Remember that point in The Matrix, where Morpheus took Neo to see the Oracle, and while they waited, Neo talked to a kid who could bend a spoon with his mind?
When Neo asked the secret of bending the spoon, the kid said simply: “There is no spoon.” Knowing the spoon was not real freed his mind to manipulate the spoon any which way because it eliminated limitations. That’s how reality worked in that world.
In the same way, if you’re serious about writing, writer’s block isn’t really a thing. Okay, it might be this thing: An excuse you use not to write. Forget that thing and remember this instead (with apologies to Yoda): Write, or don’t write.
I don’t mean to undermine a situation that truly holds you back from writing, but I know from experience that writers (I’ve been guilty of this!) bandy about the term writer’s block when “procrastination,” “not knowing where to start,” or “lack of discipline” are more applicable terms.
Ask yourself what’s keeping you from writing and answer yourself honestly. I write about my own self-interrogation in my post about journaling. If your answer feels like an excuse, isn’t it time to move past that?
Banishing writer’s block can help you to bust through your likely self-inflicted limitations and explore the possibilities of what you can achieve in your writing. You can make that your reality. These tips can help.
Pen to paper smashes writer’s block
In an earlier post, I wrote about the dangers of using journaling as an excuse not to write, however, it can smash writer’s block. It’s one of my favorite methods because it works.
I like to warm up my brain and my writing muscle like I warm up my body before the few times I actually exercise. Doodling or writing my name or the alphabet helps me focus my mind, leading to clearer thought. As writer and cartoonist Lynda Barry explains in her book What It Is:
“There is a state of mind which is not accessible by thinking. It seems to require a participation with something physical we move, like a pen.”
This particular state of mind is useful in content creation of any kind, but you can’t force it. Because you can’t force it, you might think you have writer’s block. I say, maybe not.
Coax this state of mind into being by doodling in a notebook for ten minutes. This exercise has helped when I’m writing to meet a professional deadline or when I’m writing a story for myself. Most writers I know love paper and notebooks, pens and pencils – even if, like me, said writer doesn’t journal for the sake of journaling. The next time you feel writer’s block coming on, try writing on paper – or just doodling – for a few minutes and see what happens.
Haiku smashes writer’s block
Back in the mid-aughts, I got stuck trying to finish a story I wanted to submit to my writing group for critique. I became so frustrated, I put the story aside and wrote haiku. Writing haiku was my happy place at the time, and in this instance, the activity was particularly freeing.
A few things were at work here:
- I was thinking of something other than what frustrated me. This is common writing advice: Set aside what you’re working on and distract your mind by taking a walk, drinking a beer, talking with friends. You’ll come back to it later with a rested brain and fresh eyes.
- I was still writing. To me, this is the best argument for having multiple writing projects going at once, especially if they’re completely different types of writing. Even if you feel like you’re getting nowhere with one piece of content, focusing on another can be as mentally freeing as it is actually productive.
- Haiku is short, so I had completed pieces of writing in time to submit something for critique. This was highly gratifying, even though the product was not award-winning haiku. Believe me, it was not.
My short hiatus gave me clarity of mind, so when I revisited the story, I was able to see why I was stuck.
Making hard choices smashes writer’s block
William Faulkner said, “In writing, you must kill all your darlings.” Delete whatever pieces of your writing do not serve the story. I also take it to mean you must be willing to have unsavory things done to or by your characters. I loved my characters too much, often to the detriment of the story. In this stuck story, I had what I thought was a great character, but who did nothing terribly interesting.
I loved this character and still do. I didn’t want him to do anything bad, and I certainly didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. In the end, nothing ever really happened at all, and what’s more boring than that?
When I later came back to that stuck story, I saw the problem, although I wasn’t quite ready to fix it. Not with that character. I set that stuck story aside (for years) and turned to new fiction ideas. I finished these stories because I forced myself to make characters who acted like real people.
When I finally came back to this beloved character of mine to write his story – truly write his story no matter how ugly and unsavory it might be – I finished the first draft of a novel in which he became the star because I was willing to make hard choices. That character is living a life that might not always be great or good, but it’s pretty darn interesting.
Creating a list smashes writer’s block
Only you can answer for yourself whether writer’s block is nothing more than an excuse. If it is, as long as you’re making up excuses not to write, why not write some of them down? This tip combines all previous tips: Using a pen and paper; writing something else; making hard choices (in this case, the hard choice is to acknowledge your excuses).
Making a list often sets me right in a challenging situation because it forces me to focus. I can then organize my thoughts and wrestle the challenge into a manageable size. Once I do that, I can get something done.
Create your list of excuses, put it away, and then get back to writing.
Do you have another tip to get the creative juices flowing when you just aren’t in the mood to write? Tell me in the comments -- <Your Activity Here> Smashes Writer’s Block.
Thanks!