Understanding and overcoming writer’s block
Some insights and strategies for the affliction every writer dreads
Terry Pratchett and Jodi Picoult didn’t believe in it. Maya Angelou was wary of it. Joan Didion and Ray Bradbury apparently suffered from it. Writer’s block is a tricky, nefarious topic: no one can quite agree on what it is, or on the strategy for overcoming it. In Writers Dreaming, Angelou said, ‘I may write for two weeks, “the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat …” And it might just be the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. … And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, “OK. OK. I’ll come.”’ Didion had a more practical solution: according to her editor, she would simply put her manuscript in a bag in the freezer!
I have never been stymied by a long bout of writer’s block (lasting more than a couple of weeks), for which I’m grateful. I would also caution that, once named as an affliction, writer’s block can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. However, getting stuck during the writing process is very real, and something I’ve experienced many times. Here are four reasons I think it happens, and some ways to overcome it.
Overthinking
It’s very easy to get lost in worry when trying to express ourselves on the page. Is my narrative voice strong enough? Is this plot silly? Is everyone going to read this and secretly laugh at me? This will, of course, ruin the enjoyment of writing, and who wants to spend hours struggling to do something they don’t even like any more?
Conquering our emotions when writing can be challenging, and it’s easy to be upended. Getting lost in overthinking can happen throughout your writing career, particularly if a book doesn’t do as well as expected, or you experience hurtful critique. However, if you try to please all your imagined readers and critics during the writing process, the situation will quickly become overwhelming.
My solutions for overthinking:
Write for yourself, then edit for your reader. Give yourself space to write and play with your first draft without hindrance or fear of ‘getting it wrong’, because you can edit later, with help, to get your story into publishable shape. If you prefer, think of your one ideal reader as you write, the person who is going to absolutely love this book. (Note: your ideal reader is likely to be you, but sometimes it helps to externalise!)
Be prepared to write some absolute shite, and accept that writing rubbish is a natural part of the process.
Follow or rework Julia Cameron’s concept of morning pages from The Artist’s Way to blast through your blockage. Cameron calls morning pages ‘the primary tool of creative recovery’ (11). She recommends that you start the morning by spilling out your mental clutter, making sure you fill three pages. Don’t think, just write. As Cameron says, ‘There is no wrong way to do morning pages’ (10) and no one else is meant to see them. Whenever I’ve done this, I’ve always found that by the third page I’ve moved past the mental chaos and I’m writing something much more interesting or insightful. And if, like me, your morning schedule doesn’t allow for this, you could try it at another time of day.
Insufficient knowledge of subject or craft
If your character is a neuroscientist, can you write authentically about their experiences? If your book is set in Prague, do you know the city well enough to set the scene? If you’re struggling with dialogue, is there a book on craft that might help? Sometimes you need to set the work aside and brush up on a specific writing skill, or do some research to get comfortable in a scene. You might also look for another bestselling book in a similar genre to yours, and study how these authors have crafted their stories.
Your story has taken a wrong turn
I’ve come to see that getting stuck is often a gift, signalling to me that I’ve gone off track somewhere. Figuring this out usually involves some technical analysis, as I’m not always sure where I’ve gone wrong, only that the excitement or thread of the narrative has petered out. I’ll reread and take a look at the book’s outline (or develop it further) and pray that the solution doesn’t involve cutting too many words. Cutting is often what solves the problem, and my worst experience was chopping 20,000 words out of Beneath the Shadows while on a very tight deadline with a six-month-old to look after – argh! But as soon as I was brave enough to do it, the story began to move again, and often it’s only a few thousand words that need to go. Words are precious, but when you’re in the writing business you can’t afford to hoard them, so get tough and make those cuts and changes, or give the work-in-progress to a trusted friend (or employ some professional help) if you’re struggling to see where you might have gone wrong.
Life
Sometimes writer’s block might not be about your writing at all – it could be something else going on in life that needs attending to; or if you’re going through a rough time then you might be better off taking a break rather than pursuing a regular word count. Don’t underestimate the value of time out. Go and do something else that nourishes you. Your book will get written faster if you’re able to return to the work refreshed, rather than forcing yourself to the keyboard or blank page every day. It’s so hard to be kind to ourselves at times, but so necessary.
To anyone who is prone to suffering from writer’s block, I really sympathise and I hope these suggestions help. While getting stuck can be incredibly frustrating, try not to give the phenomenon of writer’s block too much credence, as this might cause it to bloat and dominate your creative life. Instead, be patient, and trial the different solutions that will unlock those barriers, until the words are flowing and you’re enjoying your writing again.