I know a lot of really intelligent, logical and almost completely sane folks who buy into the idea of writer’s block. As you’ve probably realized at this point, I think it’s bullshit, but I have to acknowledge that for some writers, the inability to put a decent sentence together can be stressful, and it may feel like you have a real affliction.

 

Here’s what I think: Writer's block is based in emotions. Sometimes life throws us a wrench that isn’t related to writing at all, and we just don’t have enough in us to deal with it and our writing so we run out of gas. Most of the time, it’s an internal battle. You want what you write to be perfect and awesome and mind-blowing. You also want it to be done yesterday so you can move onto the next amazing piece of writing floating around your brain. You also want agents, publishers and/or readers to love what you’re doing. You know what you’d like, but no one knows from one day to the next what readers will like. I mean, Fifty Shades of Gray and dog memoirs speak volumes on the fickleness of readers. As a reader myself, I know that my tastes change constantly. You know what you want to say, but you’re worried you can’t make it clear and the reader might misinterpret it. All of these thoughts tumble in your head while you’re trying to create a fictional world and characters and your focus snaps. These are feelings every writer struggles with at some point. If writing weren’t challenging, why bother? Some writers in make things worse by trying to take the easy way out. They don’t want writing to be work. They feel if they had talent, then it wouldn’t be so hard. When they fail to get that agent, or they can’t quite show that scene the way it appears in their head, they give up. Maybe not consciously, but they do stop trying. This is when writer’s block rears its mythical head.

 

Does it make it any less real for writers experiencing it? No. What you perceive as writer’s block can be debilitating, but you’ll never get anywhere if you treat it as something that’s happening to you, rather than something that’s happening within you.

 

So, I’ve compiled what works for me. I can write about almost anything at almost any time. Writer’s block has never been an issue, but I do admit, there are times I simply don’t feel like writing so when I try, it ends in tears or booze…or both. Here’s what I do:

 

 

Trying to figure out all the possible ways to say something at one time results in a brain jam. If you’re writing a draft, just go with the flow. It’s okay. Editing happens for a reason. In addition to just relaxing and allowing yourself to make mistakes, try keeping a list of words, phrases and the many ways you can convey them. Then, when you find an echo in your draft, you can easily fix it. It’s not the end of the world if you can’t come up with the most unique and powerful prose the first time around. Trying to write perfectly makes things go much more slowly, and you lose the motivation and the passion to keep going. Cut yourself some slack. Get the story out and perfect it later. If there’s a part of your manuscript that is causing trouble, mark it somehow (I like to write something like “SUCKS ASS” in the margin to remind me I need to go back to it.) and give yourself permission to work on it later. Don’t stop for perfection. It’s impossible to achieve.

 

 

Muses are a romantic idea that artists use to get laid. Sometimes inspiration is awesome and plentiful, but most of the time, it’s up to us to create it. The reality is that what seems like inspiration is really just the result of your hard work. Don’t look for inspiration and don’t stop writing just because you think it’s not there. Brainstorming is a guaranteed way to FIND inspiration. If you don’t have a plot idea, or a scene is flopping, or you’re trying to figure out a kickass protagonist to fill a story, brainstorm it. Really, it’s that simple. I like to start with a word or a phrase and then I play a quick word-association type of game. I write everything that particular word or phrase makes me think of. It’s a mess of scribbles and only I understand what I’ve done, but when I read through it later, I always “find” inspiration in it.

 

 

About everything. Write ideas as they come to you, paragraphs, bits of dialogue, scenes, etc. If someone says something that strikes you as funny, offensive, deep, etc. make a note of it. Keep them in a notebook or a folder, whatever works for you. Most of these notes may never be useful, but all you need is for one to ignite your imagination. When you’re stuck for an idea or stumped on how to proceed, pull out your idea book or folder and read for a while. Your muse will find you and shake a story out.

 

 

Even if you write nothing but “I am a loser” over and over again, it’s nudging your brain into writing mode and shattering those feelings of inadequacy or other emotional stresses that are hurting you. After a while (and this might mean a few minutes, hours or days) you’ll start writing something that resembles fiction.

 

An affliction is a condition causing pain, distress or misery. Writer’s block isn’t a condition, so it isn’t an affliction either; it’s a state of mind. You cause it. It’s up to you to fix it. You can only do that if you want to.