If you meet seasoned writers who tell you that they don’t believe in writer’s block, be skeptical!
Writer’s block is a very real phenomenon. As humans, the most powerful tool we have is our minds, which — let’s be honest — can make us believe just about anything.
If you are a writer and have been blocked for some time, or if you’re a beginner and are having trouble getting started, you are in good company, and my hope is that this post will set you at ease.
The pressure to write only increases once you start getting paid for your writing, so we’ll explore a humorous story of how one screenwriter overcame crippling writer’s block for her first professional assignment and then some practical ways to deal with writer’s block when it occurs.
A Blocked Screenwriter
One of my favorite stories on writer’s block comes from the highly revered screenwriting teacher Viki King. She wrote an incredible book called How to Write a Movie in 21 Days. It is a must-read for anyone who is struggling to write a screenplay, but aspiring novelists could benefit from her writing advice and story structure knowledge as well.
Back to Viki’s story: After struggling to get hired as a professional writer in Hollywood, she finally landed a gig. She had five days to turn in her script. This was wonderful until her body simply wouldn’t cooperate. As much as she wanted this opportunity, she became ill and was confined to her bathroom. Her only alternative to her state was a pill provided by her doctor.
The problem? Viki knew that if she took the pill, she’d sleep right through her deadline, and her awesome opportunity would be vanish, along with her dream of becoming a professional writer. She knew she had to get through her block since opportunities like these don’t often happen and it might be the only one she’d ever have.
Refuse to Give in
So how did Viki King overcome her writer’s block? She dragged her typewriter into her bathroom and typed a note addressed to her body, informing it that she was in the bathroom to accommodate the symptoms but that she was going to write this script with or without it.
With the right blend of humor and mental toughness, Viki King began her script. Within an hour, her symptoms subsided and she was able to complete her script well within her five-day deadline.
While it may seem that Viki had physical symptoms rather than mental symptoms that were preventing her from writing, she recognized that her mind was manufacturing the illness because she was scared.
And that’s just it: writer’s block can typically be distilled down to fear. We don’t write because we can’t. We write because we are afraid. Typically, we are afraid to take a chance on ourselves and our talent. In other words, we are afraid that we will fail.
What if Life Gets in the Way?
I recognize that there are times when it may not be possible to write, due to demands of a job, child rearing responsibilities, or other life circumstances that make it extremely difficult to access inspiration or find the necessary time to produce our pages. If this is the case, it is important that we are honest with ourselves. It is time to check in and find out if we are creating another block or if we are too overwhelmed to move forward.
If it is the latter, then we must accept what is and not put pressure on ourselves to write if we are mentally and physically exhausted. We must, first of all, take care of ourselves. Self-care, nurturing, and attending to ourselves can help us to eventually overcome our writer’s block. Many times, we are our own worst enemies, with negative internal dialogues designed to keep us stuck. This is our mind at work again, and we must be careful not to believe our own thoughts about ourselves. We must believe that we have the ability to produce a great piece of work and to remind ourselves that the work is not final while we’re still creating it.
Dealing with Long-Term Writer’s Block
If you have been blocked for more than a few weeks or even years, there is hope. A creative recovery program such as Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way can help you re-connect to your creativity. Through two important tools, morning pages and artist dates, Cameron outlines a 12-week program for blocked artists. The beautiful thing about Cameron’s program is that it works, whether you are a writer or any other kind of artist. We’ll take a look at each below.
Morning Pages
Named for the time of day you are supposed to do them, morning pages are three pages of freewriting about anything and everything that comes up. The great thing about morning pages is that you are not supposed to “write” them at all. They can be complete gibberish and are recommended for all blocked artists, by the way, not just writers.
Morning pages are designed to help you get past your censor, the egoic part of you that interrupts and makes you believe that you are not a good writer and that will come up with anything and everything it can to keep you from writing. Your censor can become quite vocal when you’re trying to write, and if its voice is loud enough, your censor can keep you blocked. It would rather that you didn’t have any ambitions about your writing. It’s the part of you that is afraid of being seen and afraid of failure. Morning pages help you get past your censor because the only requirement of morning pages is that you fill three pages with writing. It can be whiny, petty, mean — it doesn’t matter. By lowering our standards, we practice acceptance and get past the pressure of writing perfectly. This helps us learn to free ourselves up in our creative writing endeavors.
Artist Dates
An artist date is a weekly sojourn that you take by yourself: just you and your artist. No, other people like your significant other or best friend are not allowed to join you. The artist date means quality time for just you and your artist.
Artist dates do not need to be elaborate or expensive. Going for a drive to a new town, lunch in a new diner in a different part of town, or going to see a movie by yourself all qualify as artist dates.
Now that there is a vaccine circulating for COVID-19 in many parts of the world, I am excited to think that Artist Dates won’t be so limiting. That said, an artist date can be as simple as going for a walk in your neighborhood.
Think of your artist dates as quality time for your creative self. You are allowing yourself time to unplug, observe, and listen to what comes up.
I hope this article gives you some ideas on how to overcome writer’s block. Writer’s block plagues many writers, but luckily, there are solutions.
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments below, and I’ll do my best to help you out!
