Ever felt overwhelmed and stuck in the writing process without being able to move forward and write new things? Staring at a blank page for a long, long time, struggling to find words to pen down, can make you feel frustrated – but know that you are not alone – any writer – faces a writer’s block – in which the writer is unable to produce new work. There might be a creative slowdown as well. This creative hiccup is not the commitment issues or lacking writing skills, it is just the inability of an author to compose new, original material. It’s typically said as artistic constipation. Frustration, fear, anger, dread, and different robust emotions typically accompany it.
“Writer’s block is almost like the equivalent of impotence. It’s performance pressure you put on yourself that keeps you from doing something you naturally should be able to do…The reason you don’t get writer’s block as a writer is because you have a deadline. It has to be in. You have no choice. But, if you sit there, and you think, “This piece has to be the ultimate article, the ultimate book ever written; my entire selfish being is wrapped up in this; and, this is me.” – The bigger of a story you make up about what you are doing, the bigger the block will get. It has nothing to do with the talent of writing or the skill of writing. It’s completely performance anxiety.” — Neil Strauss
Writer’s block is triggered by a variety of things, reckoning on the individual. Some individuals believe that writer’s block stems from an absence of ideas or perhaps talent. However, that’s typically not the case.
Self-doubt is really an enormous part of writer’s block. Triggers and causes of writer’s block include:
1. Apathy – These writers are bound by the rules and are unable to see the creative side of it.
2. Anger – These writers cannot take criticism and cannot stand it when their work goes unnoticed.
3. Anxiety – These writers are overthinkers and are always worried whether their work is good enough or not. They often are unable to believe in themselves.
4. Issues with others – These writers hate being compared to other writers.
5. Distractions – These writers get distracted and it becomes incredibly hard to concentrate on writing for them.
6. Physical illness – These writers may have faced a physical illness because of which they are unable to write.
7. Bills piling up – Bills can definitely trigger anyone, and it piling up means stress piling up which leads to a lack of focus on writing.
8. Procrastination – Tomorrow never comes, and these writers are unable to do the task at hand as soon as they should have.
9. Intimidation – Some writers also get extremely overwhelmed and intimidated by the amount of work needed to be done.
Overcoming writer’s block could be a delicate process that’s usually extremely subjective and depends on the individual itself. But, at the end of the day, it is about overcoming self-doubt and knowing that your hard work will pay off. To help overcome writer’s block, try these ideas:
1. Read
Reading is a decent cure for writer’s block. You will gain inspiration when you check out another writer’s work whether it is your favorite writer or someone new. Reading motivates you to keep the creative juices flowing.
Reading different styles and voices that have nourished generations of creatives gives you in-depth knowledge and experience. Writer’s block indeed gloms onto the idle, not the well-read.
2. Take a break
Writing can be exhausting sometimes and it is best to take a break in such a case. If you are intimidated, the best thing you could do is to take a break and start afresh after that.
3. Jump ahead
Slow progress is progress too, and you should jump ahead of what is intimidating you.
4. Just write
Do the opposite of writer’s block – Write – you can always edit your work by coming back to it. Even if you temporarily copy words from a source, it can fuel you into writing again. Practice and train your mind to just write as even if it is unusable, you eventually overcome that block.
5. Pretend that you have never read your work before
Read your work from the beginning with an open mind.
6. Do something else
Going for a walk, or staying calm for a while can make you inclined towards writing.
7. Create a deadline for yourself
This shall help you overcome procrastination.
8. Make your process more visual
Making your process of writing visual can definitely help you in getting more motivated to write.
9. Do something mundane
10. Freewrite
Write without pausing to worry about sentence structure, grammar, spelling, or whether or not something makes sense or not. Just write while not second-guessing something. While most of it’ll be unusable, it is a nice way to break through the block.
11. Pomodoro technique
Decide on what you would like to write. Set a timer for 25 minutes and write until the timer rings. Finally, take a five-minute break and repeat as much as you can.
These are some ways you can overcome writer’s block. A writer’s block can be very difficult to overcome but once you do it, there is no going back.
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