Stuck in Your Story? Two Simple Techniques to Beat Writer's Block Today

You know that specific kind of misery. You open your document, stare at the last paragraph you wrote three days ago, and... nothing. The cursor blinks. You blink back. Maybe you check your phone. Maybe you make another coffee. Maybe you start wondering whether you were ever actually a writer at all.

Yeah. We've all been there.

Writer's block isn't a character flaw — it's a craft problem. And like most craft problems, it has practical solutions. Let me walk you through two of my favourites, because they work whether you're stuck at the planning stage or knee-deep in a messy first draft.

First, a Quick Word About When You Get Stuck

Here's something worth understanding: there's a big difference between getting stuck during planning and getting stuck during drafting. Ideally, you want to resolve the major story problems — figuring out your inciting incident, your midpoint, your character arc — before you ever type "Chapter One." That's what a beat sheet is for. It's essentially a structural map of your story's key turning points, so you're never staring at a blank page wondering what happens next.

If you're in the drafting stage and you're stuck, it often means something wasn't fully worked out in the planning stage. Which is completely normal. But it's useful to know that distinction, because the fix might be to step back and think at the structural level rather than trying to brute-force the next scene.

That said — here are two techniques that help at any stage.

Technique #1: Free Writing Your Way Out

Free writing is exactly what it sounds like: you write without rules. No structure, no story beats to hit, no pressure to produce anything usable. You just dump everything that's swirling around in your head onto the page — your half-formed ideas about the story world, questions you haven't answered yet, things you love about your protagonist, things that are confusing you about the plot.

It sounds almost too simple, right? But here's why it actually works.

When you're stuck, a huge part of what's happening is cognitive overload. You're holding too many unresolved questions in your head at once — that plot point you don't want to forget, the character motivation that doesn't quite add up, the nagging feeling that something in Act Two is broken. Your brain is running in circles trying to keep all of it alive simultaneously, and that loop is exhausting. It creates anxiety. And anxiety kills creativity.

When you write it all down — even messily, even incoherently — you release it. You're essentially telling your brain: I've got this, you can let it go now. That frees up mental space for new ideas to actually enter.

Free writing is especially powerful during the world-building phase, before you've committed to a beat sheet or chapter outline. Use it to explore your story world, your characters' histories, your themes. Get it all out first. Organise it later. You'll be amazed how much clearer everything looks once it's on the page instead of rattling around inside your skull.

Technique #2: Change Your Location

This one might feel a bit too obvious, but don't dismiss it — it's genuinely effective. If you've been writing at home and you've hit a wall, the problem might partly be your home. The same desk, the same chair, the same ambient sounds, the same fridge twelve steps away. Your brain has learned to associate that space with the stuck feeling.

Try a café. Seriously. Grab a coffee, find a corner table, open your laptop, and write there.

There's something about a new environment — new sounds, new energy, a bit of anonymous bustle around you — that can restart a stalled creative engine. The slight alertness that comes with being in a public space, the novelty of different surroundings — it all feeds into a more receptive creative state.

And if you want the maximum effect? Do both techniques together. Bring your notebook or laptop to a café and free write there. Let the new location shake something loose, and let the free writing catch whatever falls out.

Stop Staring at the Blank Page — Get a Plan

The truth is, most writer's block comes back to the same underlying issue: not having a solid enough structural foundation for your story before you start writing. When you know your story's shape — its key beats, its character arcs, its thematic spine — you almost always know what comes next.

If you want to build that foundation properly, I've put together courses and guidebooks over at Story Master Toolkit that walk you through the whole process, from the first kernel of an idea all the way through to a complete, structurally sound story plan. Whether you're writing a novel or a screenplay, there's something there for you. Come check it out — your future unblocked self will thank you.