Overcoming Writer’s Block

For instance, the same things that keep a writer from putting pen to pad or fingertips to keyboard are usually the same things that will keep a person from mopping the kitchen or mowing the grass.

Writers like to make myth of the creative process and treat it like some gut-wrenching experience rather than an activity. That being said, writing is an activity that chooses the writer more than the other way around. Sooner of later a real writer won’t have the luxury of distractions. The blank page will compel the act of writing. The trick is to clear your head of all the baggage that distracts and misinforms the creative process and let yourself be compelled.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

No excuses

There are 24 hours in a day and somewhere in there you should be able to find time to write something. If you can’t actually sit at a desk and pound something out, then carry around a small notepad you can fit in your pocket so you can at least jot down some ideas, poems, or bits of whatever. There are probably little pockets of time during even the busiest schedule that we waste every day – use it.

Give yourself permission to fail

A lot of writers have a hard time writing because they are afraid of rejection. Listen. Everyone gets rejected. That’s an inevitable part of the writing life. Get used to it. If you are saying to yourself, “What’s the point of writing?” you will never write. Look at it this way – if you’re most likely to get rejected anyway, you’ve got nowhere to go but up. The more you write, the better you’re likely to get. So, just shut up, have fun and make the most of it.

Create your ideal writing space

Not every writer’s creative process is exactly the same. Some writers need a nice office space. Others can work just fine sitting on a tree stump. I knew one guy who claimed he could only write in the nude. Fine a place to write that makes you comfortable, but not too comfortable.

You’re writing isn’t going to save the world

If you are one of those deluded writers who thinks what you write will bring about some earth-shattering change in the course of human events, get over yourself. If you persist in this delusion, your frustration with the world will turn inward into a frustration with yourself and your writing. In other words, take your writing seriously, but don’t take yourself so seriously.

Have fun

The act of writing goes much more smoothly when it’s fun. Always remember it’s supposed to be fun. If you treat writing like a job you hate, writing will always be difficult for you.

Remember, you are the only one to blame if you’re not writing. All those distractions – the unpaid bills, the screaming kids, and the broken heart are the meat of life, and the meat of life is the meat of all good writing – not an excuse for not writing.