by providing you with some new directions to pursue or areas where you can provide your readers with greater detail.

3. Use Tools

Taking advantage of technological tools can not only help you get past writer’s block, but it can also help reduce your writing and editing time.

For general writing projects, the editing program Grammarly can help you identify spelling and grammatical errors. Grammarly can point out areas in your text that might need a little extra attention, and it can also help you more quickly and effectively get your thoughts into words.

There are also specialized tools that can be particularly helpful for more focused writing projects. One example is the Final Draft software program for screenwriters. This program offers an array of options that can help you brainstorm concepts, develop characters, organize ideas, and collaborate with others.

Your writer’s block could be due to fear that your ideas may be off-target, so the ability to test concepts with software before actually including them in your project can encourage you to pursue some otherwise-intimidating avenues.

4. Write Badly

Especially when you’re in the throes of writer’s block, the fear that you won’t write well can easily stop you from writing at all.

Sidestep this fear by giving yourself permission to simply write your thoughts down in whatever form they happen to take, even if that means your text is riddled with grammatical errors or has a jumbled focus.

Remind yourself that simply putting your thoughts into words is of paramount importance when writing the first draft. Once you have words written down, you can go back and focus on editing, rearranging, and correcting mistakes.

5. Don’t Let Writer’s Block Get You Down

Writer’s block is certainly a frustrating experience, but it doesn’t have to keep you from completing a successful and timely project.

By making deliberate changes to your normal routine, approaching your writing task from a different perspective, and taking advantage of the help that is available, you have the resources to effectively beat writer’s block for good.

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