Writer's block. It is an oft-talked about thing in the writing community, and it comes for all of us at one time or another.

My worst period of writer's block ever came during the first month of the pandemic, when a combination of insomnia and fear about the world led me to three weeks where I wrote nary a word. But I've had it at other points in my writing career, too, as recently as this past month, staring at my own manuscript and wondering why the heck I couldn't finish those last 2,000 words.

In fact, that's how this blog post came to be. Because in figuring out how to overcome that bout of writer's block, I realised there isn't just one type. There are four, and they each require a different strategy to overcome.

The four types of writer's block include:

• Writer's block due to imposter syndrome, i.e., "I can't write!" or "nothing I write is good enough!" or "that other book I wrote was a total fluke!"

• Writer's block due to anxiety/stress, over the state of the world, your health, your personal life, etc.

• Writer's block due to the story itself

• Writer's block due to pressure, whether pressure from publishers, perceived pressure from readers, or pressure you're putting on yourself

I've personally experienced all four forms of writer's block, and I know how difficult each can be. All of them come with their own challenges, but once you've identified what type you have, you can use the following strategies to break through and get back to your work in progress or, if it serves you better, start on a new one.

Strategies that I sorely wish Past Emily had in her toolkit!

If your romance writer's block is due to imposter syndrome

Much like writer's block, most of us experience imposter syndrome at one time or another. Even authors of 10, 20, 100 books are struck down by it, despite having those very real paperbacks on their shelves or files in their computer proving that they can, in fact, do it, because they have before.

I've found myself staring at finished files of manuscripts and plot outlines that have gone on to be published or turned into manuscripts, then published, and wondering how the heck I did it, convinced there's no way I could ever do it again.

But you don't need a long track record to prove you're not an imposter. All you need is three simple words: it. doesn't. matter.

It doesn't matter that you've never written before, or haven't written in years. It doesn't matter that your last book didn't sell well, or that it sold hundreds thousands of copies and now you're worried you'll never write that well again.

None of it matters.

What does matter? The story. Focus on that. Tune out the noise, the worries, the fears about this book being as good as the last one, or what the marketplace wants, or whether it will give you enough royalties to finally quit your day job.

None of that matters right now. Just focus on writing your story. Tune the rest of it out.

And don't bother editing, at least not right now. When you're in the depths of imposter syndrome, the best thing you can do is write, almost like a stream of consciousness. Forget about editing and grammar and anything but the scene you're working on. You can fine-tune things later, after you've finished, and you're looking at a complete manuscript, a sign that you are not, in fact, an imposter, because you just wrote the whole dang thing!

If your romance writer's block is due to anxiety/stress

Writer's block that comes from anxiety/stress is totally understandable (see my pandemic writer's block).

When your body is in flight or fight mode, it's putting all its energy into preparing for the Big Bad it thinks is just around the corner. Your brain is full of preparations, analysing worst-case scenarios, so there isn't nearly as much room for creativity.

When you're in one of those especially anxiety-inducing times, you need to scale things back and accept that you probably won't be hitting the word count you were before things got stressful.

Instead, set a doable goal for yourself, something you can do even when it feels like your brain is made of mushy peas.

Maybe it's just writing 100 words a day. Don't worry about editing them, or working in order. Just sit down when you have a moment, choose a scene in your story, and write 100 words of it.

Forgoing chronology can actually work to your benefit in situations like this. Lean into that scattered feeling and hop around your manuscript as needed, working only on the scene or chapter that excites you that day.

And if you feel like writing more than 100 words one day? Great. But don't push yourself. And don't beat yourself up if you miss a day, and definitely don't try to add that day's total to another—I say this from experience.

Start over every day. 100 words, if you can manage it, for as long as this period of your life lasts.

If your romance writer's block is due to the story itself

This type of writer's block can be difficult to spot, because you might be merrily working on your manuscript for a while, then suddenly just...stop. And you won't know why (or at least, you might not consciously know why) for a while.

But eventually, it'll come to you: it's the story.

Or at least, some part of it.

Maybe there's an element you're uncertain about, a trope you thought you were comfortable writing until you got to the meat of it and realised that nope, it's not for you. It might be the steam level of your manuscript—perhaps you wanted to write steamy because that's what you think readers want, only to find that you prefer fade to black kissing scenes. Or it could be the premise of the story.

This type of writer's block is especially difficult to work through, because it means making a choice. Do you edit out that element, trope, or spate of sex scenes out of your story, then try to move forward, or do you shelve the whole thing?

Thankfully, you don't have to make that choice right away. You can go for what I like to call the "soft shelve," which means putting your manuscript away for a few days or a week, and seeing if the story is still bugging you. Are the characters talking in your head? Begging you to write another scene?

That's a sign you should return to the story and edit out the bits that don't work, then try to keep writing forward.

But if, after the soft shelve, another story idea pops in your head, one you're more excited about and ready to start writing, then it's time to move on.

Another sign it's time to permanently shelve your story is if, during the soft shelve, all you feel is sweet, sweet relief that you don't have to keep grinding away at that story anymore.

And that's okay! The truth is that all writers have a few stories that never see the light of day. The one that I was working on a few weeks ago and struggling with? I did the soft shelve, then a permanent shelve, because the day I stopped struggling with it, a new story came to me, one that made me so excited to get back to my laptop, and the thing just flowed, no hiccups or sudden stop-starts.

If your romance writer's block is due to pressure

This is may be the toughest type of writer's block to overcome, because there's no way of lifting pressure on yourself when you're on a deadline...unless, of course, you ask for an extension.

Whether that's possible depends on your own publishing circumstances. I self-publish my work, so all my deadlines are self-imposed and liable to change as and when I feel like it (which is one of the real benefits of self-publishing, especially if you're chronically ill and your body likes to throw you curveballs that put a wrench in carefully made plans), but I've previously worked with small publishers as a ghostwriter when an extension wasn't possible, and I just had to keep writing, even though each word felt 1000.

When you're under pressure like that, the best way to keep going despite the block is to break what you have to write down into little chunks, to be worked on throughout the day.

This strategy reduces the chance of two things: overwhelm and freezing due to fear. Because often when we're under a time crunch, we get so overwhelmed by all we have to do by that deadline that it can make us freeze like we're animals lit up by headlights.

Been there.

So take stock of what you have left to write, and make a schedule for the day, breaking up your scenes and chapters into manageable chunks (300, 500, or 750 words) you can work on throughout the day, giving your brain much-needed breaks in between.

Focus only on today's writing. Don't worry about what you have to write tomorrow, or the day after.

And make sure you take those breaks and do something completely non-writing related. Watch YouTube videos, crochet, go for a walk, do chores, lie on the floor and listen to Nemo—but do not be tempted to research tropes, look at new releases, read romance reddit forums, or do anything romance writing-related.

I speak from experience. This keeps you in the writing space, when what your poor brain really needs is the opposite of that.

I hope these tips help all the romance writers out there struggling with writer's block. I've been there, and it stinks, but it doesn't last forever, especially if you follow these tips.

Until next blog post, happy reading and writing!