What to Write When You Have Nothing to Write

Let’s just say it out loud. Sometimes you sit down to write…and absolutely nothing shows up. You have nothing to write.

No ideas.
No clever hook.
No “this would make a great post” moment.

Just you, your screen, and the overwhelming urge to reorganize your spice cabinet instead. If that’s where you are right now, welcome. You’re not broken. You’re not out of ideas. You’re just human. And honestly? This might be one of the most important writing moments you’ll have.

That Was Me Tonight

I worked my backside off all day. I’m developing a curriculum that I am putting on Teachers Pay Teachers, and here in my Words and Wonders store. I was crushing it. I was writing and coming up with all these great ideas. When I was done, I opened up the book I’m working on and stared at the screen and was like, “Now what?” I had no clue what I was even writing about never mind the actual words.

My brain was like a tabula rasa. Not the Buffy the Vampire Slayer version… the “my mind is completely blank” version. So I did what any self-respecting writer would do. I freaked out for a second, then I took a deep breath and focused and thought about why I had nothing to write about.

When “Nothing to Write” Isn’t Actually Nothing

Here’s the truth most people don’t say:

When you feel like you have nothing to write, it usually means one of three things:

• You’re mentally exhausted
• You’ve used all your words somewhere else (hello, teaching all day)
• Your brain is overwhelmed, not empty

That “nothing” feeling?

It’s not a lack of creativity. It’s a full tank with no space to process. Think about your day for a second. You’ve made a thousand micro-decisions. Answered questions. Explained things. Managed people. Handled interruptions you didn’t plan for. On a normal teacher related day, this is me times 1000. It was only me times 100 today because it’s school vacation week!

Of course your brain is quiet now. It’s not empty. It’s recovering. And trying to force brilliance out of that space is like asking your phone to run ten apps at once on 2% battery. It simply won’t work. Think about it like your phone powering down all unnecessary apps when you are at 2% battery.

The Myth of Constant Inspiration

Somewhere along the way, we picked up this idea that writing should feel inspired all the time. It doesn’t. That’s just not sustainable.

Real writing looks like:

• Starting without a clear idea
• Writing sentences you don’t love
• Deleting things and starting again
• Figuring out what you think while you’re typing

The writers you admire? They don’t wait for inspiration, they write through the fog. They show up when it’s easy… and when it’s not; especially when it’s not. As James Clear explains in his breakdown of the creative process, showing up consistently matters more than waiting for perfect inspiration.

What to Write When You Feel Stuck

If your brain is currently offering you absolutely nothing, try one of these:

1. Start with a sentence, not an idea

You don’t need a full concept. Just write one honest sentence:

• “I don’t know what to write today.”
• “Today was exhausting, and my brain is done.”

That’s not failure. That’s an opening. Most strong pieces of writing don’t start with brilliance. They start with honesty.

2. Answer a simple question

Try this:

• What frustrated me today?
• What made me laugh?
• What do I wish someone understood?

Don’t overthink your answers. Write them the way you would say them out loud. Your best writing usually lives inside your real answers.

3. Write badly on purpose

Give yourself full permission to write something messy. Not something publishable, or polished or impressive.

Just real. There is something incredibly freeing about deciding ahead of time that this draft does not have to be good.

Ironically, this is often where your best ideas sneak in.

4. Borrow momentum

Go back to something you’ve already written.

A past blog post, or a journal entry. Something you wrote for work, or a lesson you created. How about a conversation you overheard in the store, or on the bus? Start with that and then embellish it. Add to it. Expand it. Reflect on it. You don’t always have to start from scratch. Sometimes your next idea is hiding inside something you already created.

5. Set a 5-minute timer

Not an hour. Not a full draft. Just write for five minutes, whatever comes out, no editing allowed. Don’t fix anything! No backspacing and most of all, no judging. Just write. When the timer stops, you can stop…if you want to. If you don’t? Keep writing. You’ll be writing because you want to, not because you have to.

A Gentle Reminder You Might Need Today

You are not out of ideas.

You are likely:

• tired
• overstimulated
• mentally stretched
• or just in a quieter creative season

And that’s okay. Writing isn’t about always having something brilliant to say. It’s about showing up anyway, even when you think you have nothing to say or nothing to write about. It’s about writing even when the words are simple, even when they’re messy and even when they feel like nothing at all. Because “nothing” has a funny way of turning into something once you start.

Final Thought

You don’t need a perfect idea to be a real writer. You just need a starting point. And sometimes that starting point is simply: “I don’t know what to write.” And then… you write anyway, because you are a writer.