Writing tips

Writer's block? 7 ways to get unstuck

By the TeenExpressions team · November 9, 2026 · 5 min read

Writer's block usually isn't a lack of ideas. It's usually the feeling that whatever you write has to be good. These tricks work by lowering that pressure.

1. Write the worst version on purpose

Tell yourself you're writing the worst possible opening. Make it dramatic and cheesy. Somewhere in the middle, you'll write a sentence that's actually decent. Keep that one.

2. Borrow a first line

Start with a line someone else gives you, like "Nobody knows that I..." or "The message was sent from my own number." You don't have to keep it. It's just there to get the pen moving.

3. Change the format

Stuck on a story? Write it as a text conversation. Stuck on a poem? Make it a list. Stuck on a journal entry? Draw it as a comic. A new shape often shakes loose a new idea.

4. Shrink the goal

Don't aim for a story. Aim for one sentence with a sound, a smell, and a color in it. Then aim for one more.

5. Write somewhere else

Move to the kitchen table, the porch, the bus. A new place gives your brain new details to notice, and noticing is half of writing.

6. Ask your character a question

If a character is stuck, interview them. What do they want right now? What are they hiding? What would they never say out loud? Write their answers in their voice.

7. Stop mid-sentence

When you're on a roll, stop before you finish the thought. Tomorrow, you'll know exactly how to start.

The page doesn't need to be good. It just needs to exist.