The wonderfully funny author Terry Pratchett once wrote ‘There’s no such thing as writer’s block. That was invented by people in California who couldn’t write.’ Amusing, but if you’re a writer, aspiring or published, I’ve no doubt that you will smile but disagree. Some days, you sit down at your computer or with a pen and paper and words flood out – such wonderful days; when you really live the dream of being a writer. Others days, you wrestle with a single sentence for an afternoon.

Over the years, I have written five novels, including Burning Embers, and I’m hard at work on my sixth. One of the questions I am most commonly asked when someone learns that I have written my novels is this: ‘How do you overcome writer’s block and keep on writing?’ In this blog post, I’ll share with you my tried-and-tested formula for writing steadily and prolifically and joyously, without the angst of wrestling with this invisible block.

1. Be in the right place and time and mood.

If the words won’t come, perhaps it’s because you’re simply not able to form them in the moment. Be where you write best, whether that’s locked away in a room, alone; sitting on a bench in the garden; or ensconced in the corner of a café. Write when you write best: if you’re a morning person, get up with the larks and type before you’ve even fully woken up; if you’re most creative in the evenings, work into the night. Write when you’re emotionally equipped to write – not when you’re grumpy or sad or exhausted. ‘Know thyself’, as they say, and play to your strengths and preferences.

2. Plan.

I don’t expect to be in the mood to write every day, and yet I do write every day. Because before I even began writing, I spent a lengthy period of time planning my book in detail, and that means I don’t need to be so full of ideas as I write. I can relax, knowing exactly where the story is going, and get on with the job of writing.

3. Seek inspiration.

Don’t write in a bubble – immerse yourself in life while writing a book. Take long walks in beautiful scenery. Sit on a bench and people-watch. Go to an art gallery. Visit a new place. Listen to music or watch a movie. Do anything creative that has you looking outwards at the world and drinking in inspiration.

4. Be sensible, not self-pitying.

Author Philip Pullman had this to say on writer’s block:

All writing is difficult. The most you can hope for is a day when it goes reasonably easily. Plumbers don’t get plumber’s block, and doctors don’t get doctor’s block; why should writers be the only profession that gives a special name to the difficulty of working, and then expects sympathy for it?

He makes a good point. Writing is hard, as is any form of artistic creation. But focusing on the hard part hinders you in getting on and doing the fun part.

5. Just write.

Don’t self-edit as you write. Don’t think too hard. Don’t criticise your last sentence; just get on and write the next. See the writing part as loose, fluid, relaxed, unbroken. Write something, anything, and the block disappears: because the critic disappears, and the block is the critic. Take a leaf from Ernest Hemingway’s book – ‘Write drunk. Edit sober.’ (Not literally, though, or your editing stage will take a really long time!)

Do you have any tips to add? I’d love to hear them.