By MJ Gabriel

October 2024

There I was in my home office staring at a blank Word Doc. “I’ve got to write my blog for the month,” I sighed as the cursor on my computer screen blinked menacingly at me. The page was as blank as my mind. Every idea I ever had fled my body, my fingers paralyzed by the overwhelming expectation of my next great piece of writing.

Does this sound familiar? This frustrating phenomenon has many names: writer’s block, creative funk, artistic constipation, etc., and it is real. Not only do creative tasks historically take a lot out of the creator emotionally and physically, leaving them exhausted and unable to constantly churn out work, but also creative ideas do not flow consistently out of the mind like a machine. Like every artist, communicators can reach a mental block with their medium; sometimes our words don’t flow as easily as the tears we shed over blank Word Documents.

Everyone has their own tips and tricks to get over artistic block. Today I share what works for me with the hope that I might help one of you lovely creatives out there. Without further ado, I present “MJ’s 4 (totally not backed by science) tips and tricks for overcoming creative block.”

1. Write silly

When struggling to write your next press release, website outline, or marketing campaign, you might hear the advice “just get something on the page!” I hate that advice – what is something? What if I’m paralyzed by the thought of something! Let me make it easier for you: write something silly. Something totally unrelated to what you are attempting to write. Write down the lyrics of the song stuck in your head. Or that one quote from your favorite TV show that makes you giggle every time you think of it. Write your grocery list for all I care! When you are done, look up to see you no longer have a blank page! The Band-Aid has been ripped off. Writing silly helps us relieve the tension of starting a new project. The silly text doesn’t have to stay for long, but it can act as an emotional support throughout the early stages of the writing process. Just something to make you smile.

2. Write ugly

Ok now you have something on the page, but you feel like it should be more relevant to the task at hand. Fair. Ok, start writing for the assignment, but make sure it is as bad as possible. You heard me! We’re not going for good here, we’re going for done (trust me, you don’t even want to see the first couple blogs I wrote before I got to this one). The desire for perfection can freeze our creativity, holding us back from achieving good. If you’re biting your nails over how to write the perfect press release, just don’t! Write a bad press release, because a bad press release is better than no press release at all. You know what they say, you can edit bad writing, but you can’t edit a blank page.

3. Write everything

Fun fact: I got creative block halfway through writing this blog! I had already been silly and was already writing ugly.  But then I just stopped – I had run out of ideas. What did I do to snap out of it? I wrote everything that popped into my mind – my stream of consciousness. I started writing my inner conflict: I wrote about the irony of the situation, I lamented not choosing a different blog, etc. As my train of thought kept flowing through my fingers, the blog eventually began chugging again as I wrote everything without judgement. It’s like a combination of word vomiting and brainstorming. Wordstorming? Brain vomiting? Hmm.. I don’t think I should get into trademarking.

4. Write nothing

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your writing is to write nothing at all. There will be times when you don’t have the luxury to take this step. When possible, however, writing nothing can be invaluable to conquering your creative block.  When you’ve looked at a page every way you can, typed to your heart’s content, yet you still feel like your creative funk is overpowering your art, walk away.  You’re in too deep – take a step away and let the project, the art, turn in your mind.  The document will wait for you. Come back fresh and give it one more shot then. I’m rooting for you.

My fellow writers, communicators, marketers, strategists, creatives, and artists: I understand your struggle with creative block. I hope my techniques, however unorthodox, help you in some small way. After all, if you are reading this blog, that means they worked for me.