Is Writer's Block Real?
A Google search will return this definition: “a temporary inability to begin or continue a writing project due to fear, anxiety or lack of inspiration-striking professional and non-professional writers alike.”
You have the best intentions to sit down and write. You have a strong desire to write something new, creative, or meaningful, but the words don’t come. You are not alone.
All writers run into a stumbling block during their writing career. Some can overcome it quickly, but it takes time, time, and more time for others. And it is no wonder that anxiety is at an all-time high in this time of war, surging crime rate, and unprecedented natural disasters. So, it's no surprise if you find it hard to write because you are lost in the mist, unable to see your way forward, or suffering from a lack of inspiration because you are in the midst of the world’s turmoil.
Ian Goldstein, a contributing writer for The New Yorker, penned an article titled “Are You Experiencing Symptoms of Writer’s Block or N.B.A. Block?” He defines the symptoms as “feeling mentally hazy and unable to lift the brain fog no matter how hard you try.” We are not in the N.B.A. — at least I'm not but I still identify with Mr. Goldstein’s symptoms. “You just can’t seem to get inspired by anything anymore, let alone put it down on paper," and "You feel emotionally drained.”
I long for the time when the most significant writing problem I encountered was finding the hours to sit down amid a full-time career and ballooning family obligations. Today the hours are there, but progress in my work-in-progress has been sidetracked. My mind is consumed with distractions, ailing family members, pandemic concerns, new aches, and spiraling inflation. Yet, I refuse to abandon my daily writing ritual, sitting down to write each morning, which I worked hard to make a habit. Instead, I use those hours for other author tasks and keep in mind that the situation is temporary. If my W.I.P. isn't moving forward, I can still nudge my career in a positive direction.
Indeed, I suggest that giving up is the worst way to deal with a lack of inspiration. You can push through the fog even when you are amidst fear, doubt, or anxiety.
Ways to Keep Going When Writing Gets Tough
Stay in a writing mindset:
Answer your emails or write a letter
Numerous forms of writing have nothing to do with your work-in-progress. Reach out to friends. Send a note to your favorite author or draft a response to a fan. Perpetuate the writing habit.
Build social media posts
I have numerous tools for creating social media posts and scheduling them for future releases. Although I intend to spend time keeping them fresh and timely, I neglect to refresh the libraries. Stay in your author persona, address those tasks which need doing but fall to the wayside when you are in a writing frenzy.
Prepare promotional material
Interview yourself and draft a character interview. In virtual book blogs, there is always an avenue for promoting yourself as an author or one of your works, current, backlisted, or future. In addition, you'll benefit from building a pool of material to draw from and the ability to revisit past successes.
Keep a journal
Sometimes just writing down your thoughts without the pressure of producing a manuscript helps to clear your mind. The beauty of journaling is that there’s no right or wrong way to do it. One day, it could look like a diary entry; the next day, it can be a list of things that bring you joy or a list of goals you want to achieve. It can help you work through emotions, especially when you feel anxious, overwhelmed, or sad.
Find a Distraction:
Pick up a book and read
“Read, read, read. Read everything -- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window.”
― William Faulkner
Reading inspires, teaches by example, and connects you with other writers. Here is a link to a great article on TheWritePractice.com explaining the benefits for authors who read.
Go exploring
Get out there and explore somewhere you have never been. Sure, you can plan an elaborate adventure, but that's unnecessary. Instead, check out a local museum, library, or part of town you've never visited. Or, if you're stuck for ideas, pretend you are a tourist in your city. Get those creative juices flowing.
Educate yourself
Research is one avenue, but I'm talking about signing up for a class to learn something new within a structured format. Expand your horizons and your education. Afraid to venture out? There are numerous courses online, from piano lessons to scrapbooking. So, stay in your bunny slippers and check them out. And I don’t mean writing classes! Writing classes can be helpful, but this is about growing and exposing your mind to new things and ideas.
There is nothing as liberating as diving into a new passion. Perhaps, when you least expect it, your writing muse will reappear.
Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). Cornhuskers. 1918.
Clocks
HERE is a face that says half-past seven the same way whether a murder or a wedding goes on, whether a funeral or a picnic crowd passes. A tall one I know at the end of a hallway broods in shadows and is watching booze eat out the insides of the man of the house; it has seen five hopes go in five years: one woman, one child, and three dreams. A little one carried in a leather box by an actress rides with her to hotels and is under her pillow in a sleeping-car between one-night stands. One hoists a phiz over a railroad station; it points numbers to people a quarter-mile away who believe it when other clocks fail. And of course … there are wrist watches over the pulses of airmen eager to go to France…
Note: This freeform poem is in the public domain. Carl Sandburg was awarded his first Pulitzer Prize in 1919 for his poetry collection Corn Huskers, in which this poem appeared.
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