Unblock your writing with these literary plungers

How to keep going when the words aren't flowing

Mar 24, 2025

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Apologies for the plumbing metaphor in the subject. Writing is an incredibly difficult thing to do, especially if you want to write consistently and to a not-entirely-rubbish quality. And sometimes, the words: they do not come.

I write a weekly serial called Tales from the Triverse. In practical terms, that means a new chapter averaging 1,500 words every single week. I’ve been publishing it for over three years. Prior to Triverse, I did the same with with three other projects, starting around 2015.1

That’s a lot of writing, and I’ve rarely run into the problem of not being able to write. That’s not really an option if you’re publishing a serial, and writing live to the page. Same with comics writers or TV writers, where you can’t just show up at work and shrug and blame ‘the muse’.

I think I sometimes take it for granted. Many of my writer friends agonise and are locked in an endless wrestling match with their words. As such, I’ve tried to pinpoint the techniques I used to just keep writing. If you find yourself struggling to write, perhaps they’ll help.

In no particular order, then:

Describe sensations of the space

This is the trick I turn to the most, without really thinking about it. If I don’t know how to get into a scene or a chapter, it’s usually because I’m obsessing over the plot and the action. That’s a stressful place to start.

Instead, I rewind and consider the space the character is in. This isn’t about describing the space visually, which can be challenging in its own way. I prefer to linger on the other senses: smell, touch, sound, taste. And perhaps more ephemeral aspects of what they’re seeing: considering the way the light plays across surfaces, rather than describing the surfaces themselves.

Let’s take a character in a café. The café might be in Paris. Or it could be in Austin, Texas. Or it could be on a space station. Or in a floating crystal city above a barren lake.

What are the sounds? Noisy chatter, or a distant clatter of plates being washed in the kitchen? Are there birds tweeting in the trees outside the window, or cars rushing by? Is there a parade, or buskers playing music? Is the street entirely, eerily deserted? Is there a TV on in the corner?

What are the smells? Freshly baked bread and pastries? The toilet, emanating into the greasy spoon café? Disinfectant as the cleaner does their rounds at the tail end of the day, your protagonist the last person in the place?

What can your character feel? Is the table they’re sat at still covered in crumbs from the previous person? Is the floor littered with debris from an infant in a high chair? Are they sat at the bar, the wooden surface full of lines and carved messages from decades past?

What’s the coffee taste like? Burningly hot? Silky and smooth? Did your character put too much sugar in? Or maybe they picked up the salt by accident. Is it the best brunch they’ve ever had, or is it a bacon sandwich with the fat dripping onto the table, onto their shirt and tie?

Point is, this stuff tends to come easily. Dialogue, plot stuff, motivation for character actions…those can all be hard to write. But sensory experiences build upon themselves: start with one small detail and the others will tumble out in quick succession. You’ll probably also find that by focusing on a character’s sensory experience you’ll also naturally segue into character action, which will carry you on into the scene itself.

It’s easy to draw on our own experiences, and it’s also easy for the reader to then put themselves in that place.

Scene-setting like this not only helps you get into the writing, it also does a lot of the heavy lifting for the scene itself. Firmly establish the sense of place, and you won’t need to keep referring to it throughout the scene: it’ll already be lodged in the reader’s imagination.

Have a character recap previous events

This one is a bit of a cheat, but it works. If you’re not sure how to get into a scene, or how to get a character moving, start by having them ruminate on what’s already happened. Take it firmly from their point of view, but have them consider what’s happened in the story so far.

The trick here is that you already know what you’ve already written. If you’re struggling to write, this can help because you’ve already written the material, and all you’re doing is shining a spotlight on it. If you’re writing a serial, this can also be useful to readers, recapping what’s come before — TV does this a lot, as do comics.

I wrote about it in more detail here:

In this case, by rooting the ‘recap’ in the character’s point of view, you get to find your way into their head. By the time you’ve finished examining what’s happened previously, you’ll be in the zone and the character will be ready to go do whatever they’re supposed to do in the new scene.

You might find you cut the ‘recap’ stuff when you get to the editing stage, which is fine. It’s there to help kickstart the writing, and doesn’t have to stay. Then again, regarding a previous scene from a different character’s perspective can be a really interesting way to interrogate the themes of your story.

Please do share this article with anyone who might benefit from it.

Start on a random, tangential detail

If you’re not sure how to get into a scene, and the words aren’t flowing, it might be because you’re too focused on all the Stuff that needs to Happen. Instead, loosen up and let yourself go rambling off on a tangent.

Insert a historical detail, or expand on a piece of world building. Tell an anecdote about something unrelated, or to do with the location, or a funny story the character overhead. Again, this is all stuff that can be cut, but it’s a way to enter the scene and start the writing process.

