It would be like hard mode! Huhuhu! Fun!

BETTER THAN ANYTHING CAKE

Follow for recipes

10 Ways to Break Writer's Block

Writer's block isn't usually about not having ideas. It's about the ideas feeling wrong the second they hit the page. Here's what actually gets me unstuck, in no particular order because none of these work every time.

1. Skip the Scene You're Stuck On: You don't have to write in order. Jump to the scene you're actually excited about and come back to the hard part later, once you know where you're headed.

2. Set a Stupidly Small Goal: Not "write a chapter." Write 100 words. It sounds too easy to matter, and that's exactly why it works, there's no pressure left to freeze up over.

3. Write It Badly On Purpose: Give yourself permission to write the worst possible version of the scene. Once it exists, even badly, you have something to fix instead of a blank page.

4. Change Your Environment: Different room, different chair, coffee shop, whatever. Sometimes the block isn't in your head, it's in the fact that you've been staring at the same four walls for six hours.

5. Talk to Your Character Off the Page: Write a scrap of pure dialogue, no description, no formatting, just your character talking about anything. It gets you back into their voice without the pressure of it needing to go in the book.

6. Read Something in a Completely Different Genre: If you write fantasy, read a thriller. If you write romance, read horror. It resets your brain instead of feeding it more of the same thing it's already stuck on.

7. Take a Walk Without Your Phone: Genuinely, some of my best plot fixes have shown up on a walk with absolutely nothing to distract me from the problem.

8. Switch Formats: If you always type, try writing longhand for a scene, or the other way around. The physical act of writing differently can shake something loose.

9. Free Write for Ten Minutes, No Editing Allowed: Set a timer and just write, anything, even if it's not related to your book. The goal isn't quality, it's just getting your hands moving again without the inner editor showing up.

10. Walk Away Without Guilt: Sometimes the actual fix is stepping back for a day. Writer's block fed by exhaustion doesn't get fixed by forcing more words out of an empty tank.

None of these are magic. Some days you'll try five of these and still be stuck, and that's normal, not a sign you're doing something wrong!

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks?

Check out the rest of Quillology with Haya; a blog dedicated to writing and publishing tips for authors!

⟡ Says 'I'm not like other people' and they are correct but not in the way they mean

⟡ Describes their whole personality as 'I'm blunt' to get away with things

⟡ Has a villain origin story for why they hate a specific vegetable

⟡ Apologizes by explaining in great detail why the other person provoked them

⟡ Runs on three hours of sleep and refuses to acknowledge this as the problem

⟡ Considers 'I'll try' a binding legal contract

⟡ Says 'I don't get mad, I get quiet' and expects that to be more comforting

⟡ Starts a sentence with 'no offense' then says the most offensive possible thing

⟡ Has strong opinions about which direction toilet paper should go. Very strong

⟡ Their love language is making fun of the people they care about constantly

⟡ Ghosts someone for a week then reappears with zero explanation and full energy

⟡ Thinks they're the main character and it's impossible to prove them wrong

⟡ Refuses to lose even a board game against a six year old

⟡ Gives extremely detailed unsolicited feedback on things no one showed them

⟡ Makes everything into a competition that wasn't a competition before

⟡ Describes every person they've ever dated as 'crazy' with a straight face

⟡ Says 'I was literally just about to do that' every single time

⟡ Cancels plans and then posts on social media from the place they were supposed to go

⟡ Gets attached to fictional characters but maintains that they are 'emotionally unavailable'

⟡ Explains their entire reasoning for a decision no one questioned

⟡ Doubles down on wrong information and then quietly looks it up later

⟡ Gives very honest opinions about something and says 'you asked' when no one asked

⟡ Says 'I don't care' in a way that makes it obvious they care more than anyone

⟡ Is always five minutes late, exactly, every time, like a curse

⟡ Treats their sleep schedule like a challenge they're deliberately failing

⟡ Their apology starts with 'I'm sorry you felt that way' and gets worse from there

⟡ Takes everything personally but tells others not to be so sensitive

⟡ Has left a store because someone was standing too close to them in the aisle

⟡ Sends 'k' when they're fine and 'okay' when the world is ending

Our God is faithful and therefore we put our hope in Him. Since He is the sovereign Ruler of the universe, we never have to fear that our world is out of His control. His plans were formed long ago with perfect faithfulness (Isaiah 25:1), and so no one can frustrate them or turn back His hand.

Quick content note: this one's about writing torture scenes for fiction, so it gets into wounds and pain in some detail. Skip it if that's not your thing today.

Want a low effort torture scene that still actually hurts? Here are some idea:

1. Salt in the Wound: The phrase exists for a reason. Salt in an open wound is agonizing, and it's sitting in every kitchen on earth. No special equipment, no expertise, just cruelty.

2. Chili Powder or Ground Spice in the Wound: Same idea, worse. 

3. A Cut Placed Just Under the Eye: This one's nasty because it compounds itself. Every time your character cries, and they probably will, the tears run straight into the cut and burn all over again. The pain becomes inescapable from their own body.

4. Reopening a Wound Right as It Starts to Heal: Biologically it's called disturbing the granulation tissue, the fragile new tissue that forms while a wound heals. Mess with it before it's ready and you get that raw, wet, mushy mess that hurts every single time something touches it. 

5. Sleep Deprivation: No blood necessary. Deprive someone of sleep long enough and they start hallucinating, losing track of time, and falling apart mentally before the body even gets touched.

6. A Single Repeated Sound: More psychological torture than physical. A drip. A tap. A song playing forever. It wears down a person's mind hour after hour until they'd confess to anything to make it stop.

7. Sensory Deprivation: Total silence and total darkness sound peaceful until you're stuck in them with no idea how much time has passed. The brain starts filling in gaps that aren't there, and you end up terrifying yourself.

8. Tickling: Sounds ridiculous until you remember it's been used historically to the point where people genuinely couldn't breathe properly. Sustained tickling on an already sensitive or injured area stops being funny fast.

9. Extreme Temperature Swings: Extreme heat, extreme cold. Alternating between the two, over and over, so the body never gets the chance to adjust to either one.

10. Forced Stillness: Making someone hold one position for hours does something to the body that people don't expect. Cramping, nerve pain, and eventually the joints themselves start to protest.

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks?

Check out the rest of Quillology with Haya; a blog dedicated to writing and publishing tips for authors!

Deuteronomy 28:7

The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

This is a promise of victory. Your enemy will be confounded, and utterly destroyed. God will bring it to pass. Do not fear.

The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him.” Lamentations 3:25

Sometimes God answers prayers right away. Sometimes it seems like it takes for ever. The miracle seems so far away and doubt and fear creeps in.

I don't understand why it takes so long. God you are all powerful. Just a word from you is enough Lord.

But walking with the Lord for long enough, I have understood that He loves me and knows my deepest longings and desires. His miracles are not the thing of the past. He always comes through for His people.

So often, the world teaches us that what is evil is good, and what is good is evil. But the Bible says, “Abhor what is evil and cling to what is good.” Romans 12:9

If you abhor something, you are not going to do it. No one has to tell you not to do it and you do not struggle to stay away from it. You naturally avoid it. That is the kind of feeling we must have toward sin.