After dealing with the symptoms and causes of writer’s block, writing a screenplay can be a stressful situation so why add this foe of all writers into the mix. In today’s blog, I’ll dive into some resolutions to help deal with this plague.

Dealing with writer’s block can be a major stressor to any screenwriter. Sometimes, all you need is a changeup or some personal time to get back into the creative flow. When I was writing my pilot, I found myself staring at a blank computer screen for moments at a time. I would back away from the screen and watch some Korean variety shows to get back in the fold.

In that spirit, I’ll give you some tips on breaking out of your writer’s block.

Research

If you find yourself questioning some of your writing decisions (characters, settings, actions), research can a huge aid in breaking through writer’s block. Looking up culture aspects of a character’s background or real places for your fictional world can great in pushing through and developing your screenplay. During the writing process for my pilot, I spent half of my time reading books and looking up pages and forums online to get a better breadth of my characters’ various backgrounds.

Change of scenery

Any writer who’s been handcuffed to their computer or notebook all day will tell you that changing your environment will open up your creative world. This doesn’t necessarily mean taking a walk outside. You can go grocery shopping, meeting friends for lunch, seeing the afternoon matinee, etc. Any chance to be out and about in the world is a great opportunity to get inspiration. My favorite thing to do is going to a shopping center or grocery store and observe people as I run my errands.

Reading outside of your medium

Screenwriting is amazing, but sometimes, you can get into a little rut with the format as your creative well begins to run dry. Reading outside of your screenwriting territory is crucial in keeping the creativity flowing. Find a nice book. magazine, or blog site to get some inspiration for your characters, plots, settings, etc. My usual reading selection goes between historical fiction, mystery, graphic novels, and memoirs. I can always find inspiration in those mediums.

Tap into other creative outlets

Besides reading outside of the medium, you use other creative outlets to inform your script and its world. Being an artist allows you to be a multifaceted individual so embrace it. Anyone who is thinking about or in the thick of screenwriting usually has a background in some other forms of writing. But there’s also other forms of art that can get those creative juice going. Before becoming an aspiring screenwriter, I got my Bachelor’s degree in animation along with having a background in every aspect of the fine arts.

Try other activities

A piece of advice is not all your activities have to be creative-focused. Sometimes, you have to let your mind go blank and enjoy some mindless fun. After a day of writing, you need to unwind in some way. Video games, film, television, etc. Just embrace it all. I spend my free time going between video gaming, listening to music or catching up on my favorite TV series and podcasts online.

When there seems to be no relief for writer’s block, a breakthrough happens, and the words begin to flow from your fingertips to the computer screen or notebook.

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Hopefully, reading this post will help in getting out of the fog known as writer’s block. But this isn’t the end of the conversation, you can leave comments below and discuss this even more with your fellow screenwriters along with myself.

Come back next week for more on creating the full screenwriting experience.