Hacks to Overcome Writing Plateau Just by Tweaking Your Mindset
Writing is not easy. It’s difficult for people who don’t like writing, and even for those who love it. Writing takes patience, dedication, commitment, and constant motivation. And it’s completely normal to hit a wall in your writing sometimes.
Whether you write short content like blog posts or longer, more complex pieces like novels, there will be times when you feel you’ve hit a writing plateau. Even the most prolific writers and authors experience writer’s block sometimes.
Writing plateaus convince us that we have gone as far as we could with our written texts. Typically, this occurs midway through a piece of writing, or exactly when our writing task has begun to take on life.
Writing plateaus don't usually occur when we are finished writing, but while we are at it. They can cause a writer to give up writing. This goes to show that our minds can be either our best friend or our greatest enemy. When we hit a writing plateau, our mind is often the latter.
That is why it’s so important to make the mental adjustments necessary to overcome writer's block and writing plateaus so we can move forward with our work.
Mental Hacks to Overcome Writing Plateau
Here're some hacks you can use to beat writer's block and overcome a writing plateau just by tweaking your mindset:
1. Accept the plateau.
It’s easy to feel frustrated when you have hit a wall in your writing, but don’t get discouraged. It won’t help. In fact, getting upset is only going to prolong your writer’s block.
Good writing comes from inspiration. It comes from the passion you feel about the subject. It happens when you are open-minded and wish to express yourself. Anger is a distraction. It is a buzz-kill, causing people to quit out of spite.
If you can accept your writing plateau, realize that you can still learn and grow from it, and then keep on writing, you are on the right track.
2. Figure out the cause of it.
What is causing you to plateau? Maybe you haven’t brainstormed this part of the piece yet. Or maybe your creative mind is drained. You might just need to take a break.
Often times, writers get so consumed in what they’re working on that they can no longer appreciate it from an objective point of view.
Step away from it for a while. Come back with fresh eyes and an open mind. Read it from the beginning, as if you did not write it. See if you become inspired again.
3. Ditch your expectations.
All writers want to be brilliant at what they do. Let’s face it; we all want to be the next J.K. Rowling. But having expectations that are too high can be detrimental to our writing process. Looking too far into the future might stunt your creative ability in the present moment.
J.K. Rowling was sitting on a train, daydreaming about a wizard who didn’t know he was a wizard. She had no idea the potential that story might ensue. She had no expectations, just the desire to tell a story. Follow her example; just don’t copy it.
4. Ignore your doubt.
The same goes for expectations that are too low. You are your loudest motivator. Stay positive. Stay excited. Try not to compare yourself to other writers, or feel as if you’re not good enough. You are good enough, as long as you don’t quit.
5. Keep your mind active.
Everyone has a different method of keeping their brain engaged and rolling. It might mean avoiding reality TV, or other trashy nonsense that essentially fries our brain cells and kills our creative cravings.
Or, it might just mean a change in your environment. If writing at home isn’t sparking any fresh ideas, try going to a quiet café. You might find that being amongst other people inspires the burst of energy you were lacking.
Writing is all about listening to your mind and believing that you have something important to say. If you have hit a plateau, don’t worry. Remember that it is normal and it is possible to push through it. Be patient with yourself and don’t be afraid to take a break.
Give yourself a day, or a week, or even a month if you can afford it. Writing is a gift that not everyone is granted with. Embrace it, even when it gets difficult.
You’ll be writing again before you know it.