Perhaps you’re writing crime fiction and your detective is in the middle of a stakeout. It’s the middle of the night and they’re waiting for the criminal gang to show up at the docks. That might be an opportunity for the detective to think about another time they were at the docks, or on a boat, or their brother-in-law who is a dockworker, or a movie they watched about a stakeout that was amusingly unrealistic, or think back to when they were a uniformed beat cop and didn’t have to lie on a rooftop for five hours without moving, or how the worst thing about stakeouts is when you need to urinate but doing so would reveal your position, which in turn reminds them of being a child and not being allowed to leave class to go to the toilet…

None of that has anything to do with the main thrust of the chapter, but it’s a way in. It does some character stuff, it sets the scene, and the detective’s ponderings can be interrupted once the gang arrives.

All of these tips are about getting started, because once you start writing it’s a lot easier to keep writing.

Focus on something really specific

I’ve been reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, which was recommended to me by ZK Hardy and T K Hall. More on that another time, but a concept Anne writes about is the ‘one-inch frame’. When you’re stuck or feeling overwhelmed by the requirements of the chapter, you can try going really small, and putting a little imaginary frame around what’s in front of you.

Don’t try to describe the entire scene — the café mentioned above. Instead, stick your frame on it and describe what’s within the frame: perhaps the specifics of the coffee cup. The rim of the cup still being dirty from previous use. The saucer being chipped on the corner. An odd watermark in red. A handle that feels like it’s going to fall off. Small details, which can come more easily than describing something larger in scope, but which still feed into the main scene.

It’s a handy technique when you’re feeling overwhelmed, as it silences all the noise and zeroes in on something more manageable.

Write something really mundane

That doesn’t sound particularly enticing, I know. But this can be really useful, especially if you’re a genre writer. If you’re writing about crime, or spaceships, or dragons, or anything high concept and intense, it can often help to just take a break from all the heightened drama and write something very normal.

Maybe have your characters go down the pub. Or go to the corner shop. Or sit on a park bench. Eat some food at the market. Activities which are not directly related to THE PLOT, in other words. It’s a breather for you and for the reader.

Plus, depicting the mundane will root a story in a way that is essential. Ryan Coogler, director of Black Panther, has talked about not quite believing in the fictional country of Wakanda until they filmed a scene in a market, with people buying and eating food, and citizens just doing normal stuff. Those scenes had no bearing on the plot or the larger story, but they made the city feel real, and gave the heightened superhero action more heft by linking it to a relatable situation.

Change your writing tool

OK, moving on to more practical ideas for when you’re stuck. This is less about what you’re writing and more about how you’re writing. If you always write on a computer, go grab a pen and paper. If you write freehand, try switching to a keyboard.

I mean, grab a typewriter, if you can find one.

By shifting our method of writing, we use different bits of our brain. I write almost all of my stuff on a computer using Scrivener, but when I have to work out a particularly tricky part of a story, or if I’m taking notes while in a meeting, I’ll use a notepad and a pen or pencil.

Don’t just stare at the blank page / blank screen, while feeling increasingly stressed. Change how you’re doing the writing and it might refresh your brain.

Change your location

On a similar theme, you can also try changing your writing location. If you always write in a particular room, but now find yourself unable to get the words down, try shifting to a different room. Or maybe go in the garden, or find a nearby park. Take your laptop or notepad and go to your local café.

A change of surroundings can have a big impact on your productivity. It’s the room of one’s own notion: most of us aren’t fortunate enough to have a dedicated space just for writing. We’re probably scrabbling about on the dining room table while the kids or housemates are bashing about around us. Or maybe we’re writing on the same computer that we’ve spent all day on working the day job.

If you’re struggling with writing, you might come to associate your normal writing space with the struggle. You’ll get a sense of dread simply from being in that physical place. So go elsewhere, and be refreshed.

Work on other parts of the story

Sometimes the words are simply not there. That doesn’t mean giving up altogether, though. If you' really can’t get actual manuscript words down, consider instead looking at other aspects of the project.

Perhaps you can look at upcoming plot details, and add some more nuance, or work out a plot hole that’s been bothering you. You could take a look at your supporting characters and give them more background detail, or secret motivations. You could research a particularly fun aspect of your world building. You could plan out what’s going to happen in the chapter, even if you don’t actually write the chapter. Or look back at a section you’ve already written and do an editing pass.

There’s always something you could be doing to develop your fiction project. It might not increase the word count, but it’ll still be progress and you’ll come away feeling happy that you accomplished something. It might even put you in a more positive mood to then do some writing.

Thanks for reading. I hope some of those ideas are helpful! If you have your own tips please do share them down in the comments.

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