Writer’s block is a strange beast indeed. The writer lives and breathes writing, and has done from an early age. All we want to do is write; it’s what makes us feel most alive, most ourselves, most fulfilled and peaceful inside. And yet some days, the words just won’t come. I can think of nothing more frustrating in oneself than wanting very much to write but not being able to do so. Happily, writer’s block is not a problem that gets me down these days – after so many years of writing, I’ve developed several ways to ensure the block is quickly and easily broken down. Here are my most highly recommended methods to keep those words flowing onto the page:

1. Devise a regular, consistent writing routine, and stick to it. For example, I sit down every morning after breakfast and write until lunch. I’m so used to that routine now that the writing is automatic to me – out come the words. No time for excuses or dilly-dallying; like a job, you just get on with what you must do.
2. Write at the time of day that you feel most creative. The routine you devise needs to fit in with your natural rhythms. Are you a night owl or an early bird? Do the words flood out of you right after you awaken, or are they slow burners that build up over the day? If you’re sitting at your desk trying to write and feeling blocked, always consider the timing. Are you tired? Or, conversely, are you full of restless energy that you need to expel before you can settle into the writing?
3. Write in the right space for you. Are you trying to write at the kitchen table, while your children clamour for your attention and a teetering pile of washing-up watches you disapprovingly? You need a space in which to write that opens you up creatively, whether that’s a writing room or study, a studio in the garden, a park bench or a corner table in your favourite cafe.
4. Have a little patience. Dismiss the inner critic who, at the first sign of block, will attempt to induce panic, despair and a general feeling of inadequacy! Keep thinking, keep trying a new sentence. Eventually, the flow will restart. It will – you’re a writer, after all, and you’ve written many, many words in the past.
5. Retrace your steps to a moment of inspiration. Re-create as closely as you can a time that you were flooded with the desire to write. Perhaps you return to the meadow carpeted with wildflowers where you conceived a love scene; perhaps you cook tapas to recall what inspired you to set your novel in Spain; perhaps you simply sit down, close your eyes and drift into memory.
6. Get in touch with writer friends. What can be horrid about writer’s block is the isolation and loneliness you feel. When the words are flowing, living the life of a writer is wonderful – you shut yourself away in your own little world, and revel in that. But when the page is blank, you’re just alone. That’s why it’s a great idea to be part of a writers’ network. You can join a local writing group, find a writing buddy or two, or simply do as I do – get involved in online communities. Goodreads has many groups where writers support each other and share ideas. A problem shared is a problem halved, as they say!
7. 7.       Consider what may be holding you back emotionally. When you declare that you have writer’s block, that means you want to write, but can’t. Is that really true, though? Be honest with yourself – does every part of you want to write? Often, fear can hold you back from writing. You may fear failure, of writing something that others criticise. You may fear vulnerability and truth, what words will come, what part of your soul will be laid bare. You may even fear success – how writing what is in your heart to write may change your life. It can be all too easy to blame this entity called ‘writer’s block’, when in fact it is you who is holding back. Sixteenth-century poet Philip Sidney put it beautifully: Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite:/”Fool!” said my muse to me, “look in thy heart, and write. 
8. Give yourself permission to write poorly. Perfectionism is paralysing. If you want the words that flow to be exquisite, the foundation for a literary masterpiece, you’re going to struggle with confidence. You have to just relax and see what happens when you write. So ‘the words’ won’t come. Nevermind! Write other words then – the ‘wrong words’. Tell yourself that no one will read these words, and you can redraft them over and over, so what’s on the page really doesn’t matter. Make your target a word count for this writing session, rather than creating really amazing prose or poetry.
9. Write something else.Sometimes, writer’s block is a signal that you’re heading down the wrong path, that deep down you’re uncomfortable with the direction your work is taking. In that case, taking a break from the work is the best approach. Put away the work you’ve been labouring over – for a day, if you’re on a deadline, or longer if you’re not – and write something else, something fun, to remind you of the joy of writing, to build your confidence and to limber up those writing muscles, so to speak. Try a different kind of writing to your usual style – prose if you’re a poet; stream of consciousness if you’re a novelist. Sometimes, when I try this, I find entirely new inspiration, and when I go back to my main work I’m really excited to be writing again.
10. Be comforted by the fact that all writers struggle sometimes.Here are some inspirational quotes from literary greats. I have some of these written down and pinned up in my study:

• What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat.’ And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, ‘Okay. Okay. I’ll come.’  – Maya Angelou
• I learned to produce whether I wanted to or not. It would be easy to say oh, I have writer’s block, oh, I have to wait for my muse. I don’t. Chain that muse to your desk and get the job done.– Barbara Kingsolver
• Being a real writer means being able to do the work on a bad day.– Norman Mailer
• The secret to getting ahead is getting started.– Mark Twain.
• If I waited till I felt like writing, I’d never write at all.– Anne Tyler
• Don’t get it right, just get it written.– James Thurber
• The one ironclad rule is that I have to try. I have to walk into my writing room and pick up my pen every weekday morning.– Anne Tyler
• Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good.– William Faulkner
• Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.– Samuel Beckett
• If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.– Margaret Atwood

Do you have any tips you’d add to this list? If so, please feel free to comment.