How to Write When You Have No Ideas

Writing is a bit like meditation in that we often make it harder than it needs to be. We sit down to write and expect magic to immediately happen in the way we often expect to turn our minds off when we try to clear them.

To add insult to injury, the harder we try to think of nothing, the more difficult it becomes. Likewise, when we try to force ourselves to sit down and write when we don’t have ideas, it can seem like trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube. Maybe, we suggest to ourselves, we should wait until we are in the mood to write.

One way to trick your mind into a meditative state is to contemplate an object such as ta lit candle or a flower. By gently gazing at the flickering flame or enjoying the beauty of the vivid hues of a blossom, we’re able to transition between the chattering of our minds to a peaceful place.

The next time you sit down to write and no ideas come to mind, look around and start writing about something you see. Perhaps it’s a crack in the plaster on the wall that is beginning to resemble the continent of Australia. Maybe it’s a cardinal on the bird feeder outside your window. Without giving it too much thought, write what you see.

When no other description comes to mind, write about something else you see, such as a cobweb near the ceiling or the neighbor’s cat who is watching the cardinal intently from below.

As you focus on describing what you see, you may be reminded of a memory; write about it. What you see might cause you to recall someone from your past, write about them. Write about how the bird makes you feel. Write about how overwhelmed you are by all the household projects that need your attention. In time, you’ll find your fingers quickly moving across the keyboard or your pen flying across the page. Stay in the flow! It might help you find a new perspective for a character in your current writing project, or you may be led to an essay you had no idea was inside you.

When I worked and went to school full time, I never had the luxury of waiting until I was in the mood to write because I had very little free time. I wrote whenever I found the time for as long as I could, so any method I could use to help me start writing when I couldn’t seem to begin, helped.

Julia Cameron wrote that one doesn’t have to be in the mood to write; one simply commits to writing at a certain time. Commit to staying seated with your pen and paper or at the keyboard even when you have no ideas by trying this exercise.