7 Ways to Get You Back to Writing


There comes a moment in every writer’s life when the words stop. Not forever. Just long enough to make you doubt yourself.

You sit down at the desk. You open the document. You stare at the blinking cursor like it owes you money. And suddenly the person who once had a thousand ideas can’t find a single sentence worth keeping.

If that’s you right now, let me say this clearly - you’re not broken. You’re not untalented. You’re not finished.

You’re just stuck.

And stuck is temporary.

Here are seven ways to get yourself moving again.

1. Lower the Bar Until It’s Embarrassing

One of the biggest reasons writers stall is expectation. You want the next paragraph to be brilliant. You want the chapter to sing. You want to feel that rush you had when you first conceived the idea.

So here’s your permission slip - write badly. Deliberately. Shamelessly. Awkwardly. Tell yourself you’re only allowed to write 200 terrible words. Not good words. Not publishable words. Just words.

The magic is this - once you begin without pressure, your natural ability returns. It always does. But it cannot return while you’re standing at the gate demanding perfection.

2. Change the Location, Change the Energy

Writers are sensitive to atmosphere. The same desk that once felt sacred can begin to feel oppressive.

Take your laptop somewhere else. A café. A library. The kitchen table. Even your car. 

The shift in physical space often shifts mental space. Your brain wakes up because something is different. New sounds. New light. New movement around you. Sometimes the problem isn’t your story. It’s your environment.

3. Go Back to Why You Started

When you first conceived your novel or memoir or screenplay, something excited you. There was an image, a character, a question that wouldn’t leave you alone.

Reconnect with that. Don’t think about markets or agents or reviews. Don’t think about whether it will sell. Go back to the emotional spark.

Ask yourself - what was it about this idea that felt alive?

Write about that. Even if it’s just a paragraph explaining it to yourself. That spark is still there. It just needs oxygen.

4. Stop Writing the Next Chapter. Write the Scene You Want

Writers often freeze because they think they must move forward logically.

You don’t. If chapter seven feels heavy, skip it. Write the confrontation you’re excited about. Write the ending. Write the moment the villain reveals the truth. Write the kiss. Write the betrayal.

Momentum comes from desire. If you’re curious about a scene, your reader will be too. You can always stitch it together later.

The first draft is about energy, not order.

5. Read Something That Reminds You Who You Are

When I feel flat creatively, I return to writers who once set my brain on fire. Not to compare. Not to feel inadequate. But to remember what great storytelling feels like.

Read a chapter of a novel that shaped you. Notice how it moves. Notice how it breathes. Let it reawaken your sense of possibility.

Writers are refueled by story. Sometimes you must receive before you can create again.

6. Set a Ridiculously Small Daily Target

If you tell yourself you must write 2,000 words a day, your subconscious will rebel. If you tell yourself you must write 300 words, something manageable happens. You begin.

Consistency matters more than volume. A page a day becomes a novel in a year. More importantly, it rebuilds trust between you and the work.

You don’t need intensity. You need rhythm.

Write at the same time each day if you can. Train your mind to show up. Creativity loves routine more than drama.

7. Forgive Yourself for the Gap

Here’s the quiet truth many writers resist - sometimes we stop because life hurts. Exhaustion. Illness. Family stress. Financial pressure. Emotional upheaval.

Writing requires emotional bandwidth. If yours has been stretched thin, the silence on the page isn’t failure. It’s recovery.

Forgive the gap. You are allowed seasons. You are allowed to regroup. The fact that you want to come back is proof that the writer in you never left.

And that is the most important thing.

The path back to writing is rarely dramatic. It’s small. It’s practical. It’s a single sentence written on an ordinary day.

Start there. Not because you feel inspired. But because you are a writer.

And writers return.

Always.

Rob Parnell 

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