There are as many reasons for block as there are writers attempting to overcome it. These are the primary obstacles:

-Fear of judgment / self-doubt
-Need for perfection
-Exhaustion
-Illness
-Lack of ideas
-Distractions
-Temperature
-Lack of inspiration
-Lack of family support
-Depression

As a professional, I’ve experienced all of these but one: I’m blessed to have family support.     Today I can sit and write just about any time and anywhere. Some days I can write a thousand words in an hour while other days take five or six hours. Some nights when I cannot sleep, I throw on a robe and write, to tire my brain.

What happens in forcing one’s self through those trying times is that you build the foundation for habit. By forcing yourself to not rise from your chair until the work is done, your brain falls into a routine when your body assumes its position at the keyboard.

That doesn’t happen overnight. However, the more you let block prevent you from writing, the more you let the difficulty win, the more your mind learns to dislike the writing in lieu of loving it. By pushing through the block, career writers keep their careers.

Is there more you can do than just bully your way through writer’s block? Sure.

-Identify the best time of day to write. Are you a morning or night person? Can you write in spurts or do you need a block of time? Pick the time and stick to it. Show up. If you had a nine-to-five job, you wouldn’t only show up when you felt like it.

-Push yourself to write for a half hour, regardless of how poor the writing. Then reward yourself with a break.

-Find writing prompts on sites like:

https://www.writersdigest.com/prompts 
https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/500-writing-prompts-to-help-beat-writers-doubt/
https://www.instagram.com/writing.prompt.s/
https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/learning-writing-prompts

-Read something you admire. Reading good writing gives you incentive to pen your own words.

-Free write without concern about grammar, flaws, or sloppiness. Just get the wheels turning. Write a letter. Note in your journal. Write a poem. Quit worrying about whether it’s worthy. Just gets the words down.

The more you write, the less you get blocked. Sure, there will be times you are exhausted, and you need sleep and recuperation. Few people can write through the feverish haze of the flu.

Life throws you stressful obstacles as well. But I’ve written in airports waiting for delayed flights, in hospital hallways, in school pick-up lines, cross-legged on a motel bed, in coffee houses, in parks, in addition to my normal study. It becomes the flip of a switch.

Many psychologists will tell you that block is only as difficult as you let it be. Give yourself permission to write and the words will come. They might not be perfect, but the more you write, the easier they come.

(Picture source 29182733 © Leo Lintang | Dreamstime.com)