There is possibly nothing more frustrating than a cursor blinking at you like an out of order sign. You love the idea of being a fabulous writer, but when the time comes to actually write, you go blank. You find yourself in a block – trapped! So, what can you do to break the block and write that original social media post, blog article, eBook, white paper or novel? Try these seven creative juicing tactics to get you to think outside the limiting blank block you often find yourself in.

1. Just start

Napoleon Hill said, “Procrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday.” You can’t treat a deadline like a limbo stick that can easily be avoided. Grab yourself a cup of coffee (or a glass of wine if it has come to that point) and just start writing whatever topics, ideas or words that come to mind.

2. Don’t panic

Once you finally start typing, you may feel a bit overwhelmed by the task. You begin to realise how little you may know about the topic or you start comprehending just how close the deadline is. There is no need to chew all your fingernails off at this point. Take a few deep breaths and begin at number one again.

3. Conquer distractions

The words can be flowing faster than your fingers can keep up, but then your friend tags you in a picture on Facebook or the dog runs in for a kiss. Before you know it, you have spent an hour scrolling through Facebook or playing with Scruffy outside. You have to choose to conquer distractions and set your mind on completing the writing task.

4. Keep persevering

Sometimes, while writing, you can hit multiple blocks. It’s very easy to surrender at these points and find something else to do. Something that doesn’t make you feel quite so frustrated. As Beth Dunn said, “Writer’s block is a comforting lie we tell ourselves so we can stop writing and go do other, more pleasurable things.” Hold off on pleasure and keep persevering.

5. Exercise creativity

You imagination can go wild, but it often seems to prefer tameness. You may need to coax the wildside out of your creativity. Try a few things to stimulate ideas like these ten exercises that are better than brainstorming.

6. Find inspiration

All that brain exercising can be exhausting, especially if it wasn’t helpful. Ideas come to people in many different ways, so if creative exercises don’t ignite something in you then go find your inspiration. What place or person or activity fills you with happiness? Maybe it is going to your local park or hanging out with your witty friend or doing a pilates class.

7. Try again

Like any work of art, you know that your writing will be judged. So fear of failure can prevent you from even starting and rejection of past attempts can discourage you from trying again. American poet, Allen Ginsberg, said, “To gain your own voice, you have to forget about having it heard.” In other words, don’t worry too much about what people think. Yes, think about your audience, but don’t surrender your unique voice to others’ expectations. If you didn’t get it right, just try again.