5 Ways to Conquer Writers Block and Get Unstuck When Writing a Book

Ah, the dreaded writer's block. It happens to all writers. You're writing, you're in the flow for days or even weeks and then suddenly you're hit with doubt, feeling like your ideas are dumb. Or maybe you just don't even have ideas. You don't have anything else to say. But you know your book is not done. It's happened. You're stuck. So what can you do? Well, watch this video of course. Because this video is for you. Hey there. I'm Julie the book broad. I'm the founder of a fabulous self publishing services company called Book Launchers. At Book Launchers, we have four ways to support you in your writing journey. So number one, buy a copy of Self Publish and succeed. Number two, you can join our class Self Publish and Succeed live. It's a 12 week course. Number three, work with us in our membership to get one on one book coaching. Or number four, work with us in our membership to get a writer who will actually write the book with you. Writing is definitely easier with structure and support, but you can still find yourself getting stuck if that happens. Well, here's five ideas to shake those words loose from your head and get them flowing again. Number one, Ask AI. Lean on those high tech buddies. That's your artificial intelligence software pieces. It's like having a team of little imaginative robots. They. They spark ideas. Tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT4 can generate human like text. So just type in a prompt like I'm writing a book about overcoming challenges and my main character is stuck on a deserted island after working for weeks and weeks in his corporate job. He could really use a vacation. But he also needs to get off the island before his resources run out. How can I tie this story back to my idea of overcoming challenges? And what ideas do you have for what comes next in this story? And then watch AI churn out ideas you never thought of. Of course there are other things you could do that are probably closer to the reality of writing the book. Like what I did on a video. Coming soon on turning your book into a talk. So I had five bullet point concepts of what you should do to turn your book into a great talk. And I wanted anecdotes to bring it to life. So I went back in And I asked ChatGPT to not edit or change the words or the tone of the script but but to go back through and suggest examples from history, analogies or anecdotes to bring each point to life. Subscribe to the channel and turn those notifications on so you get notified when that beautiful beast of a video goes live. Oh, and I'm talking about the one about turning your book into a talk. And while you're taking action, go ahead, hit that like button and comment on the video below. If you don't already know, commenting the day a video is released gets you entered to win some of our fabulous noboringbook swag like these fabulous T shirts or our noboringbooks mugs. So go ahead, say hello in the comments below. Back to your AI My favorite thing about AI is that it will generate a ton of ideas. So whatever you're feeling stuck on, so hit up your favorite AI platform and ask it for ideas. Number two to get you unstuck, read for inspiration. JK Rowling Dreamt up Harry Potter on a train ride. You don't really know where inspiration is going to strike, and often your best ideas will come when you're not trying to force force yourself to do the work of writing. I find that someone who's stuck writing probably hasn't done any reading in a while. It doesn't even have to be books, although I do highly recommend getting lost in a good fiction book to help you be a better writer. Even when I'm prepping these videos, I feel like sometimes I'm running on an empty tank of ideas and then I read a favorite website, a blog, and suddenly ideas hit me and I'm in the flow and you have a bunch of new content to watch every Tuesday and Friday. Number three Write less. Hemingway wasn't kidding when he compared prose to architecture. Less is more in this era of short attention spans, so make every word earn its place. In other words, sometimes you're stuck because you don't need to say more, you need to say less. Can you simplify what you have? Can you write this for a grade four or grade six student? And if you did that, what stories or examples would you add so they enjoy what they're reading? The best books are the ones that deliver a punch with every paragraph. So often you're trying to say more than you need to. Just simplify, get it concise, and deliver massive value in a shorter amount of time. Number four Focus on the unique Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers stood out because it presented a fresh take on success. This is something we spend a ton of time working on at Book Launchers with our clients as well as right here talking to you on Book Launchers TV because without something that makes your book different novel, you'll struggle to market it. So we start with your goals and then figure out what it is that makes you and your idea unique. In copywriting, people feel like if it's not unique, it's useless and it's not going to sell. So what's going to sell your book? Find that special something in your story and when you hone in on what makes your perspective, your lens or your idea unique, you'll uncover more to say our clients have done amazing work this year bringing unique to the market. Efren Delgado's book the Opposite Is True is definitely worth picking up when it's out. It's a big book, but every page is full of stories and ideas that will have you rethinking the world around you in a really good way. What I loved about his book is that there are so many stories and examples I'd never heard of. I'm so used to people writing about Elon Musk, Steve Jobs and all the usual players, but there were stories of people that are famous in their niche but but you probably never knew their backstory. It's so powerful. I also love Sean Hay's book and his work. The great choice to be at the top of your game, owning a bunch of banks and then to be behind bars for fraud for the choices you made. That's a unique story, but it also gives him this really cool lens to look at the world and to look at the decisions you make so he's able to take that unique story and share lessons for business people about how the impact of a single small decision that puts you in that gray area just moves you closer and closer to making a really wrong decision. And it makes it not seem like that big of a stretch when you get there. Or there's this beautiful book by Linda Magoon which was a huge hit at the American Library association event my team attended this year. They did book signings and for Linda they were lined up down the exhibit hall to get her to sign her book. This is Linda's story of being newly divorced in her mid-50s and Linda rebuilds her life one step at a time as she rediscovers her love of hiking in New Hampshire's White Mountains. But then her ex husband is arrested for unspeakable crimes and she's faced with guilt, shame, sadness that comes with having a link to someone who's so infamous. This story is powerful and unique because she takes the extra piece of divorce and devastating news and adds hiking in it and how hiking those high peaks was key to her healing. High fives to these fabulous authors. You guys are fantastic and you definitely fit the noboringbooks mantra. And hopefully those unique angles also were part of the reason you didn't get stuck with writer's block. And finally, number five, whenever you feel stuck, you can always return to that hook. Often writer's block is really just lack of clarity, which is why I'm trying to spark you forward with these other ideas. But maybe it's time to make sure your hook is really clear. So circle back to that hook. Remember that outcome of an outcome that you have to deliver to your reader. And not just any reader. It needs to be a specific person who needs that outcome of an outcome. Here are a few examples of strong hooks from successful nonfiction books that are designed to engage and benefit a very specific reader type. All right, take examples like the Lean Startup. This book promises a new and innovative approach to business. The hook is how today's entrepreneurs use continuous innovation to create radically successful businesses. It's designed for startup entrepreneurs and managers who want to make their business more efficient and successful. It has a very clear audience, and that audience is offered a very clear outcome of an outcome. Of course. Classic the Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss this book is that escape 9 to 5, live anywhere and join the new rich, which is a strong and direct promise. And it's aimed at people who are tired of the traditional work structure and want to achieve financial freedom with a flexible lifestyle. So Stronghook doesn't just capture attention, it communicates the value to the reader that what they'll get from reading your book. And it has to directly address their wants, their needs, their aspirations. You know, those things they're thinking about in the middle of the night when they should be sleeping. All right, what are you still doing here? Get writing. I hope this got you unstuck, but if you do need just a little more, may I suggest you hit up this video on writing for a big audience versus writing for a niche. Or this one that YouTube thinks is the one that you really need to watch next. And if all this isn't working, remember Book Launchers. Hit us up@book launchers.com and let us support you in writing and marketing. A great hashtag noboringbook.