The Psychological Trick That Turns Writer’s Block Into Momentum

You're cruising through your screenplay when suddenly you slam into a wall.

Your protagonist needs to admit their love, or confront the villain, or solve the mystery, but you have no clue what should actually happen on the page. The blank page mocks you. Your creative momentum dies.

We've all been there.

The Oxford Writer calls this hitting "that part of the maritime chart that is blank except for the words which the old cartographers would write, 'Here be dragons.'"

But you don't need to turn this into an existential crisis. Whether you're writing a screenplay or novel, here are some tips to get through the block.

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The Placeholder

Instead of powering through or panicking, borrow from the future.

"If you're writing and you reach a scene where you don't know what happens next and you can't think of something, you put what is known as a placeholder," The Oxford Writer said.

Write a quick description and keep moving. I've heard this advice in the past (and given it to other writers), and what I do is usually just write the slugline. If I know a location or series of locations, I can get to a point where I know what's going on, and I can write the next scene I'm excited about instead of stalling.

For screenwriters, this might look like:

INT. SARAH'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

If you have the bare bones of the scene, you can add something like:

[CONFRONTATION. Sarah discovers Mike's betrayal.]

That's it. Move on to the next scene you can actually write.

Why This Actually Works

This technique taps into the Zeigarnik effect, named after psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik.

The Oxford Writer explains that waiters "could recall far better the details of an order that hadn't been paid for." Your brain remembers unfinished business better than completed tasks.

When you create a placeholder, you're telling your subconscious that this needs work.

"If something's not completed, the subconscious will carry on working on it even while you're asleep," The Oxford Writer said.

Writers report that this technique allows them to "continue on writing, sinking deeper into psychological flow and engagement" with their work.

Three Reasons This Saves Screenwriters

Momentum is everything. The Oxford Writer pointed out that "momentum is crucial for a writer. You need to keep going. You can't afford to slow down and stop and allow room for the doubts to creep in."

You stay flexible. Placeholders create "emotional distance between you and the work. You can defer perfection to the future."

You discover better ideas. The technique will "lead you to discover story riches that you otherwise would never have discovered." Your subconscious often finds solutions your conscious mind missed.

Just Stop

Some writers deliberately stop mid-scene when they know what comes next.

As productivity expert Anthony Vicino noted, "when you leave off right before the end of a chapter, it's very easy just to complete that chapter and then keep that momentum" the next day.

For screenwriters facing constant deadlines, this could be the thing that lightens the creative load. Jot down that placeholder and keep going.