Writer’s block isn’t a mysterious affliction—it’s a symptom of deeper issues: perfectionism, fear, unclear thinking, overwhelm, or simple loss of momentum. Yet standard advice (“just write” and “take a walk”) often fails precisely because the person experiencing the block has already tried the obvious solutions. When conventional tactics stop working, it’s time for unconventional approaches—exercises designed specifically to bypass the mental barriers preventing writing.
The principle behind unusual exercises is simple: they work around the blockage rather than through it. They remove the pressure of perfectionism, reframe the problem, or trick your brain into engaging with writing in ways it’s learned to resist.
The Philosophy Behind Unusual Exercises
Most writer’s block stems from overthinking, perfectionism, or pressure. Unusual exercises succeed because they either eliminate that pressure or redirect it toward something safer. A writer paralyzes themselves worrying about their main project, but they’ll freely write fanfiction about beloved characters because there’s no stakes—it’s “just practice”.
Understanding this principle helps you create custom exercises when the ones below don’t fit your specific block.
Exercise 1: Talk to Your Imaginary Interviewer
The Setup: Write a conversation with an imaginary version of yourself or a hypothetical fan asking about your work.
Why It Works: This exercise transforms monologue into dialogue. Speaking to someone (even imaginary) feels more natural and less pressured than lecturing into the void. Additionally, the interviewer’s questions can clarify your own thinking about your project.
How to Execute It:
Open a document and write:
Fan: “Tell me about your book. What’s it about?”
You: [Answer in your own voice, conversationally]
Fan: [Ask follow-up questions your real interviewer might ask]
Continue this conversation for 15-20 minutes without editing. Don’t worry about eloquence—chat naturally. At the end, you’ll have generated clarity about your project while simultaneously writing something.
Variation: Write as if you’re your character being interviewed. This is particularly useful for understanding character voice and motivation.
Exercise 2: The 81-Word Story Challenge
The Setup: Write a complete story using exactly 81 words (or 9 sentences of exactly 9 words each).
Why It Works: Constraints paradoxically create freedom. When the only rule is word count, perfectionism about plot complexity or prose beauty disappears. You must prioritize ruthlessly, which forces clarity. Additionally, finishing a complete story—even a tiny one—provides psychological momentum that defeats the “I can’t finish anything” narrative often underlying writer’s block.
How to Execute It:
- Grab a random book and turn to page 9
- Find the 9th word from the 9th line on that page
- Use that word to start your story
- Write a complete story in exactly 81 words
- Optional: Make it 9 sentences of 9 words each for added challenge
Example:
Starting word: “whisper”
“Whisper her secrets to the pillow. They escape regardless. Tomorrow the gossip will spread—she slept with the gardener. Her husband will discover the truth. She waits for his reaction. When it comes, there’s only silence. He leaves without a word. She finally understands: sometimes the most devastating response is no response at all. Silence speaks louder than anything she could say.”
Exercise 3: Write the Worst Possible Version
The Setup: Give yourself explicit permission to write terribly. Write the worst version of your stuck scene imaginable—clunky, melodramatic, clichéd, exposition-heavy.
Why It Works: Perfectionism dies when “bad” is the goal. If your block stems from fear that nothing you write will be good enough, this exercise removes that fear entirely. Additionally, a terrible first draft is infinitely better than a blank page—you have material to revise.
How to Execute It:
- Identify the scene you’re stuck on
- Write it with explicit permission to suck
- Include clunky dialogue, heavy-handed exposition, telling instead of showing
- Make it melodramatic and over-the-top
- Stop when you have a complete scene, regardless of quality
Many writers discover that their “worst version” contains useful kernels they can refine. Others simply recognize that bad writing is salvageable while no writing cannot be salvaged.
Exercise 4: Stream of Consciousness for 15 Minutes (Non-Stop)
The Setup: Set a timer for 15 minutes. Write whatever enters your mind without stopping, censoring, or editing.
Why It Works: Momentum is powerful. Once you’re in motion, continuing is easier than stopping. Additionally, the non-stop nature prevents perfectionism from interfering—you’re simply pouring out thoughts.
How to Execute It:
- Set a timer for 15 minutes (or 5-10 if that feels less intimidating)
- Start writing your thoughts about your stuck project
- Write continuously without stopping to edit, reread, or think
- When you falter, write “I’m stuck” repeatedly until ideas return
- When the timer stops, stop. Don’t finish sentences—just stop.
Variation—Stream of Character Consciousness: Repeat this exercise but write from your stuck character’s perspective, letting them speak their thoughts directly.
