What to write about when you've run out of ideas
My fail-safe strategies to get over writer's block
Hello, I’m Molly and I write about my slow and simple life in the Scottish Highlands. Subscribe for free to enjoy occasional posts from me. Or, better yet, join our slow community of kindred spirits to unlock ALL my content, including exclusive writing, videos and resources, to help you live the life you REALLY crave. We’d love you to join us for a cuppa…
I find myself here again. Staring at that dreaded cursor, blinking at me with what feels like unnecessary derision.
I will my fingers to move. To just do something. But, to my utmost frustration, nothing happens. The laptop is firmly closed and I stomp off to seek comfort in a cup of tea…
Sound familiar? I thought so.
Since starting this Substack, I have aimed to publish one article a week which always means I’m on the lookout for fresh material.
When I first started writing, the thought of consistently having to come up with ideas sent me into an almighty panic. Now, four years in to my writing career, I have strategies in place that mean I can take a step back, calm down, and gently coax and mould my brain until an idea strikes and I am off.
Writer’s block is never permanent nor is it insurmountable. You just need to try a new approach and that’s what I’m going to share with you today.
So, lets get into it.
P.S., if you like these ‘writer toolkit’ style posts let me know in the comments as I’d love to share more!
How to come up with writing ideas
Mine your own material
Design content buckets
You will no doubt heard that you should find a niche, which is essentially a topic that you choose to specialise in and focus your content around.
I have mixed feelings about this advice, which I may go into later articles, but there is comfort in having a focus, so this can be a great place to start.
Once you have a niche, a useful way to split up your writing and keep finding ideas is to create different ‘content buckets’. I describe these as ‘sub-topics’ within your niche. These provide a nice structure and variety for your writing.
For example, I have four content buckets on my Substack, including
Slow stories - essays from my everyday life
Slow creative career - essays and guides informed by my work
Book chat - all my book related content
Scottish nature diary - all my nature writing
Substack top tip
If you want to organise your content buckets, you can allocate them different tags, which can then be added to your navigation bar or separated under headings on your home page. Or go one step further and create sections that your audience can subscribe to.
Create a series
Similar to content buckets, a series allows you to drill down further on a specific topic within your niche. This series can be within an existing bucket or can be an opportunity to explore a new topic within your niche.
You can create a similar format for these posts, so you have a blueprint to follow, which helps get over that stumbling block of a blank page.
For instance, I have started creating ‘slow scroll’ posts for my members, which are round ups of all my monthly favourites, and all follow a similar structure, including using the same graphic that I designed especially.
(You can access these posts and join our community of slow kindred spirits by subscribing below)
Rework a previous article
Our world is ever-changing, both internally and externally, so if you reflect on your previous work, then I’m sure you can find a way to rework an article to produce fresh content.
This can be in the form of an update, a new angle, diving deeper on particular theme or just a change of composition or writing style.
For instance, I’ve catalogued my experience of leaving social media in numerous posts on my Substack. I’ve explained my reason’s behind leaving Instagram and why I’ve chosen to share my life on Substack instead.
Most recently, I shared a reflective post on the person I’ve become since leaving social media, which expanded on themes from both these previous posts, but pulled on some additional learning and utilised a more creative ‘free-form’ style to communicate my thoughts.
Substack pro tip
An example post that is commonly shared on here is ‘lessons from my first xx on Substack’ which you can share over different timeframes and tend to be popular. I enjoy them anyway!
Find inspiration
Read other writers
I get most of my inspiration from other writers.
If I’m feeling stuck, then I commonly take some time to peruse other content, both in a similar niche and creators that are sharing different content, to get some variety.
Don’t worry, this isn’t cheating. All creators do it. My mum, a talented artist, famously says that she has never had an original idea in her life. This isn’t a discredit to her (or entirely true). Its just the reality of living in the modern world.
As long as you are not copying something word for word and ensuring you are putting your own spin on it, then this is a completely acceptable strategy. You can always credit the initial creator who inspired a post as a nice touch. I’ve been tagged in a few of these myself and I always appreciate it and enjoy reading what fellow writer’s have to say.
Go on an artist’s date
This strategy is something I picked up when reading Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way, and is one of my favourite strategies to find some inspiration.
Essentially, Julia encourages writers to regularly carve out time to spend doing something creative and enjoyable, that is not directly related to a work project. This should be done alone to be most effective.
This can be a whole range of things, including visiting museums, galleries, bookshops/libraries or even spending time at home with a good book or listening to classical music.
It might feel a bit indulgent, but nourishing our creativity should be every writer’s priority. Trust me, its worth it.
Use prompts
Writing prompts are an excellent technique you can use when you just want to get words flowing.
You can gather prompts from all sorts of places and there are plenty of freely available ideas online.
You could also find these in books about writing. I enjoy my copy of A writer’s journal workbook (Lucy van Smit), which includes lots of prompts and writing activities.
Most of this writing is just kept in my personal journal, but some of it has grown into Substack articles, including my post starting with the prompt ‘I want to write because’, which became one of my most popular articles on here.
I want to write because when it flows, there is no better feeling in the world.
I want to write because I can’t breathe without it. I am writing. I am stories.
I want to write because I want to write. And that’s enough.
(Last lines from this post)
Another resource I turn to when I’m stuck is Skillshare, which is by far my favourite online learning platform. There are so many excellent writing classes on there, some of which are dedicated specifically to coming up with ideas. I’ve listed a few of my favourites below -
Creative writing bootcamp: Start a brand new story (Myla Goldberg)
Creative writing for all: A 10 day journaling challenge (Emily Gould)
Fictionalise your life: How to keep a writer’s diary (R.C.Walden)
Memoir journaling: Make your life richer through stories (Lana Blakely)
(You can use this LINK to get a 30 day free trial with Skillshare)
Allow space to think
My number one tip for getting over writer’s block is to stop trying. Take a break. Leave the laptop and allow yourself space to breathe. To rest.
In this overstimulated world, we don’t prioritise quiet and solitude enough.
This was one of my key takeaways from Cal Newport’s books Deep Work and Digital Minimalism. He gives examples of people throughout history who have had their best ideas when they’ve prioritised space to reflect.
This doesn’t mean you have to go on an expensive writing retreat. My favourite outlet is to go for a walk in nature, but even just completing our daily chores (without the company of music or a podcast) can give our brains the space it needs.
I’ve had some of my best ideas when washing the dishes!
Capture ideas
Once you’ve had an idea, you don’t want to forget it. That’s why I always recommend having a notebook or something on hand that you can scribble in when inspiration strikes. Just make sure to check back so these thoughts don’t stay stuck there forever!
I keep all my ideas in my Notion, which, in my opinion, is the best organisational and note-taking app out there. You can grab my blogger writing planner template on my Etsy store, which has been designed for Notion beginners so you can get started using it straight away.
I want to cover how I organise my ideas to write consistently in a later post, so ensure you are subscribed so you don’t miss that!
Please do share your own tips in the comments and let me know if there are any other writing themed topics you would like me to delve into.
Until next week,
Molly xx
Note - this post contains from affiliate links
I ought to revise my strategy of (1) anxiously tripping over a dozen ideas until (2) I become obsessed with one that (3) I senselessly overdo before (4) letting it out into the wild for (5) no one to read.
Thanks for sharing, Molly!
Love this. Thank you so much for sharing. More please! I have started giving myself self-designated writing retreats. Or simply, writing days. I imagine others do this as well. I'm curious how you might craft your writing retreats or writing days? Thank you.