How do you cope with writer's block?

Don't erase.

Everyone gets this. Nobody's first drafts are ever good enough in their estimation and, if you're a "pantser" especially, then you'll often feel like your plot is going off in the wrong direction.

Any first attempt of anything you do is going to be terrible looking back on it later. But you'll never get off the starting blocks if you over-analyse each sentence you are writing.

Just write; let it flow out and don't worry about how crappy you might be telling yourself it is.

When you're writing a first draft over-analysing and editing as you go is your enemy. There'll be plenty of time to go back and edit, redraft and rewrite your work once you've finished a first draft.

It's been said here on this sub before but it bears repeating: your first draft will be shit but you can always polish a turd, you can't polish anything if you keep erasing and deleting your work.

Let your writing go where you let it, but you have to let it.

Editing and reorganising comes later.

/r/writing Thread