I don’t believe in writer’s block. I do believe that sometimes our mental capacity for our work just dries up.
There are many reasons why our mental capacity to write can dry up. Sometimes we’ve been working too hard on a project, emptying ourselves but not filling back up. Sometimes we’re just too overwhelmed, with other day-job responsibilities or home responsibilities or child responsibilities. Sometimes it’s just not time for a project we’re trying to force.
Whatever the reason, it’s important to remember that writing is painful, if we’re doing it the right way. It’s never easy to open the shades on our inner lives, which is what we’re doing with both fiction and nonfiction if we’re writing it authentically.
We cut and bleed onto the page, and it’s hard work, that cutting and bleeding. If we think it’s easy, we may as well laugh at ourselves right now, because it’s not. We don’t always want to do it. We don’t always love it. We don’t always know why we’re doing it. We just know we have to.
Sometimes I sit down with my notebook open (because I write everything by hand first), and the words come so easily I don’t even really have to try. And other days I sit down and I can find nothing to say, even though I planned the topic a week ago and have given my subconscious ample time to thin it over and contribute to the in-my-head brainstorm that’s always churning.
Writing is not for the weak.
If we have to write because it’s who we are and it’s how we process the world and it’s the way we share our gift with the world, how do we prevent ourselves from getting stuck?
First we have to recognize we’re stuck.
Here’s what stuck looks like:
1. We’re writing in circles, not really saying much.
2. We’re writing shallow, without any depth.
4. We’re writing rough, never writing our way toward a final draft.
3. We’re not writing at all.
And then we have to identify the reasons we’re stuck and address them.
Here are some reasons we might find it hard to fill a blank page:
1. We’re overwhelmed.
Sometimes the demands of our days are just too much. Sometimes we can’t juggle all the kids and the writing and the laundry and the dishes and the dinner cooking and…
It all weighs so much, and sometimes it all looks really ugly, because kids are sick or we didn’t get enough sleep or a deadline is looming. Worry and anxiety are killers of creativity.
What we can do: Ask for help.
I used to think I had to do it all by myself, that I had to earn some badge that made me “Super Mom.” I didn’t need the help. I could handle it. And then I broke my foot. I had to ask for help all the time, for the littlest things.
Life has a funny way of showing us truth.
If we want to pursue a successful career and still care for our children well, we are going to have to ask for help. And we are going to have to take time away from it all—the writing, the children, the home stuff, the day job, everything. We cannot write well if we are walking around with a fever of overwhelm. We have to unload. Go for a walk. Call a babysitter. Lie in bed and stare at the ceiling. Discover meditation. Whatever it takes to feel less overwhelmed.
Our writing needs space. Let’s give it that.
2. We’ve been working too hard.
In her book The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron recommends that artists take an “Artist Date” every week, in addition to a daily walk. Her point in this is that many times we can often get so focused on work that we forget to play.
What we can do: Cancel work and go play.
It’s a worthy act to play. Play frees our mind and allows our subconscious to move in and take over. Especially when we’re stuck, this can mean a story writes itself while we’re playing Candyland with the littles. Get out those board games. Have a dance party in the middle of your living room. Run around the backyard in an epic game of chase. Not only will you feel inspired, but your children will love it, too (especially if you tell them, “I’m working. Let’s go play.”).
3. The internal editors have come to visit.
This is one of the most common reasons writers get stuck in their work. We sit down to write a paragraph or two, and the only thing we hear is, “That’s not good enough. No one will ever read that. You shouldn’t even waste your time.”
Here’s the thing: WE MUST BEAT THESE INTERNAL EDITORS.
We must beat them. They cannot tell us who we are or what we need to do.
What we can do: Write rough drafts every single day.
I’ve learned to beat my internal editors. I get up early every single morning, and for the first half hour of my day, I write. Three pages, college-ruled, black pen, I just write. I write about my worries and I record my complaints and I think of new writing ideas and I write all kinds of random thoughts in this “morning journal.” It’s fragmented and rough, and sometimes my thoughts don’t even really make sense, but that’s okay. All I’m doing is racing the internal editors. Because once they learn they can’t beat you, they’re gone.
So write consistently and often. Write rough. Write about anything in the world. Just keep the pen moving.
4. We’re not present.
One of the most often problems for me is when I’m walking through my life distracted—thinking about that new project I want to work on, working out a plot line in my head, trying to remember what the grocery list had on it. All of this “cerebral living” makes it hard to experience the moment.
And when we’re not experiencing the moment, we’re missing out on some really valuable inspiration all around us.
What we can do: Set a reminder to stay present.
If we have trouble with this one, we can set a timer at different intervals during our day. When the timer goes off, look around and soak in the moment. See the kids playing. Watch the birds outside. Breathe deeply and smell the chicken roasting in the crockpot.
5. It’s just not time for that project.
For years now I’ve been “working” on a fantasy story about a magician named Rindelman. My husband even drew a picture of the magician so I’d have it as a reference. I have the characters all planned out. But every time I sat down to flesh out the plot, I just couldn’t.
New projects would come knocking, and they all felt so easy. I finally realized that Rindelman wasn’t ready to tell his story. This story has been waiting for years, but I know he will eventually tell it. Jus tnot right now.
What we can do: Evaluate the project.
Do we feel passionately enough about it? A book written without passion is just a mediocre project. We can do better than that. Put the idea aside and try again sometime.
I know how hard it is. This is my biggest struggle as a writer, deciding what’s next. I have so many ideas, and I want to do them all yesterday. But timing is so important. If we’re not allowing the book to tell itself in its own timing, we can’t expect a project to be very good.
That old adage “waiting is a virtue?” Well, it’s a virtue for a reason. It means better work when the time finally comes.
6. We might be burned out.
When we’re working too hard, our brain just gets fatigued. We can’t expect it to work endlessly without any rest.
What we can do: Build in some regular rest.
Every seventh week in my writing work, I take a Sabbath rest (in fact, next week is one, and you won’t see any new writing on this page for the whole week). I don’t write any of my normal stuff but allow some space to write some new stuff or not write anything at all. Sometimes I sew or do puzzles. Sometimes I take long naps. Sometimes I spend the whole day with my children.
Rest is so important in the life of a creative. We don’t like to think about it, because we’re writer parents, and it’s important to use every waking moment, especially if we’re working a day job. Isn’t it?
Rest is how I avoid burnout. As writers, our lights are so bright. If we shine them for too long without turning them off, we’re going to burn out.
Feeling stuck in our writing can make it seem impossible to write consistently, but there’s another thing we have to remember:
We are never more stuck than we allow ourselves to be.
This is not a forever-stuck. It’s just a temporary stuck.
Writing will never be easy. Of course it won’t. But with some simple precautions and solutions, we can ensure that it’s richer and better.
That’s a worthy pursuit.
