Writer's block is a common challenge that writers of all levels face, but it's not a new phenomenon. Throughout history, many famous authors have faced and overcome this creative obstacle, often developing unique and effective strategies. Let's delve into some of these techniques, offering inspiration and practical advice for modern writers seeking to reignite their creative spark.

This season, many of us are settling back into our routines and wondering: How can I connect with my creativity again? There is a lot of good advice out there: prompts, good attitude, workshops. But when you already have a personal writing coach, I’ve found that the most effective way to empower yourself is by dedicating a new space in your own home for writing (and writing only.)

How do our online writing tutors do what they do so well? What research-based methods do we use to teach our students? Here’s our take on the first five effective instructional practices identified in the influential 2007 report titled "Writing Next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools.”

A writing coach can talk with you about tools like Bork’s PROBLEM acronym, and how you can use them in your own work. Never hesitate to ask your writing coach about advice you hear in podcasts or find in online articles so they can help you figure out what’s most relevant to your projects.

A writing coach is someone who has likely encountered many of the issues you might be currently facing with your own writing practice, and has figured out ways to overcome them. This means writing coaches are often incredibly resourceful people, who at the same time that they guide you through your process can help you discover how to teach yourself and grow as a writer for a long time after your work together. A writing coach online can refer you to internet-based resources that can help you with the specific project or projects you have in mind. Whether you have grammar questions, or need to think through your story structure, the internet likely has free resources that can help.

Dialogue is the bread and butter of the play. As a writing coach with Gilliam Writers Group, I’m one of several writing coaches with a background in dramatic writing. So if you need some tips on dialogue for your own novel or short story, here are a few from the theater world, where no one stops talking.

Whether you’re writing an essay for school, revising a chapter in your novel, or composing a sensitive email to coworkers, translating the words in your head into writing can be a frustrating process. A literary translator knows this feeling well, and moreover, accepts it as a natural part of the work of writing. With advanced degrees in diverse topics, including translation, writing coaches at Gilliam Writers Group can offer unique and surprising insight into what makes great writing.

The most basic work of a writing coach is helping their client find their novel’s shape. Although narrative, or plot, has taken many different shapes, one in particular recurs again and again. This is the triangle, the pyramid, the arc: the three-act structure.

Each sentence is like a little box into which a writer’s chosen words are piled. How the box looks from the outside, regardless of the words it contains, is very important. Some boxes are brightly colored. Some are small and plain. Some are meant to stack neatly on top of one another. Although opening the box — being able to read the words and absorb their meaning — is thrilling, we wouldn’t experience such a thrill without the careful construction of the box itself.

My first piece of advice: You, the writer, decide who is telling the story, and how much information they, as the storyteller, are supposed to know and expose.