Camp NaNoWriMo is in full swing! Now that we’re in the second week, you may find yourself struggling to figure out what to write next. Today, NaNoWriMo YWP participant Rylee Kazort shares some writing advice and tips for breaking through writer’s block: 

As a writer myself, I will be the last to tell you writing is as simple as picking up a pen and just going for it. Everyone has their own style and vision. A lot goes into writing a good story, and not all the rules are clear cut.

But what if I get stuck? Writer’s block is something we have or will experience at one time or another. Here are a few things to help get over or avoid that situation.

1. Make every scene important.

Whenever you’re between action sequences in the story and nothing is really happening that will hold interest, give the reader important information about the story. Add information when you can’t show action.

Camp NaNoWriMo is nothing without you, our incredible participants. Today, Rylee Kazort, a fellow Camper and member of the Young Writers Program, offers you some pep:

Let me first say that writing a story, or anything at all, is not easy. I am a dyslexic teen writer with an anxiety disorder, so it’s safe to say that I can relate when writers say that just putting words down can be stressful. After all, as a writer, you spend half your time wondering if the words on the page are good enough—you constantly want to look over your writing and have it mean something to others. But don’t let the anxiety of worrying about what to write stop you from writing. I use writing as a powerful means of communication for things I might be afraid to say in person.

We use writing to portray our true thoughts and feelings. With anxiety it is hard for me to communicate who I am to everyone else; I am a kid who stays in a corner and doesn’t talk to many people. I don’t normally get the right words out when I am talking, and I often don’t know what point I’m trying to make, and I get flustered and frustrated.