I’ve been putting off writing an article for a good few months now because I’ve had zero ideas. Zilch. Nada. In general, I find the most challenging part of writing to be coming up with an idea for an article, and usually I come up with a few really lousy ones before I finally stumble upon something that could actually make a decent article. But this time around, even lousy ideas evaded me.
So, when reality finally hit me in the face, and I was forced to stop binge-watching YouTube videos about dogs babysitting, or dogs seeing their owners after a long time apart – or dogs doing anything pretty much – it finally dawned on me. I should write about not being able to write! Yay! Ironically, I’m not the first one to do that. By the looks of it, writer’s block is a rather common condition, and many famous writers have suffered from it, too. Why not, then, take the bull by the horns and tackle my nemesis by writing! Maybe I’ll even learn how to overcome my condition in the process…
What is it exactly?
By writer’s block, do we mean the inability to come up with ideas, or not knowing how to start writing once we know what to write about? As it turns out, it can be both. Some may even suffer from it for a prolonged period of time, years even.
Maria Konnikova, in her excellent piece for the New Yorker, writes that the term writer’s block was actually coined by a 1940s psychiatrist who carried out extensive research into the topic. This fellow, Edmund Bergler, interviewed writers and published articles on the condition but, Freudian as he was, his conclusions can seem a bit too, hmm, Freudian… To Bergler, the veritable cause of a creative block lies in the psyche of the writer, and thus needs to be dealt with through therapy aiming to solve the psychological issues burdening the writer’s mental state. Seem a tad unclear yet heavy? I think so, too.
What causes the writer’s block?
Building on Bergler’s psychological insights, however, researchers have since produced more refined knowledge of the problem. Jerome Singer and Michael Barrios, psychologists from the Yale University, studied writers suffering from the condition, and concluded that there are several factors that may explain the creative block. Like Bergler before them, they interviewed writers and found out that some of their subjects were incapable of writing because they were perfectionists, unable to meet their self-imposed standards. Others were afraid of having to be compared to others, while some were driven by external motivation only and found little joy in writing at all.
Journalist Oliver Burkeman, on the other hand, citing psychologist Paul Silvia, argues that we shouldn’t talk too much about a writer’s block. Calling our temporary inability to write a block, a condition, actually thrusts us deeper into the dark place where we are incapable of being creative. It’s not a serious condition, so we shouldn’t freak out. (This is easier said than done, though.) There’s actually a surprising body of academic literature doubting the very existence of writer’s block and claiming it’s merely a verbal construct. As unpleasant as it is to admit, I might have succumbed to just this while agonizing in my inability to write and wallowing in self-pity. Maybe instead of actually ‘suffering from’ writer’s block I was actually justifying my creative block by calling my laziness a condition. Goodness!
Real or imaginary the result is still the same: facing a blank page and not being able to write. So, what can be done about this?
How can you overcome the writer’s block?
Scouring the Internet for advice on how to win the writer’s block, I was repeatedly met by the same litany of remedies. This is good, as there seems to be consensus on how best to overcome it. Moreover, the tips are easy to put into practice, meaning that you, and I, can try those out pretty easily. If you’re like me, though, and were hoping to be told to just chill and wait for your inspiration to come and hit you in the face, you’ll be disappointed. More self-discipline and perseverance is needed. You will have to actively go and find your inspiration, not the other way around.
Go wild!
First of all, if you’re really stuck, abandon the strict limits of the assignment at hand and allow yourself to either jot down ideas, brainstorm, or freewrite. The goal is to get something, anything, written, to get you going. Freewriting is a creative exercise where you give yourself a time limit, say ten minutes, a blank paper and a topic – it can be the topic you’re struggling to write on, or something totally unrelated. The goal of freewriting is to let yourself write down everything that comes into your mind during that time limit: don’t censor yourself and don’t think that something is too silly to be written down. You don’t need to show your work to anyone, so it can be crazy and stupid.
While freewriting, you might also stumble upon inspiration or uncover new sides to your topic. It also proves you that you are indeed able to write, making it easier to move onto the real substantive stuff. Incidentally, this is also a creative exercise of the type that the aforementioned Singer and Barrios would approve of!
Create a schedule
This might be the most tedious piece of advice out there, but it seems to be one of the most important ones. Creating a schedule and sticking to it can go a long way. Writing takes up time, so clear up space in your calendar for it. Avoiding multitasking can also help you stay focused on writing instead of those cute dogs on YouTube, or whatever it is that prevents you from concentrating properly.
Treat yourself
Last, but definitely not least, it’s important to reward yourself. This is of course intricately linked to setting goals. How you choose to reward yourself is up to you, but make sure that your goals are realistic and attainable, otherwise they’ll only dishearten you more. Promising yourself a reward at the end of a job well done also gives you an incentive to work well!
The final pep talk
An interesting point was made by Oliver Burkeman – a self-confessed blocked writer. According to him, writing isn’t necessarily always fun and we shouldn’t get accustomed to thinking that. Quite the contrary, writing can be a real pain in the ass (pardon my French). Considering that creative occupations are usually associated with passion and drive, and not feeling those emotions constantly can feel scary or outright wrong, it’s quite a relief to hear someone say that doing something creative doesn’t have to be awesome all the time. Sometimes you just need to sit down, force the pen on the paper – or your hands on the keypad – and just write something, anything down. Before you know it, you’ve written a good deal, thus effectively proving yourself you are blocked no more!
I set out to write this article to get to know my enemy and to get rid of my writer’s block. So, am I cured? Well, considering the fact that I’ve produced over a thousand words of text, and taking into account everything we’ve learned about this block, you could say I have. For now. Whether it’s a good article or not, is quite another story. I learned that more than a condition, writer’s block is a temporary creative hitch that shouldn’t be blown out of proportion. Next time I feel stuck, I’ll promise myself to take a deep breath and simply – write something. You can do that, too.