Dealing with Writer’s Block
Writing about a writer's block is better than not writing at all. – Charles Bukowski, The Last Night of the Earth Poems
What even is writer’s block?
As Wikipedia insists on telling me, writer’s block is not a medical condition, even if sometimes it feels physically painful. According to the Cambridge Dictionary (the English language teachers’ bible), writer’s block is ‘the condition of being unable to create a piece of written work because something in your mind prevents you from doing it’.
‘Something’. It really is that nebulous. Some writers claim they’ve experienced it, others call bullshit. After all, technically speaking, it’s purely psychological. It could be a bit of a ‘stage fright’ situation, where all the expectations of writing a novel (which is a huge undertaking) suddenly crash down on the writer. It happens to the best of us. It could also just be good old-fashioned procrastination. I’ve suffered from writer’s block on and off over the years but I now ascribe to what Ray Bradbury had to say on it:
Now, what I’m thinking of is, people always saying “Well, what do we do about a sudden blockage in your writing? What if you have a blockage and you don’t know what to do about it?” Well, it’s obvious you’re doing the wrong thing, don’t you? In the middle of writing something you go blank and your mind says: “No, that’s it.” Ok. You’re being warned, aren’t you? Your subconscious is saying “I don’t like you anymore. You’re writing about things I don’t give a damn for.”
After a few pretty solid years of writing, I can recognise what causes my own particular writer’s block – it is that alarm Ray Bradbury describes. Something isn’t working, whether it’s a plot point or a character arc, and my brain just needs to go away and think about it. And guess what? Ninety-nine percent of the time, I work out how to change it, I do so, and ta-dah! Writer’s block solved.
How I personally deal with writer’s block
So, now we’ve established I know how to get past my writer’s block, but what do I do while my brain’s coming up with the solution? Sometimes, I just stop writing altogether. Probably there’s other things I needed to be getting on with, such as studying, working, life. If I think it’s just a minor case of writer’s block, going for a walk or run in the fresh air or seeing a friend helps. If I really can’t stay away from writing, I’ll probably keep working on other chapters or other projects, but I’ll respect the sanctity of the screwed-up bit that needs my mind to go away and have a think.
Other ways to deal with writer’s block
As I said, doing something completely different can help, but other pieces of advice I’ve heard include:
changing or adapting your writing environment
approaching the work from a different angle, such as splitting it up, free writing, or mind mapping
talk to trusted friends, writers, and readers
work on positive self-talk
just write – anything, badly, whatever
Luckily, I don’t regularly get afflicted with writer’s block anymore – so if you’d like to see the result of my pushing through, you can now get Coldharbour I here!
