No matter how bad your case of writer’s block may be, it’s crucial to resist thetemptation to excuse yourself from writing because of it.

While it may be debilitating at times, writer’s block is not an excuse to writing.

Writers that cut themselves slack and default to their favorite activity, whether it includes watching TV or movies, browsing the web for hours at a time, or playing video games, are the type of writers that commonly get thrown into the “lazy non-writer” pile by writers actually writing their way through their writer’s block — they’re the writers that usually don’t believe writer’s block exists … and it’s because they don’t just stop and give up for the day — they look for detours.

If you find yourself writing very little (if at all) and you’d like to be able to write your way through your block, consider the following ideas:

1. Switch Gears

The least productive way to write something is to think about it for hours at a time. While some works definitely require a lot of thought, I found that in my personal experience I was thinking way more than I was actually writing. It got to the point where I felt guilty about calling myself a writer when meeting new people.

Switch it up a bit by working on another story, project, or even in another medium. Just get moving.

2. Write Something You Think Will Be Easy

It might not sound exceptional to write a new take about how roses are red and violets are blue, but believe me, this exercise will surprise you if you suffer from perfectionism.

If you find yourself spending longer than expected on a simple piece that shouldn’t require much, ask yourself why. For me, this was perfectionism. It took me forever to write anything because I would stress over the detail until I thought it was perfect.

As many of you might know from your own experience, perfectionists are funny creatures — they work and work and work until their creation is perfect … yet chances are they will eventually come to hate it later on as they grow.

The lesson to perfectionists is this: there’s no such thing as perfect … it’s all just personal perception.

3. Print And Pile Your Work

If you really want to force yourself to write through the block, consider printing your work and starting a pile next to where you work so you can start seeing your progress.

I haven’t actually tried this one, but it always sparked my inspiration to look at the pile of screenplays and literary submissions I had at the foot of my desk. Stephen King once mentioned this in regard to submitting to publishers — it went something along the lines of “Don’t even think about submitting to magazines or publishers until you have a pile of work up to your knee.

4. Start A Blog

If you haven’t already, get on it — blogging can really help you discover what you’re most passionate about in life … and in writing.

If you find that you have 10 posts about poverty as a child, for example, then you probably have an idea of what you’d like to express in your work. On the other hand, blogging can also help you get going simply by stacking the word count or sparking the muse everyday.

5. Realize That You’re Free to Write About Anything!

One of the most common things I read from published writers — or those currently working on a project — includes the freedom they miss as a novice writer. Once you receive an advance to write your book, you’ve entered a process in which the publisher and editor is very involved. They have final say in a lot of cases.

As a novice, you have absolute freedom to write whatever you want, however you want. Run with it!

Remember, if you get an idea and it screams “This isn’t acceptable!” you should start writing it immediately.