Writing slumps happen to all of us. One moment you’re flying on the wings of inspiration; the next, you’re in a frustrated mess, unable to move forward with whatever project you’ve been working on. Here are ArtsHub‘s five tried and tested ideas you can try to jump-start your stuttering creative engine and unplug writers’ block.
So you’re a novelist? Pick up a collection of poetry and flick through its pages. You write non-fiction? Go and race through a high-speed crime thriller for a change in pace. The point is to find inspiration in other people’s art and sometimes this can happen in unexpected places.
Thuy On is the Reviews and Literary Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the Books Editor of The Big Issue for 8 years and a former Melbourne theatre critic correspondent for The Australian.
Her debut, a collection of poetry called Turbulence, came out in 2020 and was released by University of Western Australia Publishing (UWAP). Her second collection, Decadence, was published in July 2022, also by UWAP. Her third book, Essence, will be published in 2025.
Threads: @thuy_on123 Instagram: poemsbythuy
