Forget Writer's Block: Here's the Real Problem and How to Fix It

16 Feb 2025 #writing

Nothing is scarier than a blank page, but what if the problem isn’t writer’s block?

If you stare at a blank page with nothing to write, you’re not suffering from writer’s block, but from the lack of an idea-capturing system.

Here’s how to fix it.

1. Garbage in, garbage out

You are the food you eat and the content you consume.

Of course, if you’re mindlessly scrolling TikTok, you won’t have anything to write about.

Instead, be conscious of what you consume. Read more. Read fiction and non-fiction. Read anything that crosses your path. That’s your source of inspiration.

And apart from inspiring you, being exposed to good writing is the best way to learn to write.

2. Have a capturing system

Content is everywhere.

From comments in social media to quotes to TV shows to conversations to book passages. Everything and anything that happens around you is full of content ideas. In fact, this post started as a comment on social media.

Have a place to store and organize those ideas: Your phone, pen and paper, sticky notes, plain-text files, a stone and chisel. Anywhere.

Since last year, I’ve been following James Altucher’s Idea Machine concept. After consuming (almost) anything, I write 10 ideas or lessons I learned from that. Usually those 10 ideas become posts.

Notice content ideas around you and don’t let them go.

3. Don’t try to come up with anything original

There’s nothing new under the sun.

That’s from Ecclesiastes, from the Bible, from thousands of years ago. There wasn’t anything new back then. And there isn’t now. We’ve been adding, subtracting, and remixing ideas since then.

You don’t have to come up with original ideas to write. If you find somebody else’s idea (remember #2?), you can make it yours by sharing it from your perspective, along with a personal story.

Consume, capture, and remix ideas and you will always have something to write about. If you still think you have nothing to write, follow this tip. And no, you will never run out of ideas to write.