Writers, un-block! 13 tactics to get the words flowing

Editor’s note: Gretchen Rubin is working on a book titled The Happiness Project. The guidelines she offers below can help writers in all fields to get the words unstuck and the process rolling along. This article originally appeared on HuffingtonPost.com.

One of the challenges of writing is … writing. Here are some tips that I’ve found most useful for myself, for actually getting words onto the page:

1. Write something every workday and, preferably, every day; don’t wait for inspiration to strike. Staying inside a project keeps you engaged, keeps your mind working, and keeps ideas flowing. Also, perhaps surprisingly, it’s often easier to do something almost every day than to do it three times a week. (This may be related to the abstainer/moderator split.)

2. Remember that if you have even just 15 minutes, you can get something done. Don’t mislead yourself, as I did for several years, with thoughts like, “If I don’t have three or four hours clear, there’s no point in starting.”