Exercise 5: The Fanfiction Bypass
The Setup: Write fanfiction using beloved characters from other works. Place them in entirely new situations, conflicts, or relationships.
Why It Works: Fanfiction eliminates character creation pressure. You’re working with established characters, so you skip the “is this character believable?” anxiety. The lower stakes make it easier to write freely, and the skills transfer directly to your original work.
How to Execute It:
- Choose a book, show, or movie you love deeply
- Take a character or pair of characters you love
- Write them in a scenario that differs significantly from canon
- Explore relationships, conflicts, or environments the original never presented
- Write freely without worrying about copyright (for personal practice)
Practical Benefit: Writing fanfiction strengthens your ability to write recognizable character voice, maintain consistency with established personality traits, and create tension—all directly applicable to your original work.
Exercise 6: Dialogue-Only Challenge (George R.R. Martin Exercise)
The Setup: Write dialogue for multiple different characters saying similar things, but make each character’s speech pattern distinct and recognizable.
Why It Works: This exercise isolates one skill and removes pressure to simultaneously manage plot, description, and dialogue. If your block involves dialogue, this targeted practice builds confidence.
How to Execute It:
- Imagine 6 different characters: a priest, a soldier, a farmer, a scholar, a criminal, a noble
- Give each a single task: convince someone that the world is ending
- Write each character’s speech making the same point, but with completely different word choice, phrasing, and tone
- Read each aloud to ensure they sound different
Example:
Priest: “The Lord has spoken through signs and portents. The end times approach, as prophecy foretold. We must repent and prepare our souls for judgment.”
Soldier: “Look at the borders. We’re not equipped to handle what’s coming. High command won’t admit it, but we all know it’s over soon.”
Farmer: “Crops dying. Animals sick. Sky’s been wrong for weeks. My father’s father never seen nothing like it. It’s coming.”
Exercise 7: The Placeholder Method
The Setup: When stuck on any passage—description, dialogue, or action—write a placeholder note instead of struggling to make it perfect.
Why It Works: Perfectionism often means refusing to move forward until a single sentence is perfect. Placeholders give permission to skip difficult parts and maintain momentum. You write “DESCRIBE THE GARDEN” in capitals and move on. This transforms an hour of frustrated staring into progress.
How to Execute It:
- Encounter a stuck phrase or scene
- Write a placeholder in capitals: “[WRITE MORE HERE]” or “[DESCRIBE THE TENSION]” or “[MAKE THIS DIALOGUE SNAPPIER]”
- Continue writing the next passage
- In revision, search for all placeholders and return to those specific problems
Psychological Benefit: Placeholders create visible progress. Rather than a blank page, you have a complete draft with noted problem areas. This feels significantly less daunting than starting over.
Exercise 8: The Think-Walk Problem-Solving Method
The Setup: Take a 20-30 minute walk specifically to think about your stuck writing problem—not to distract from it.
Why It Works: Walking engages motor functions in a way that frees up mental resources for creative problem-solving. Additionally, physical movement releases tension and anxiety that often accompanies writer’s block. The rhythm of walking can help organize thoughts.
How to Execute It:
- Identify the specific problem you’re stuck on
- Take a walk with the explicit purpose of thinking about it
- Walk without music, podcasts, or phone distractions
- Allow your mind to circle the problem from different angles
- Often, solutions emerge naturally during or immediately after
Critical Note: This isn’t a distraction break. You’re actively problem-solving while walking, not trying to forget about the writing.
Exercise 9: The Magical #50 (The “Magic Fifty”)
The Setup: Set a goal of writing just 50 words. That’s it. Not 500, not 1000—exactly 50 words.
Why It Works: 50 words feels achievable in 10-15 minutes. The psychological shift from “I need to write 5000 words” to “I need 50 words” removes overwhelm entirely. Additionally, once you’ve written 50 words, you’ve broken the ice, and continuing is often easier.
How to Execute It:
- Lie down somewhere comfortable and quiet (seriously—lying down reduces pressure)
- Write 50 words about your stuck project
- That’s your goal. Done. Success.
- If inspiration strikes and you write 200 words, that’s a bonus. But 50 is victory.
Psychological Benefit: The specificity and attainability of 50 words makes it impossible to “fail.” You can’t say “I couldn’t write” when you’ve written 50 words.
Exercise 10: The Opposite Character Exercise
The Setup: Create the opposite of your character—same situation, opposite personality and choices.
Why It Works: This exercise clarifies your actual character by contrast. It also generates writing momentum through exploration without the pressure of being “correct”—you’re intentionally writing the wrong character.
