Overcoming Writer's Block

Or maybe just understanding it

The dreaded Writer’s Block^TM is something all academics deal with at some point. It’s nasty, it’s cruel, it’s inevitable. Whether you write for a living or as a hobby doesn’t change it, doesn’t dissuade it. Whether you’ve put yourself thousands in debt for schooling just to fall flat in the face of a Final Paper doesn’t change it either. Whether you’ve decided to pour your heart out to a lover in a poem whose words just won’t reveal themself doesn’t make it not so. Yes, Writer’s Block comes for everyone in time, and for some more than most. I’d be lying if I said that there was a one-size-fits-all remedy for it. If there was I’d have packaged and sold it a long time ago, or at least someone would have. You can take your breaks, smoke your joints, pour another glass, talk with family, watch tv, and sometimes none of it works. In this post I’ll be breaking down some of the things that work, yes, but more importantly I’ll be rephrasing Writer’s Block as not just something to lament and soldier through, but as a simple fact of life that can present opportunities and solutions!

We’ll start with a quick rundown of my own experiences with Writer’s Block. I’m an author, or at least an aspiring one. I’ve been running this blog for about a year now and though my schedule is shifting and I don’t always stick to it perfectly, I like to think I’ve been doing an alright job of it. I’m writing consistently for it, peddling my reviews and my own original content, but sometimes the ideas won’t come. I’ve tried compiling a list of concepts and prompts on which to base my blog, this one being the most recent addition, but mostly it’s become a place for book and movie reviews. I read a lot, I watch a lot, and hey you’re supposed to write what you know. It’s easy and I care about it, it seems a natural choice. But I want this blog to be more than just “easy content” as a concept, I’m a deeper person than just that, and my writing should reflect it. And yet, in spite of this aching need to prove to myself and to my readers who I am, I sit at my computer with my head in my hands and try to will a post into existence because I certainly can’t write it in. I’m writing a book series, one and a half novels in thank you very much (although I don’t even have an agent yet :[ but all things take time), and damn me to hell if I haven’t taken weeks off at a time from it. And while I consider myself a relatively quick writer that doesn’t stave off the feelings of worthlessness or fraud that follow an inability to write. What do you mean I can’t write anything down? I can’t think of anything? Am I stupid? And the answer is “No, Delilah, you aren’t stupid.” And the same goes to you. But the logical side of my brain doesn’t stop the emotional one from feeling this way. So, when the time comes and I can’t write anything down, what do I do? Personally, I do whatever I can to distract myself. I’ve been working on these novels for a damn long time, almost two years exactly now, and so I deserve a break. And you do too. Whether you’ve been working on something for years or for moments, writing will always be emotional, exhausting work. I take the time that I need. I go to the gym and try to break my brain that way. I take walks, although not when it’s freezing cold or blistering hot. More importantly, I work. And that’s where I’ll begin.

The reason why Writer’s Block feels so awful, to me, is that suddenly I can’t do what needs to get done. I need to finish these books, I need to get through my short story (sorry it’s taking so long), I need to make more blog posts, I need to write. And I can’t. But Writer’s Block is just as good for you as it is bad. When you can’t work any more, you can’t. When a project needs fresh eyes ideally you won’t beat yourself to death over not being the person for the job anymore. Writer’s Block is the exact same thing. You need a moment, so take it. While my short story marinades and I can’t work another second on it, I write my book. When both won’t work, I write my little reflections and world details. When that won’t fix me either, I make movie reviews. And when even that won’t fix me, then I focus on my job and my schoolwork, chances are I’ve already put it off too long. When one job can no longer be done, it means that it’s time to do something else. That is it. Plain and simple. It will be waiting for you when you come back. “But what about when I’m on a deadline?” Well, if you’re on a deadline then it’s doubly true. Maybe you need to get this paper in by midnight and it’s already eleven o’clock. What good will staring at a screen and further exhausting your eyes do? Take ten, come back, finish the paper. Ultimately all your worrying will do is nothing. If you aren’t on a deadline for whatever you’re writing, chances are you will be for something else. Focus fire on that for a time. All Writer’s Block really is is an indication that it’s time to shift your focus to something else. And I know that you’re exhausted. I am too. I know that you’re overworked and that writing is your only escape, it’s mine as well. Lay down. Rest. That’s important work, too.

