Experiencing Writer’s Block? Here are 20 ways to get you back to writing:

1. Take a break: Step away from your writing for a short period of time. Engage in a different activity to clear your mind and reduce stress.
2. Change your environment: Move to a different location, such as a coffee shop, park, or library, to stimulate your creativity and gain a fresh perspective.
3. Freewriting: Write continuously without worrying about grammar, structure, or content. Just let your thoughts flow freely without any constraints.
4. Set small goals: Break your writing task into smaller, manageable goals. Start with a simple task or a small section to build momentum.
5. Brainstorm: Jot down ideas, keywords, or phrases related to your topic. This can help generate new ideas and inspire your writing.
6. Change your writing tools: Try writing with a different pen, pencil, or typing on a different device to create a sense of novelty and spark creativity.
7. Read or research: Read books, articles, or blogs related to your topic to gather new information, insights, or inspiration for your writing.
8. Talk it out: Discuss your writing topic with a friend, colleague, or mentor to gain new perspectives and ideas.
9. Take a walk: Physical activity can help boost creativity and clear your mind. Take a brisk walk or do some light exercise to stimulate your brain.
10. Use prompts: Utilize writing prompts or creative exercises to spark your imagination and overcome writer’s block.
11. Write freely without editing: Allow yourself to write without worrying about grammar, structure, or perfection. Just focus on getting your ideas down on paper.
12. Change your writing style: Experiment with writing in a different style, such as switching from formal to informal, or from narrative to persuasive, to refresh your approach.
13. Edit later: Resist the urge to edit while you’re writing. Focus on getting your ideas out first and save the editing for later.
14. Take a power nap: A short nap can help rejuvenate your mind and increase your creativity.
15. Eliminate distractions: Minimize distractions, such as turning off notifications on your phone or computer, closing unnecessary tabs, and finding a quiet space to focus solely on your writing.
16. Practice mindfulness: Practice mindfulness techniques, such as deep breathing, meditation, or visualization, to reduce stress and improve focus.
17. Change your routine: Alter your writing routine or schedule to break out of any stagnancy and create a fresh approach to your writing.
18. Write in a different format: Try writing in a different format, such as a poem, letter, or journal entry, to stimulate your creativity and overcome writer’s block.
19. Seek feedback: Share your work with a trusted friend, mentor, or writing group for feedback and suggestions. Sometimes, an outside perspective can provide new insights and ideas.
20. Be kind to yourself: Remember that writer’s block is a common challenge for writers, and it’s okay to experience it. Be kind to yourself, avoid self-judgment, and give yourself permission to take breaks and overcome the block at your own pace.

Remember that different strategies work for different people, so experiment with different techniques and find what works best for you. The key is to stay persistent and not give up, as writer’s block is a temporary obstacle that can be overcome with perseverance and creativity.

But even with focusing on the outline, my work has quickly ballooned into 80 pages of notes. Not even notes about my specific musical but notes on different approaches to take to script writing. So again I started with a fresh outline of “beats” only to have that, at only 6 pages, start to become a fresh new spider’s web.

You know what process I skipped? The synopsis. And now that I have re-found the synopsis part of the process it is like a lightning bolt for my vision of structure.

Here’s the quick read for those of you, like me, that need to scan quick and move on:

1. Write a one sentence synopsis. Focus only on your main character and their visible actions.
2. Write a one page synopsis. Focus only on your main character and their visible actions.
3. Write a three page synopsis. Focus only on your main character and their visible actions.

That’s it. Simple and direct. For more info and backstory read on…

Approach 1 – Seat of the Pants
For my original script I used Scrivener and jumped right into the outline and dialog writing all at once. Even though I was breaking my parts into beats and scenes, it was still a little bit “seat of the pants” as I dove into whatever dialog or lyric sections suited my fancy.

Approach 2 – Detailed Outline
It didn’t work so version two turned into my 80 page combination of script notes along with painstaking details of theme, character arcs, character back stories, etc. This was also becoming unmanageable.

Approach 3 – Basic Scenes and Beats
I started with a new pared down text version of my scene breakdowns for an outline. My Approach 2 outline was on the 80 page document and now was difficult to scan quickly so that made this new approach necessary. But even as I work on this document, there is quickly problems with characters and where they fit. In retrospect, part of the problem was that I was trying to arrange my plot beats and my scenes at the same time. Big mistake. Also, I was being “too clever again by half’ with all my plot twists.

Approach 4 – Synopsis
Here I wrote three different synopsis in order: one sentence, one page and three page. I focus only on the main character and what they outwardly do. No inner dialog, feelings or anything like that.

