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How I Killed Writer's Block

Posted by Matt Birchler
β€” 1 min read

I was asked this weekend whether I ever find it hard to think of things to write about. I thought for a second and simply said "nope".

A few years ago that answer would have been "yup!" but after years of writing (and producing over 500 posts in 2015), I really don't have a hard time sitting down and writing everyday. Sometimes I have something rattling around in my head when I sit down at my iPad to write, but many times I don't.

It's those days where I don't have anything I just need to get on the page that can be tricky. You have to look around and think about what you want to say. Or you could just not write anything at all, and that's okay. But when you decide that you have to write something every day, that's when you can start to permanently break through writer's block.

At first, most of the things you crap out just to say you wrote something are garbage. Oftentimes they're redundant or rehashes of what you or other have already said time and time again. But give it some time, and these pieces will get better as you become a better writer.

The real magic is that writing everyday gets you on a mental place where you're always at least subconsciously thinking of topics. This means that you have fewer of these days where nothing is coming to you and you find yourself sitting down with a clear idea of what you want to say.

Ultimately, writing is just like anything else in life, you get better by practicing. The word "inspiration" comes up a lot when people talk about writing, but inspiration is a result of hard work. You have to find it, it's not just going to find you.