And what if taking a break won’t work? What if you’ve taken break after break after break? Then you need inspiration. It sounds lazy to say it, but your brain needs a refresher that maybe only TV can provide. Or a movie. Or a long session spent screaming and crying to Linkin Park. Or a night out with friends. “That’s just another break,” I hear you saying, but it’s not. Sit down with a pen and paper and write every last thing that you find interesting about your TV show of choice. Write how the music makes you feel, even if you feel no way at all. Exercise a different muscle, listen to your friends and what they’re up to, change what you’re doing and maybe all those changes that your writing needs will follow. Inspiration is a dangerous drug to chase, and won’t supplement what dedication and discipline will provide, but that doesn’t make it not important. In fact, it’s crucial. Art doesn’t spawn in a vacuum, especially not now. Give yourself homework, note as many things as you can. Put your brain to work somewhere else and it will really change how you view your writing projects. Sometimes this alone is enough to overcome Writer’s Block. More importantly, however, is that it makes Writer’s Block an opportunity. Study the pros, study the amateurs, study the people that have somehow made it into their field in spite of being god-awful at what they do, it will all help. That’s all that Writer’s Block is, in the end. An opportunity to do differently, to do more.

And what if nothing works? What if I’ll never write again because I can’t get past it? What if Writer’s Block truly is an insurmountable obstacle? What if what if what if? Well, maybe what it means is that the project isn’t meant to be. Not yet. Maybe this story doesn’t look right because you aren’t the writer that it’s meant for yet? There’s no shame in placing things on the backburner. There’s no shame in abandoning a project. There’s no shame in writing, however you do it. Put that project off. I’ll be the one to say it: it’s okay. There’s another one coming down the line for you right now, I know it. You do too because it’s been percolating this entire time. If you’re a writer, then you know the feeling. You sat in your house and it didn’t quite strike like lightning, but it definitely struck. A fragment, an idea, an inspiration for a single scene that maybe could blossom into flash fiction, or a short story, or an entire novel. Who can say what it’s meant for, in the end? You can. And maybe that’s where your effort lies now. And if it doesn’t, then try these methods again and maybe another will come along, or maybe that project will come through, or maybe you’ll go back to the first. It’s unclear exactly how it’ll go. It’s different for everyone. Life is weird that way.

The biggest change I can suggest that you make, the pitfall that’s most important to avoid, is to never look at Writer’s Block as a failure. It doesn’t mean you’re stupid or a bad writer or a fraud. It means you’re human. It means you’re tired. Maybe it means you’re damn bored. You aren’t a failure for facing an obstacle, it means you’re getting better. But first, you need a change of pace. A moment to yourself to be yourself. Not a cashier, not a parent, not a worker bee or a corporate girlboss, not even a writer. You need to be human. No strings, no frills. The time will come, but only if you listen for it. Only if you open yourself to it. Only if you make a change. If you spend all your time, all your breath, all your energy searching for it all that will happen is you come up short.

Goes without saying, but the real best advice I can give you is to never use AI to supplement a blank. It will rot your brain (good lord I sound like my parents) from the inside out and let your creative muscles atrophy into dust. Don’t deny yourself the satisfaction and achievements that come with creation. You’ll hate yourself for it, and a lot of other people will too.

Sometimes things happen for a reason, often times they don’t. It’s up to us to give it that reason. Writer’s Block will remain a source of misery so long as you make it that. So long as you let it be an end to your writing that’s all it will ever be. Try to make it the start instead. Try to make it what gets you out the door, or puts you back in contact with that friend you’ve been needing to check in on, or what makes you bake that bread you saw on TikTok. It’s not just a curse, it’s a blessing as well, and whether or not you can see it only changes how miserable it makes you.