Everyone's heard of it before.

Writer's block.

I get chills just thinking about it. We've all fallen victim to it before. But why?

Writer's block can happen for a number of reasons:

• Idea block: You don't know what's going to happen next.

• Idea hurdle: You know where you want your story to go and you know what you want to happen to your characters, but you don't know how to get there.

• Self-doubt: You know what is supposed to happen next, but as you begin to write, the idea seems far-fetched or out of character.

• Boredom: The next scene just isn't that interesting to you, but you know you still have to write it to get the plot where it needs to go.

• Everything's wrong: You have one of those days when everything you write just seems wrong.

• Performance anxiety: If you read a particularly well-written novel while writing your own, you suddenly see all the flaws in your own work, or you're letting the opinions of your readers get to you.

• Terror of the blank page: An irrational fear that incapacitates you.

It helps to know that writer's block can take anyone as their victim, amateur or professional; it does not care. So how do you not become prey to writer's block?

Brainstorming:

Brainstorming can sometimes be overlooked when it is one of the most basic and necessary skills crucial to a writer's success. It's especially important when starting a new story and invaluable when it comes to maintaining the ambition and focus necessary to complete it.

Don't try to halt or discipline your brainstorming, no matter how inconvenient it is, brainstorming is what turns an ordinary story into an extraordinary one. Brainstorm day and night, whatever you're doing, wherever you are, whenever you can. Jot down notes as they come.

There's now reliable waterproof cell phone cases, so there's no excuse you can't jot down your shower epiphany.

So long as you brainstorm constantly and productively during both the outlining and writing processes, you will always be fully prepared to begin writing⏤without agonizing over the starting sentence or paragraph.

I will be reviewing the brainstorming process more in the Flow, Pace & Timeline Section.

Gather Your Brainstorming Tools:

First, focus your mind on what you're going to write and about—and why you feel the need to tell this story. When you make your intentions clear, your brain is prepared for the sort of brainstorming that results in plot, characters, theme, structure, setting, and whatever else you need to contemplate to get this story on paper.

There are a number of software programs you could use to brainstorm (and plenty of writers like them), but there's scientific evidence that the old-fashioned way—writing with pen and paper—taps into slow thinking, which is beneficial at this stage.

Create the Time and Space for Brainstorming:

Once you're ready to fire up your brain, begin wherever you have the most heat, the element that has been driving you to write this particular story, that keeps it in the forefront of your mind, whether it's a compelling situation, a particularly fascinating character, a dramatic and overarching theme, or the climactic and memorable ending.

Give yourself at least a two-hour block of uninterrupted time to do nothing more than focus on writing. Keep asking yourself what the story is about and what needs to happen.

Concentrate on the broader aspects, but write down any subplots, characters, or scene ideas that occur—and they will.

When the session feels complete, tuck all the pages away and think about something else.

Outlining:

Outlining your plot and timeline really helps you stay on track and avoid writer's block. I'll be writing a more detailed bit about outlining in the Flow, Pace & Timeline Section.

Setting Deadlines for Yourself:

Nothing focuses the mind like a deadline. Maybe create a deadline earlier than the real one. That way you'll definitely fit in editing and rewriting time. Plan a treat for yourself when you finish your chapter and a bonus if you finish earlier than scheduled. (Put someone else in charge of handing out the treat.) Giving yourself motivation (food, shopping, wine, a new book) always works for me.

How To Get Out Of Writer's Block

So you find yourself stuck. You don't know what you want to happen next in your story. Or you do; you just don't know how to get your characters to that certain point. Maybe you're stuck on a certain scene; you can't get it just right.

If you have tried brainstorming and outlining, but still became a victim of the notorious writer's block, what can you do?

Don't procrastinate:

If you're going to procrastinate, force yourself to do something productive.

Skip around:

Don't get too fixated on writing the first sentence or paragraph. If you have a great quote or fact, and it falls in the middle of your chapter, write that first and come back to the beginning later.

Also, if you find yourself spending the last 10 minutes rephrasing the same sentence about a thousand times because it just doesn't seem to sound good, it's not helping.

Just write it down and italicize/bold/color/underline it so you know that you need to come back to this during the proofreading/editing stage. In the first draft writing stage, it's more important to get the content down.

Freewriting:

Write. You don't know what to write? Then literally write about that. Just write.

Have a measurable goal: 500 words, three pages, five minutes—it doesn't matter. Just write.

Do not pause in order to spell correctly or write flawlessly, and don't go back to rewrite. Turn off your 'inner editor.' Just write.

You can also attempt the following ten options:

1. Read a book or watch a film in the same genre as your current story to create a jumping point for your own brainstorming.

2. Make a playlist for your current story. Choose songs that fit specific parts of your book or the theme of the whole book. Each time you hear a song from your playlist, it will inspire you to brainstorm on your story. Some Wattpad writers also suggest these playlists to their readers.

3. Go shopping. Buy yourself something your main character would like.

4. Get out of the house–anywhere–and people-watch. Observe those around you to get ideas from gestures, movements, hints of an overheard conversation, or even just the way people look.

5. Ask yourself "what if ?" questions about your plot and characters.

6. Talk to anyone who'll listen to you about your story. This will not only help you form the narrative more clearly in your mind, but show you weak or interesting angles of your plot you hadn't considered before.

7. Google pictures of people and settings that resemble those in your story.

8. Write a letter to one of your characters (either from you or from another character in your story) just to see where it'll take you, or interview one or more of your characters.

9. List your main character's areas of interest in a character profile (I'll go further into detail about this in the Characterization Section).

10. If your book is set in a place other than where you live, visit this setting. Seeing it in person may inspire new directions for your story. If you can't visit it, Google it. Go to their websites made for tourists. Get a feel of the place as if you were there in person.

Brainstorm as much as you can both before you start a story and while you work on it. Brainstorming is what spurs you to start and continue outlining, and what inspires you with the inner resources to write and make your story extraordinary.

If you are still a victim of writer's block after trying all these tips, my advice to you is to take a break from writing. Read more books; they don't necessarily have to be similar to what you're writing. Focus on other things in your life.

Then try your luck at writing again. I've done this before and it works almost every time.

The good news is that for nearly every novel that has ever been published, the author spent at least some time in distress with some version of writer's block. It comes with being a writer.

Please give this part a vote if you've learned something new! And if you've experienced writer's block before please share how you overcame it.