Stuck at the Blinking Cursor? How to Overcome Writer’s Block One Word at a Time

From Edie: Staring at the blinking cursor with no words coming? Discover a simple, practical method to overcome writer’s block by starting with just one word and building momentum back into your writing.

Stuck at the Blinking Cursor? How to Overcome Writer’s Block One Word at a Time

by Tammy Karasek @TickledPinkTam

I’m surprised at how many writers I’ve spoken with of late that express frustration with that taunting, blinking cursor. Try as we might, we sit in our spot of choice for writing and sometimes we are stuck. Mind is frozen. As writers this is hard to admit because we are known for our love of words. People picture us tapping on our keyboards all day writing thousands of words. 

At times, we’re fortunate if we have managed to string a few words together before our brains shut down again.

 

Much of the past couple of years my writing time was like this. Not so much at the current time—thank you, Lord—but I read different articles about how to break through this and came up with a short list I hope will give you a boost as it did me. I’m working on it myself, and actually having some fun with it. I wrote it out on a pink (of course) index card and it sits on my desk. When I’m stuck, I look at my little Pink Cheerleader Index Card. 

First, don’t be afraid to write. Anything. Junk. A new verse to a favorite song. The answer to all of this possible fear is to write. Don’t worry about what others will think, for this session, you’re writing words. Show them later, when you’ve edited and polished it up pretty, or file it away in a folder of other times you’ve done this exercise. Your goal is to have some fun and see if you can get through the list below. 

When writing feels impossible:

• 1. Don’t write a whole book, write a chapter. 

• 2. If a chapter is stressful, write a page. 

• 3. When a page feels too long, write a paragraph.

• 4. Whoa, a whole paragraph, okay, then only a sentence. 

• 5. Put more than one word together? Well, then write one word. 

Now take that word and research it. What do you learn about it? Write another word from within the research. Could they be used to form a short sentence together? Double dare yourself to make a paragraph with that short sentence. Now go for it and see if you could make up something from that paragraph that would fill a page. 

This simple exercise can—and often does—get your mind moving. This page won’t be used for anything, but it could if it became a springboard back to the project you were working on!

Try the above exercise to break through the block. Start with a word. Next stretch that into a sentence. Have a sentence now? Make it a paragraph. With your paragraph, go for it and create a page with it. 

Remember, don’t think negative about a goal of a page a day. After all, a page a day is a book a year. 

Try this today and let us know what word you started with! Or, do you already do something like this that we could try from your success? Let’s talk about how we’re going to help each other get back to our calling of writing one word at a time—if necessary. 

TWEETABLE

Stuck at the Blinking Cursor? How to Overcome Writer’s Block One Word at a Time from @TickledPinkTam on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Tammy Karasek uses humor and wit to bring joy and hope to every aspect in life. Her past, filled with bullying and criticism from family, drives her passion to encourage and inspire others and show them The Reason to smile. From down and defeated to living a “Tickled Pink” life, she believes there’s always a giggle ready to release! 

Tammy writes romance—with a splash of sass. Her book, Launch That Book, re-released December, 2025. She’s also published in several compilations: Sustaining Life’s Victories, The PAC Method for Writers, and Cool-inary Moments. She’s also a regular writing team member for The Write Conversation, Blue Ridge Writer’s Conference Blog, The Write Editing, New Mercies Café, and The Word on Wednesday. Contact: HTTPS://WWW.TAMMYKARASEK.COM.