I’m here to tell you that writers block is real guys. And it completely sucks, so here are a few tricks to help you when you get stuck.

1) Always prepare!

Ideas will come to you throughout the day, or you can ask people what they would like to read on a blog. Write those down as soon as you can. I like to use Evernote because it’s easy to sort and it’s always right there on my phone or laptop.

Having these ideas stashed somewhere really helps because when you are blocked you can go back and get inspired again. Or at least have a jumping off point.

2) Call up a friend

Ask a friend to give you tips. Is there something they are good at that you admire? Is there an area you are struggling in that they can help you out with? Get them to help you brain storm; my sister does this for me and its invaluable. It makes for great self challenge posts or tips and tricks posts. In fact, brain storming with her was how we came up with my self challenge post about managing frustrations. She is such an inspiration and I want to be her when I grow up!

3) Use drafts

This one is kind of along the lines of the first one, being prepared. Have several posts ready on stand by. You can write these when your creative are juices flowing. It is so helpful for when the other tips just don’t work. Sometimes you sit down and the words just do. not. come. This is when having a back up post comes to the rescue. Just hit post on that bad boy and voila.

4) Write about writers block

Yep, do exactly what I am doing right now. So I bet you didn’t realize I started this post because of a mad case of writers block. You gotta do what you gotta do sometimes.

5) Lists

You can always search for blog post lists on Pinterest or Google. Personally I have found it fairly difficult to get inspiration from these, but different people respond to different things, and this may be helpful to you.

6) Don’t start with the opening

So sometimes we have a great idea about a blog post but we just don’t know how to begin. Don’t worry about it. Write what is coming to you, usually an idea for an opening will hit you while you are writing the rest of the post.

7) Move around

I like to joke that the spot I’m in isn’t getting my creative juices flowing. This is completely true by the way. Sometimes the solution is as easy as moving into a different room or readjusting how I am sitting. Other times it means packing up my kids and going to the park or bookstore. A change of scenery can work wonders and give you the inspiration you need.

8) Write every day

It can be completely worthless and maybe you’ll delete it later. Or perhaps it will just need some tweaking to make it readable content. Just having those drafts there to finesse is so helpful in times of writer’s block, not to mention writing every day trains your brain. This post is one I started during a particularly difficult session in which I didn’t actually manage to write anything remotely good. Even the beginning of this was patchy and useless and I had no clue where it was going. But when I needed a post to go up on Friday, here it was sitting in my drafts folder waiting to be useful.

9) Listen to music

I love Imagine Dragons, so if I’m stuck, I listen to that. Sometimes it inspires me to write something deep, sometimes something silly, but it works. Find a band you really enjoy and inspires you and listen to that when you are blocked.

10) Open up

Sometimes its just easiest to write what you know. Something that has been weighing on you, that is difficult for you to open up about but that sits heavy on your soul. You don’t have to publish it, or you can edit out sensitive parts later, but sometimes the reason we can’t write is because we have to get those feelings out and we keep pushing them down. Allowing yourself to write about tough subjects can really get you unstuck. Just remember, you do not ever have to post it if you feel uncomfortable, sometimes you just have to let it lose.

I hope these 10 tips help and let me know what you do to get over writer’s block!