25 Ways to Brainstorm Through Blocks: A Random Though Hopefully Helpful List

A huge freaking roundup of ideas to get unstuck

May 01, 2025

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Getting stuck in your writing is the worst. All the movies and books and jokes that feature blocked writers are there for a reason. It’s terrible. We have stories inside us that are dying to get out. And when they clog the drains instead, it’s like being mentally and emotionally constipated.

So here I present you with some ideas for getting unstuck. But before we get started, a few pieces of advice.

—First, and most important, do not deny you are blocked.

—Second, equally important, do not forget there are things you can do to get unblocked.

—Third, very, very, important, do not turn up your nose and sneer at the exercises, tips, and techniques listed below. They are your writer’s salvation.

—Fourth, this is a list arranged in random order, with only a brief explanation. Because A. you are old grown ass men and women and can figure it out yourselves, and B. I’m planning to write more about all the items on a semi-regular, though random, schedule. (As regular as I can get, which is not very.)

ALSO! I made a PDF of these suggestions for my paid subscribers. So you can print it out and put it somewhere you can pull out at a moment’s notice. HOWEVER if I put a paywall on this post, only paid subscribers will get to post. And I love you all and want you to leave comments. SO I shall send the PDF in a separate email after I post this one. I think that makes sense in a weird Substack-y kind of way.

The suggestions

Find an image and write about what you see in it. What does it make you feel? What are some sensory details you notice? You can scroll through your phone and use photos you’ve taken, or do a Google search.

Draw a tarot card. There are fifty million decks these days and the best ones have incredible evocative imagery on them. You don’t have to pay attention to it’s designation (but you can if you want).

Come back to where you are. As in, write about where you are right here, right now. Your immediate surroundings, all the sensory images you’re getting. This is a way of grounding yourself and also remembering to anchor your writing in specific detail. And it can weirdly spark fab new ideas.

Draw a mind-map. This is a whole-brained way of creating an outline. You can do it with software or just plain old-fashioned paper.

Side write. Just don’t get too far into it. You can end up side-writing to the exclusion of actually writing on the story.

Draw locations. When I’m trying to figure out setting, drawing maps and floorplans of houses, towns, buildings, whatever, is very helpful.

Use Pinterest. Use it to collect imagery for emergency prompts, to corral ideas for what characters and places look like, anything and everything thing.

Look at real estate sites (Zillow, Redfin, etc.) and vacation rental sites (Airbnb, Vacasa, VRBO) for ideas about homes and locations. They are great idea joggers.

Write to a prompt. I post lists of them every month. Here’s the most recent offering.

10.

Dabble in astrology for your character.

11.

Enneagram: same, same as above.

12.

Journal about how much you hate writing. Get it out of your system so you can remember you actually love it and move forward..

13.

Tropes: they’re not just for romance writers! Well, okay, maybe they are. But have a look at them, they might jog your imagination.

14.

Remember the pleasure points. Pondering these can be great ways to go deeper into your story.

15.

Tear it all down. Put all the scenes of your novel onto index cards or post-its. Then rearrange to your heart’s content.

16.

Take a walk.

17.

Change your mindset. Write out some positive mantras. Here’s an excellent one: this is easy. Repeat: this is easy, this is easy, this is easy.

18.

Go back to doing Morning Pages every day.

19.

Take an Artist’s Date.

20.

Pull your favorite writing craft book off the shelf, open it randomly and read the advice.

21.

Pull one of your favorite novels off the shelf, open at random and read for inspiration.

22.

If you’re really stuck, copy the passage from the above suggestion exactly. Type it into your computer. Or hand write it. You’re not going to use this, obv, because that would be plagiarism. But what you are doing is allowing the cadence of another author’s voice into your brain through your fingers. This is a surprisingly helpful exercise.

23.

Make a list. Write it quick and dirty. For some reason, lists hit the brain differently. Potential list topics: 10things I know about my story; 10 things I don’t know about my story; 5 things I know about my character; 5 things I don’t know about my character. You get the idea.

24.

Use different colored inks. The brain loves novelty. Hanif Kureishi, in his memoir, Shattered, says, “Around the edge of my desk…I also have many bottles of ink, in numerous colors, from the ludicrous to the sober.”

25.

Hand write when you’ve been writing on the computer for a long while, and vice-versa.

Okay, that should give your writing some oomph for awhile.

What’s your favorite brainstorming technique?

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