Overcoming Writer's Block

Identify your block

As mentioned above, there are many reasons why someone is likely to experience writer's block (e.g., fear of writing, personal standards, perfectionism, lack of inspiration, interpretation of expectations). To complicate matters further, sometimes the reason for experiencing writers block is not that one lacks inspiration, motivation, or knowledge, but rather that one is confused as to what they should be writing about or the optimal approach to take to communicate their ideas. Taking time to explore the potential factors underlaying your experience of writer’s block is a key component when counteracting it. Ask yourself, “what am I feeling?”, “what am I thinking”, and “why do I feel blocked”. You may need to sit with this for a while to recognise what is happening for you. However, by taking these simple steps we regain control of our situation by recognising it is our own inhibitions or limitations contributing to our blockages, rather than the absence of the ‘muse’.

Routine

Sometimes we must get the ‘bad’ writing out so we can get to the ‘good stuff’. Setting aside time every day to write (even when you are feeling a lack of inspiration) is an important component to counteracting the avoidance tendencies which are likely to perpetuate the experience. Commit to a time every day, put it in your calendar and only dedicate the time you genuinely can – saying you are going to do 5 hours when you know it isn’t possible will only lead to more dissatisfaction! You are better to start small and meet your intentions, then to overcommit and come up short. Show up for your writing when you say you will, regardless of how you feel. It may be that you only write one sentence or perhaps you simply sit through the discomfort of looking at the blank page, revising brainstorms, or contents pages, but sit with it. Eventually you will start to make progress, and even one sentence a day is better than nothing!

Accept the Journey

If you find you are being inhibited by perfectionism and high standards, then I encourage you to embrace the journey of your development by accepting where you are today in relation to where you would like to be. Know that everything you write is a step towards where you hoping to head to, and that the ‘mistakes’ of today will contribute to greater efficiency and quality in the future. We often hear the saying “don’t let great be the inhibitor of good”, and this certainly applied here!

Curiosity and Exploration

Try to approach your writing from a perspective of curiosity and exploration. Where possible choose topics that excite and inspire you. Especially when working towards bigger projects there is nothing worse than feeling disenchanted with your work. Even if you are working on a topic that is somewhat underwhelming, commit to exploration by constantly asking “what am I learning from this?” AND “how can I apply this in my life?”. Doing this will help you to maintain purpose and meaning in your work.

Ritual

Try to make your writing time a special place for you to be with your thoughts. Rather than approaching writing from a “OMG I need to do this or I’m going to fail at life” perspective, instead make it special. You may wish to make a pot of your favourite tea, light candles, or take yourself to a café. Expressing gratitude for the opportunity to explore the topic, or for having the education to be able to write are also constructive ways to develop a positive relationship with your writing (although you may need to be a little less last-minute in order to really achieve this!).