What do you do if you’re writing something, and you just… get stuck?

Getting stuck in the middle of writing usually happens for one of four reasons. Once you understand the reason, the fix is pretty simple. So which one is it for you?

Reason one: your writing has taken a wrong turn. You’ve made a choice that doesn’t make sense or doesn’t feel creatively honest, and you simply need to backtrack.

The fix: re-read the previous sections, asking your heart where things went wrong. It’s important that you ask your HEART and not your MIND, because your mind will overthink things and trip you up. Where in your heart do you know you made a wrong creative choice? This might be in a decision your character made, something they said, something someone else said… Once you’ve pinpointed where this happened, return to that point, decide what needs to be done or said instead (again, your heart will help you with this), and keep writing from there.

Reason two: you have run out of creative energy.

The fix: In the short term, you just need a break. But in the long term, you will need to manage your creative energy so that it doesn’t run out in future writing sessions.

Reason three: you’re writing the wrong story. Your heart isn’t in it, or you’re writing to please someone else rather than yourself.

The fix: Put it aside. Don’t delete it; you might find that you want to return to it later. But give yourself a few days, and then ask yourself – what story do I truly want to be telling right now? When the answer comes to you, work on that story instead.

Reason four: you’ve lost touch with the initial spark.

The fix: This is probably the most devastating version of getting stuck, because it’s not just about being stuck: it’s being a bit lost too. You might have a loss of faith in your story, or you can’t remember why you cared so much about it. But you know that you felt inspired to write it at some point. So what happened?

A lot of things might have happened. Maybe you’re stressed at work, or there are major changes in your life that are distracting you right now. Maybe you’re sick, or tired, or something else that means you can’t access your creative energy. Maybe you’re simply feeling uninspired.

The fix for this is a bit more complex and it could take a bit of time – but if this is the right story for you to be working on, it’s worth it.

What do I do? If it’s stress, or illness, I forgive myself and give myself the time I need. If it’s loss of inspiration, then I do whatever I can to get the inspiration back.

This might involve reading books and watching movies you love. It might mean listening to music that reminds you of your story, songs that carry the same energy or emotion you initially wanted to capture. It might mean going back and re-reading journal entries you made around the time you initially got the idea: this will help remind you of the headspace you were in, and reconnect you to that original spark.

Whatever the reason for getting stuck, the most important thing to do is to forgive yourself. There’s always a reason behind it, and it won’t help anybody if you keep trying to force yourself through it. The stuckness is a message from your creativity to you, so the best thing you can do is respectfully acknowledge the message, and explore the appropriate fix with an open mind.