Writer’s block is a common problem. It happens to nearly all writers, even the most successful ones! Luckily, there are some ways to combat this problem. Let’s look at how social media can help you with your next project and overcome writer’s block.

    Follow Accounts On Social Media That Inspire Your Writing

    Social media can be more than a distraction. Actually, it can even help increase productivity when properly used. A lack of inspiration is one cause of writer’s block. Luckily, social media can be inspirational once you optimize your feed. Since your feed on social media, like Facebook and Instagram, is mainly based on who you follow, following people who inspire you will help optimize your feed.

     

    Here are the best types of accounts to follow to help inspire you as a writer: 

    Follow writing accounts

    • Other writers understand writer’s block, and they can be the best place to turn to when you get writer’s block. Luckily, many great writers also use social media. Many writers use social media to share their writing, the books they are reading, their writing journey, and sometimes even their tips to help your writing. These accounts are often filled with inspiration through the writing excerpts, the book recommendations and the helpful tips and tricks that some writers share on social media.

    When choosing which writers to follow, try to follow these steps:

    • Choose writers who write in a similar style to yourself to ensure that their posts will be inspirational and helpful to your writing.
    • Choose writers who write in similar genres as you to ensure that their posts will be relevant to your writing. 
    • Look through their feed before following them. Even though the writers are well-known, their social media feeds might not help your writing.
    • Choose writers whose posts inspire you and help you generate ideas in your writing.

    Here are some writers on Instagram whose accounts could help inspire your writing:

     

    Follow Magazine and Zine Accounts

    Magazines and Zines on social media can also be a place to inspire your writing. These accounts typically post about new issues or call for submissions and post captivating images with the issue’s theme.

    Here are ways to use their feed to inspire your writing:

    • Use their images. Since these images inspire people to write on the themes, they may be able to help your ideas flow as well. 
    • Use their themes. These magazines and Zines create themes to stimulate writers’ minds, so you can also use these themes that relate to your work to help generate ideas.
    • Write for their current issue. When you have writer’s block, your main goal is to get the words flowing again. One way to do this is to try writing for a low-stress but highly stimulating project. Magazine and Zine deadlines are less stressful since the only repercussion for missing deadlines is that your work won’t be published. But since we are just writing to help with writer’s block, not having this writing published is okay. As well, these themes are supposed to stimulate your writing brain. So, by writing on low-stress, thought-provoking topics, the words will easily flow, eliminating your writer’s block, and allowing you to continue writing for your projects. 

    Here are some Zines on Instagram with especially inspiring feeds:

    Follow motivational accounts

    Follow accounts that inspire and motivate you. This could be an account dedicated to showing off the work of other artists, a photography account, or an account dedicated to motivational quotes. But, these accounts could also look like anything, as long as the posts motivate and inspire your writing. By following social media accounts that help stimulate your mind and generate writing ideas, the flow of words will come easier. Since writer’s block is often caused by feeling uninspired and stuck, you can beat writer’s block by surrounding yourself with motivation and inspiration. 

    You'd also want to make sure you're not distracted by YouTube's homepage when searching for content or Instagram's feed when connecting. Hence, checkout how to remove Instagram Feed or how to remove YouTube shorts.

    Create A Profile That Is Only For Your Writing Life

     

    Create a separate social media profile from your personal profile and dedicate it to writing. On your personal social media account, you likely follow your friends and family, among other people. Although this helps you to stay connected, their posts can be a distraction from your writing. When you have writer’s block, your main issues are motivation and a lack of inspiration. Having a feed with distractions lessens your desire to write, increasing your writer’s block. In this case, social media would be harming your writer’s block rather than helping.

     

    However, by creating an account solely for writing, your feed will inspire you instead of distracting you. By focusing your social media feed on writing, you optimize the inspiration in your feed. Your writing account should only follow the accounts we talked about earlier. These accounts are the writing accounts, magazines or zines accounts, and motivational or inspirational accounts. By having a profile that is only for writing, your feed will replace distractions with inspiration and motivation, eliminating your writer’s block. 

    Create a group chat with other writers

    No one understands writer’s block like other writers. But scheduling group meetings for brainstorming sessions and writer’s block help isn’t always possible, especially when you have a fast-approaching deadline. Using social media to create group chats with other writers that you know is a great way to get help from people who understand writer’s block best. These group chats can give you ideas, inspiration, support, and advice to help get you out of your writer’s block. 

    Here are some ways to optimize the effectiveness of your group chat when you have writer’s block:

    • Ask them for tips on how to get over writer’s block. As writers, we all experience writer’s block, which means we all have tricks and tips to get over writer’s block. Not every recommendation will work for you, so trying out many ways to get over writer’s block will give you the best chance of finding what works best for you. 
    • Brainstorm ideas together. Tell the other writers what you are writing and what stage you got stuck. Ask them to help you brainstorm ideas on either what you could write or what direction your writing could take, depending on where you got stuck in your writing.
    • Ask them to help focus your ideas. Sometimes, writer’s block can be caused by being overwhelmed by having too many ideas and not being sure where to start. Send the group your ideas, then ask them to pick your best ones and have them help you clearly structure these ideas. 
    • Do writing exercises together. Many writing exercises can help your writing flow to get you out of writer’s block. You can ask your writers group for writing exercise suggestions, or you can do writing exercises together. Some group writing exercises include:
      • Two people come up with a theme that the other has to write on.
      • Two people write one sentence that will be the first sentence of the other person’s writing.
      • Two people write a list of words that the other person must include in their writing.
      • Two people free-write for three minutes, switching their work every three minutes to continue the other persons writing.
    • Ask for support when you are overwhelmed. When you are overwhelmed by deadlines or writer’s block in general, ask for help from the writing group. A kind or encouraging message from others who have experienced the same stress can go a long way to alleviate some of your stress. 

     

    Disconnect From Your Feed At The Right Time

     Social media can be a helpful tool, but it can also cause writer’s block if incorrectly used or used at the wrong time. When you feel inspired to write and have your best ideas flowing, it is time to disconnect from social media. If you stay on social media when you feel inspired to write, this inspiration will likely vanish and can cause writer’s block. Also, if you find that your feed is becoming more of a distraction than an inspirational tool, then it is time to disconnect.

    BeTimeful is a great way to disconnect while still allowing the important and encouraging messages to come through. BeTimeful blocks social media feed to help you focus on other things (such as writing). We understand that there is a time and place for social media, so we allow you to block the social media feed when it is time to disconnect while allowing messages to keep you connected. So download BeTimeful today to help stay focused and use social media as a tool for inspiration rather than a distraction that causes writer’s block. 

    Check out BeTimeful's other resources to help take your writing and work ethic to the next level: