By Jillian Stacia

Suffering from a case of writer’s block? We feel you. Here’s our go-to-guide for survival during this difficult time:

Phase One:

The “Push Through It” Phase

1. Make yourself some coffee. Coffee stimulates the mind. Coffee is creativity’s favorite beverage. Coffee makes everything better.

2. Go for a walk to clear your head. Because, you know, endorphins and all that.

3. Pull an Anne Lamott and write shitty first drafts. Accept the fact that your writing is going to suck, and just get it over with already.

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Phase Two:

The “I’ll Never Write Again and Everything Sucks” Phase

4. Cry and pout and eat ice cream. Calories don’t count during writer’s block.

5. Call your mom and moan about how your creativity is blocked.

6. Throw things. Preferably not your computer. It just makes the whole process harder.

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Phase Three:

The “Well, I Guess This Is The Part Where I Try To Be Patient” Phase

7. Read some of your favorite creative work. Read your own creative work. Remember why you do what you do.

8. Write a poem. Write a song. Write an Amazon review. Write a listicle of how to survive writer’s block. Just write.

9. Make more coffee. Coffee makes everything better.

10. Go to sleep. Try again tomorrow.

In all seriousness, we know how frustrating writer’s block can be. The unsexy truth of it is, you just have to be patient. Do the work. Show up to the page regardless. This is normal. This is part of the writing process. Keep the faith and trust that the magic will return. It always does.

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Jillian is part of the Contributing Writer Network at Thirty On Tap. To apply to become a Contributing Writer, please click here.

{featured image via unsplash}