Try this Powerful Practice to Release Writer's Block

Every time you sit down to write!

This is the final article in the Writing & Thriving series on Visionary Writers and Writer’s Block. If you haven’t read the others yet, you can start here.

Below is the Writing & Thriving 3-Part Writing Practice that I developed when I needed to get myself out of Writer’s Block to finish writing my PhD thesis. Over the past 5 years, I’ve shared this practice with hundreds of other writers who’ve also used it to overcome Writer’s Block and find their unique writing voice. 

It’s a 15 minute practice, so you can tap into this every time you sit down to write. It will support you to overcome those first 15 minutes of battling with your inner critic, and your inner acrobat, as you make the transition into sitting down, and settling down, to write…

Part 1: Pre-Writing Practice

Pre-Writing is about non-verbal mark-making on the page. It’s a practice in writing as process, writing as physical, writing as energy moving through your body and out onto the page. 

Pre-Writing Practice is also the first step in allowing yourself to write without fear, judgement, criticism, direction, interpretation or intention. 

Pre-Writing helps to calm the mind and nervous system, supporting you to drop into your body and breath as you make your first connection with the page. 

Ready? You’ll need your notebook and pen nearby. 

Take a moment to centre yourself. Bringing awareness to your breath and the movement of your belly as you are breathing. Notice the weight of your body supported by the Earth beneath you. Breathe into this awareness of your body, your belly, your breath. 

When you feel ready, take your pen in your hand and allow it to move across the page. Any direction, any motion, any speed, any rhythm. Keep an awareness on your body, your belly and your breath, as you allow the pen to move across the page in any way that it moves. Without judgement. Without criticism. Without editing. Without stopping. Just breathe, and move your pen. 

Notice the physical connection between the pen, the page, your hand, your body, your breath. 

Allow your thoughts to come and go as your mind wanders, without the need to think or figure things out. 

Keep going for up to 3 minutes with the Pre-Writing Practice. 

It’s a great medicine for Procrastination – because it gets your pen onto the page without any expectations, and it removes the fear of failure. 

Example Pre-Writing Practice by Sally-Shakti Willow

Part 2: Free-Writing Practice

When you are ready, allow yourself to gently transition into the Free-Writing Practice. 

Free-Writing Practice continues what we’ve started with the Pre-Writing Practice. So stay aware of your body, your belly, your breath. Notice the movement of your hand across the page as the pen begins to form words, without judgement, without editing, without stopping. Free-Writing Practice is an invitation – and full permission – to write whatever is on your mind, or say whatever you need to say on the page, without judgement or censorship. 

You can start with the words, I feel, or I notice, if this is helpful for you. And any time you get stuck for what to say, come back to these prompts and dive right in again.

I feel…

I notice…

And give yourself full permission to say whatever you want to say. Too many times we can block our own writing because we think we should be saying something different, or something “better”. This is your opportunity to really say what’s on your mind – nobody is going to read this but you. 

If there are things you need to say, that you’re holding yourself back from saying, you can bet that these things will be blocking you from writing what you want to write. So let them out! Move these thoughts and feelings out of your body and onto the page, so that you can free yourself to write what you want to write when you’re ready. 

I recommend spending up to 5 minutes with the Free-Writing Practice. 

This is a tool that you can keep coming back to whenever you are feeling the creeping pull of Perfectionism slowing you down. Give yourself full permission to write whatever you want to say, without any thought about it having to be “good”, or “correct”, or even make sense. See how quickly and messily you can follow the thoughts in your head, without concerning yourself about sentences, grammar or punctuation. Remember those old “rules” you were taught at school? You don’t need them right now…

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It’s important to give yourself time to say what you want to say. But be aware that you can go quite deep with this process, so if you are feeling strong emotions coming up to the surface – like sadness or anger, perhaps – here are some things you can try to support you:

Ø  Move your body (and open your voice). Go for a walk, a run, a swim, dance, sing, or shout in a safe environment. 

Ø  Share with a trusted person: speak out your feelings to someone who is open to listening without judgement. Please make sure that you ask this person’s consent before you start to share with them. 

Ø  Go back into the Pre-Writing Practice and scribble your feelings out onto the page as much as you need to. 

If you need to, take a break before moving onto the third part of the practice. 

Part 3: Focused-Writing Practice

When you feel ready to transition from Free-Writing to Focused-Writing, take the topic that you are most interested in writing about (perhaps put that as a title at the top of a new page) and write with focus on your chosen theme. 

Are you still connected to your body, your belly, your breath? Keep breathing and maintain an awareness of the physical connection between your hand, the pen and the page. 

Just like in the Pre-Writing and Free-Writing Practices, allow yourself to write without fear, without judgement, without editing, without criticism, and without stopping. 

This is your opportunity to get your words down onto the page without getting tangled up in how “good” they are. Just give yourself permission to write. And know that you’ll be able to go back and edit later. But for now, just write. 

I suggest spending up to 7 minutes on the Focused-Writing Practice.

Focused-Writing can be a deep medicine for Burnout. Even just a few minutes a day. When you make a little time and space in your life to follow your inner calling, you show your Soul that you’re ready to show up on your path and purpose. Focused-Writing Practice can help you to take small steps in the direction of your dreams, so that you learn (through repetition) to listen to your intuition, take aligned action, and give energy to your intentions. 

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The Writing & Thriving 3-Part Practice is a 15-minute writing warm-up that you can come back to every time you sit down to write. 

You might wonder if it’s a waste of actual writing time to spend up to 15 minutes (you can do more, or less) on the 3-Part Writing Practice, EVERY TIME you sit down to write. What if you’ve only got an hour, or half-an-hour, anyway?

It’s up to you, of course. 

But I have personally found that starting any writing session with the 3-Part Writing Practice helps me to get more writing done – and of better quality – every time, however much time I’ve got (compared to writing sessions where I have tried to sit down and write without the warm-up). 

So, try it – if you’d like to. 

👉🏽 You can access all the resources for the Ritual Writing Warm Up, including a video of the 3-Part Writing Practice by clicking here.

If you are a Visionary Writer and you know you want to (need to) write, but your words are getting stuck before they get onto the page, you can subscribe to Writing & Thriving, or get the book, to find out how to break this cycle and Find Your Visionary Writing Voice.