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Have you ever just stared at a blank Word document or notepad and the ideas just won’t come? This is the first stage of writer’s block, that moment when a writer feels like they have exhausted all of their creative reserves. Here are some tips that usually help me get excited again about writing.

1. Lurking on Pinterest

Staring at a blank page won’t make words appear on it. Instead of being stuck looking at white space, go on Pinterest and find images that intrigue. Perhaps you can base a story off of an interesting location, activity or person that you find on the app. Pinterest is also great for when you are character sketching. It easier to imagine a character when you have an image of them ready.

2. Write What You Know

This is age-old writing advice. This doesn’t mean you have to be an expert on the subject. This just means look towards the mythologies in your own culture, family and community for the stories. Not only is it fun to write or retell the myths from your own community in a unique way, it is easier to write the familiar.

3. Use the Read Aloud Learning Tool Feature in Word

Sometimes writer’s block hits you in the middle of a paragraph. When you find you can’t go on, take this as an opportunity to re-read what you have written so far. While reading alouding is great, sometimes when you read something in your own voice, you tend not to hear some of the awkward phrasing or holes in your narrative. Sometimes hearing it in another’s voice helps you to stop what parts in your story need fleshing out. This is why Word’s Read Aloud feature is so useful! It is a voice-reading tool that reads your words for you!

With these tricks in your writer’s toolbox, let’s get writing!