The first sentence of your speech should grab the audience — it needs to tug at their emotions and establish a connection. It’s also the hardest sentence to write. Writer’s block is very real. But you can learn how to break through writer’s block and boost your creativity.
Studies show that the most common cause of writer’s block is physiological. Our minds are cluttered with stress, intense emotions, or illness. The second is fear, and the third is an insatiable need for our writing to be perfect. This leads to procrastination or avoidance altogether.
Overcoming writer’s block is about developing strategies to get the words flowing again. Here I’ll share some of the best tips I’ve used to get the pen moving. Some of these will resonate and work for you, and some won’t. But what’s important is to have a bag of tricks in your toolbox when writer’s block stops you in your tracks.
Write every day.
Set a timer for 10 – 15 minutes and write whatever comes to mind. Don’t worry about sentence structure or coherence. You’re just trying to flex your creative muscles. In Julia Cameron’s book, The Artists’s Way, she calls this morning pages — three pages of words on the page, whether those are random thoughts, lists, or short narratives. Freewriting builds momentum and helps establish rhythm. The hardest part about writing is getting started.
Freewriting is about breaking the rules. Forget about grammar and spelling. Just let the words flow. If you have trouble getting started, begin with “once upon a time…” and see where that takes you.
Ask ChatGPT for help.
Use AI technology to get going. This is truly one of the best available modern techniques to break through writer’s block. This doesn’t mean you have to use what ChatGPT comes up with…in fact, you definitely should edit the content to make it yours. You’re just looking for an opening to help you get into the flow.
Use prompts relevant to your topic or list some tidbits from one of your personal stories and ask ChatGPT to fill in the blanks. Let this be a fun and creative process.
Create an outline.
Capture the essence of what you want to write in an outline. Include any main points you want to cover in your speech and decide where those might land. I like to include notes and examples to spur my memory or spark ideas. You may find it helpful to print your outline, carry it with you, and handwrite fresh ideas onto the outline when they come to mind.
An outline lets you break your writing task into smaller pieces. It also helps trigger thoughts you want to include when it comes time to flush out your talk.
Start in the middle.
Writing does not have to be a linear process. You can start anywhere. Think about the last time you were telling a friend a story — did you tell it exactly as it happened? Or did you weave other thoughts into the story as you spoke?
Starting in the middle lets you get the easy sections written. It also helps you get into the flow. Breaking through writer’s block is establishing a new flow to your writing. That’s where you will find the creative nuggets that make a great speech.
Change your medium and your environment.
If you’re tired of staring at a blank cursor, pick up a notepad and pen and head outside. Often, a physical change will help unlock your creativity. A Standford University study found that walking outside—or on a treadmill—boosted creative responses twice as often compared to sitting. The study also showed that creativity continued even after the walk ended.
Breaking through writer’s block can be challenging, but it’s doable. The most important thing about writing is actually just writing. Writing is a practice. It doesn’t have to be perfect immediately, and it seldom is. You’re just finding ways to overcome mental roadblocks to ignite your creativity.