How to Execute It:
- Take your stuck character
- List their core traits and decisions
- Create an opposite character: where your character is brave, this one is cowardly; where yours is logical, this one is emotional
- Write a scene with the opposite character making all opposite choices
- Notice what feels wrong—that reveals what makes your actual character authentic
Practical Benefit: Sometimes seeing what doesn’t work clarifies what does. Additionally, you’ve generated another complete scene through the process.
Exercise 11: The Random Elements Challenge
The Setup: Generate random, unrelated elements and force them into your writing.
Why It Works: Randomness bypasses perfectionism by introducing unpredictability. You can’t plan the perfect scene when you must incorporate “alligator boots, the aroma of baking bread, and disappointment.” The constraints force creative problem-solving and often generate surprising, fresh ideas.
How to Execute It:
- Create three random elements (or draw from a list)
- Set a timer for 10 minutes
- Write a scene incorporating all three elements somehow
- Make them fit, no matter how absurd the combination
Example Elements:
- A hospital corridor, binder paper, salt
- Rush hour traffic, lust, the sound of rain
- A wedding ring, a betrayal, the smell of smoke
Exercise 12: The “Describe Without Using the Word” Challenge
The Setup: Describe something without using the most obvious word.
Why It Works: This exercise forces original, fresh descriptions because you can’t rely on clichés. It strengthens descriptive language while feeling like a game rather than pressure.
How to Execute It:
Describe the color blue without using the word “blue.” Describe love without using the word “love.” Describe fear without using the word “fear.”
Write for 10 minutes with the constraint, then evaluate your descriptions. You’ll likely discover fresher, more interesting language than your default descriptions.
Exercise 13: The Reverse Cutting Challenge
The Setup: Take a completed story you’re happy with and cut its word count by half.
Why It Works: This exercise trains editing and ruthlessness. More importantly, it removes the anxiety of generation—you’re reshaping existing work, which feels safer. It also demonstrates that trimming often strengthens rather than weakens writing.
How to Execute It:
- Find a story or section you’ve written that you like
- Challenge yourself to tell the same story in half the words
- Remove everything that isn’t essential
- Observe which cuts hurt and which don’t—this reveals what’s truly important
Exercise 14: The Punctuation Experiment
The Setup: Study a favorite author’s punctuation choices, then rewrite your own passage with radically different punctuation.
Why It Works: Punctuation directly affects rhythm, pacing, and emotional impact. By experimenting with it, you discover new ways to control your prose. Additionally, it’s a low-pressure exercise because you’re manipulating existing work rather than generating new material.
How to Execute It:
- Take a passage from a favorite author
- Analyze their punctuation choices
- Notice where they use short sentences, long sentences, fragments, dashes
- Take your own stuck passage and try:
- Making all sentences half their current length
- Combining multiple sentences into one longer sentence
- Adding more dashes or semicolons
- Removing commas entirely
Exercise 15: The Voice Recording Transcription Method
The Setup: Speak your story into a voice recorder, then transcribe it.
Why It Works: Speaking feels more natural than writing for many people. Additionally, speaking captures natural rhythm and pacing that writers sometimes overthink. Your voice recording likely contains useful phrasing you wouldn’t have written by hand.
How to Execute It:
- Record yourself describing your stuck scene verbally—tell it like you’re explaining to a friend
- Transcribe the recording (speech-to-text apps work fine)
- Edit the transcription into prose
- The resulting text often has more natural rhythm and energy than you’d have written directly
The Meta-Exercise: Identifying Your Specific Block
Before implementing exercises, understand specifically why you’re blocked:
Perfectionism Block: “My writing isn’t good enough.” Solution: Permission exercises like worst draft or magic fifty.
Fear Block: “What if I fail/embarrass myself?” Solution: Low-stakes exercises like fanfiction or placeholder method.
Clarity Block: “I don’t know what happens next.” Solution: Talking-it-out exercises like interview or think-walk.
Overwhelm Block: “This project is too big.” Solution: Constraint exercises like 81-word story or specific scene focus.
Momentum Block: “I’ve been away too long.” Solution: Physical exercises like stream of consciousness or voice recording.
Different blocks respond to different exercises. Matching the exercise to your specific block increases effectiveness dramatically.
A Final Truth About Writer’s Block
Writer’s block isn’t a character flaw or a sign you’re not a “real writer.” It’s a signal that something in your process needs adjustment. The most productive writers don’t have special immunity to block—they have a toolkit of exercises that work when standard approaches fail.
Experiment with these exercises. Some won’t click for you, and that’s fine. The goal is discovering which approaches your brain responds to, then deploying them strategically when you notice pressure building or momentum dying.
Your block isn’t permanent. It’s an invitation to work differently. Try something unusual today.