When I wrote my three page synopsis I realized that several characters I had in my previous outlines were unnecessary. I had a major character who was right hand to the main character in my original outlines, and through the synopsis process I realized that they were really only necessary because of one beginning plot beat. By focusing on only the main character and what they outwardly do, I also see opportunity for an entire different group of supporting cast members and characters. I didn’t write about those characters because my synopsis focused on the main character. But my vision of the project has changed.

I should mention that I have also spent a great deal of time working out my premise and theme for the project. Theme that is authentic and heart felt can be a long inward journey. My theme, at this point, has not changed. But my entire vision of the project is more streamlined now because of the synopsis approach.

So to my fellow writers: If you haven’t already, write that synopsis. It’s a very quick process at the outset and relieves us from the initial burden of plot points, scenes and supporting characters.

And after synopsis, I will rewrite my beats without worrying about scenes. That will come later.

Many of these are basic 101 type insights but I think even seasoned writers will find a few that will give them pause for thought. There are a few that say the same thing in different ways that I have kept in for reinforcement.  To a writer, a piece of advice worded in a new way can lead to a different thought process and outcome.

Also, there’s at least one tidbit on this list that most people would say is “wrong”; so keep your critical eye on these and consider each one not as a rule, but as an element to consider absorbing into your creative process.

Less is more

Kill your darlings

Not yet (regarding when information should be revealed in the play)

Start in the middle

Keep it present tense or future tense

Let the characters talk; you edit

You don’t have to take, or agree with, every note

Write what you’re afraid to write about

Just stick to questions. If someone asks a question, don’t answer it for a while or ever

Don’t be sentimental about your work

Every scene should be a fight, a seduction or a negotiation

If a word or line doesn’t serve to further the action or story, cut it

What a character wants and what a character needs are virtually never the same thing

Listen to your characters. They will tell you what they believe to be true.

Get angry

Learn the rules so you know how to break them

Start as late as you can in the action, so the audience is immediately engaged and trying to get up to speed

Full length, by the end of page two we should know what the play is about. Ten minute play, by the end of page one.

Tension

Exposition is ammunition – only fire it off when you need to.

Nothing is good or bad until you write it. Never be afraid to write anything.

Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.

Where/What is the danger?

Love scenes are murders, murders are love scenes.

Why today?

Come into scene at the latest possible moment.

Write YOUR play

Show don’t tell

Put your characters in danger

You need to know three things before you ever write a line: What you want, what the characters want and what the characters actually do about it

Always tell the truth and then lie about it.

Your characters are real people, not imagination, and this is their story, not yours

If you are writing a comedy, keep your funniest scene for the last act

Listen to the characters’ silence

Run towards the questions the audience has (If the audience has a question about a character or action, don’t gloss over it; address it so the audience won’t get hung up on the small details)

Write characters that actors would kill to play

ALWAYS order the second drink

Give the actors something fun to do

Shock is good. The answers and endings don’t always have to be good.

Give your characters secrets

Character is story and story is character

You’re making a blueprint from which a team of creative people will build. NEVER explain. If it reads easily, it’s probably over-written.

Read one’s character’s lines all the way through when you’re editing – and end on an action.

If you have a scene that isn’t working then you should ask yourself three questions: Who wants what from whom? What happens if they get it or don’t? And why now?

Cut extraneous words; be merciless

Audiences care more about WHY someone does something than the actual behavior itself

Don’t talk to much about what you are writing until you’re ready to share it

Let the first draft suck

Don’t be afraid to make them feel

Every line in a play needs to add to a character, add to the plot, or be really really funny

Tighter is better. Never let your audience get in front of you

Pinter: A character, a place, a line of dialogue. You’re off.

Don’t show your work to anyone until it’s finished. Then only to someone who can progress it in some way.

Sometimes dialogue is not spoken

If a character should cry but doesn’t, sometimes the audience will for them

Love is in the details

Don’t let a page or two go by without a change in beat and/or a new action

Don’t ever invite the “editor” in until the “writer” is finished

That son of a bitch keeps interrupting me while I’m working

Do not start without a plan

I like writing without a plan. The characters tell me what happens next.

More needs to happen in less time

A play should be able to be produced with two chairs and a hanging lightbulb, and still make sense

No matter how small the beat, what just changed?

If there’s a gun on the will it better go off by the end of act one

If there’s a paper shredder onstage, someone’s necktie has to get caught in it

Learn how to hold the situation

Writing is rewriting

Keep it in the present tense

Only you can judge your work

Never write a character who is dumber than you

Let a play be as long as it’s meant to be, don’t telescope it into a perceived requirement

Everybody in the scene wants something

There are no rules

Write crap, then revise the hell out of it

Never give anybody anything the first time they ask

First draft is your gut, second draft is your brain, everything after is your heart

Start where the action starts

Being a screenwriter means you have to kill your “babies”

Finish it

I never met a script I couldn’t cut 10% out of