Whether you have hundreds of ideas rattling in your head, or need to review an old work you’ve written, the hardest part is always… putting your butt in that chair and STARTING.So how do we push past this “block for writing” (coined that term myself), and begin to deliver your idea? Here are some helpful steps I’ve discovered in my experience as a writer.

Akin to Clyde Philip’s Dexter, developing a ritual can be a great way to keep yourself out of trouble when writing. After all, the best writers don’t wait to be motivated, they create habits to motivate themselves.Personally, I draw a plot graph and jot down how I want the story to develop. A fellow writer and friend of mine, Sidney Nickerson, likes to put on some select —always vinyl —to get into the groove.A basic routine you can easily start with, is to establish a day of the week where you take 20 minutes to write ANYTHING. It can be a short story, a sketch, some notes for a scene, stray ideas… Anything you can jot down just to get the creative juices flowing. And then stick with it and make it a habit.

Find your “why”.

Why you’re writing a story is JUST as important as what you’re writing. By that I mean: What does the story mean to you?The stories you tell are uniquely YOU whether it’s a story interlaced with personal elements, or a sci-fi epic you dreamt up in a feverish haze. Only you can tell the story YOUR WAY. Your touch makes the story unique. It also drives your story forward, so make sure to keep in mind the reason WHY you’re telling the stories you are.Keeping the heart and soul of your project in mind while you draft your stories can and will keep you on track in the thicket of the adventures you create.

Write with a friend.

If you’re stuck within the echo chambers of your mind, it can help to have somebody to bounce ideas off of before you put pen to paper (or fingers to keys).As writers, we sometimes get so enveloped in the worlds we dream up and forget about where we are wanting to go in the first place, which is a fully fleshed out story that is written down. If you have a co-writer, they can help to keep you on track and inspire you to start typing away, and who knows, maybe your conversations and story sessions with them even add developments you hadn’t thought of previously.Having somebody to bounce ideas off of will almost always improve your work with the new perspective you’ve just introduced and not to mention the extra body you’re now accountable to.Try getting used to and adjust to working outside the vacuum chamber that is solo writing. Once you start going down the path of the write-with-a-friend method, you may also have to embrace the notion of working with (or at least trying out), ideas you don’t entirely love —but give it a whole-hearted go! Sometimes, even if you don’t love the idea initially as much as your partner does, you may find that the ol’ curveball unleashes an even better idea from within you, unlocking something completely new that elevates your story in a way tat may possibly be better than your original idea. And, if your ego can take the hit, you may also find from time-to-time that you actually like your partner’s idea(s) better than your own! Either which way, in my experience, more is definitely more when writing with a partner.

Embrace imperfection; let people judge your work.

There is no learning without failing. The best work I’ve ever done came after people gave me valuable input and insights on scripts I wrote. In almost all cases, you’re aiming for your work to be seen by the masses, so other people than yourself are usually your intended audience, (unless, of course, you’re building stories exclusively for yourself to read). So it helps to ask your soon-to-be audience what THEY think of the work you’ve crafted.Whether it’s family, friends, or a random person in a random café in Azerbaijan. Consider sharing your polished pages with a few extra sets of eyes other than yours. Chances are that your own eyes can’t see the forest for the trees at this point. Best case scenario, you’re showered with praise and receive some much needed encouragement for the lonely work that writing can sometimes be. Worst case scenario, they catch some typos you missed and provide you with some (hopefully), constructive criticism with an idea or two for you to consider as areas for improvement within your work.Most people think differently than you do and, as mentioned before, their differences and unique perspective on your work can prove to be invaluable to your evolution as a writer (and the advancement of the specific work you were brave enough to share with outside eyes).An example of this working for me was when I was working on my student short film, Clean. What I thought was an instant hit, turned out to finally hit its stride on it’s 7th draft.Getting ideas from my classmates and colleagues after each draft I published was amazing. Trying to fit each suggestion served as a source of excellent creative acrobatics for me to stretch my abilities and skills while improving my work. While I admittedly didn’t use each and every suggestion—After all, there’s bound to be some stinkers from time to time — I found that even tossing out one of their suggestions after consideration often made me think of an alternative route for me to pursue.Input from others should always be at least considered in order to flex your writing brain and help push yourself to maximum creative power.

All in all.

As writers, we must keep pushing ourselves to be better. And the only way to get better, is by writing. And writing. And writing. And then: getting input from others. And then write, rinse, repeat.I hope this piece has given you at least a few ideas of how you can push past your own blocks for writing.Now if only I could help you with landing the endings! But that’s a topic for another day and another article entirely. For now, I’ll cut this one short and end it here.After all… Short. (Really) Is. Better.