What is Writer’s Block?
What is Writer’s Block?
I think that’s a more complicated answer than we’d like to think, but there is hope.
The simple answer can be found in a dictionary.
“the condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing.”
I think this definition is partially true, but I don’t think it covers all the reasons someone experiences writer’s block.
1. Fear
People might not realize it, but fear plays a big part of why many writers run into writer’s block symptoms.
It could be fear of failure. We can stop writing because we become paralyzed with the idea of anyone reading what we’ve written and calling it trash.
It could be fear of rejection. We could spend hours and days and weeks and months or even years writing a story only to hear a publisher say “No.”
In fact, many successful authors have.
It could be fear of not being good enough. What could be worse of all is that we spend all this work and effort on a project and in the end we find out how bad it really is. That can be devastating if someone was under the illusion that they were good and come to find out they really aren’t. And even worse if they aren’t willing to work past it and become better.
2. Laziness
Sometimes we say it’s writer’s block, but really we just don’t feel like working on it today. We’ve worked on it for hours and hours all week long and we want a break.
So on any given day we might sit down to write something and our brain just kind of turns off toward the project and deep down we really are okay with that as we don’t actually want to write anything today anyway.
3. Burnout
Close to laziness is burnout. We’ve stayed up until 2 am every night and right now the last thing we want to do is think about what to write next.
We have a million things going on in our lives and each one of them stresses us out in a different way, and if we don’t take some time to rest we will most likely implode.
So that Friday deadline is looking more and more fierce as it comes piledriving at us in full force and nothing seems to be stopping it. The stress really builds up and the work becomes paralyzing when we stop to think about all the possible consequences of not getting it done on time.
4. Creative block
This really is more of a normal case of writer’s block.
We are slamming through the project and then suddenly, blam, nothing. All creative juices slam to a halt. What happened?
It’s hard to say. Usually this comes from a lack of research and planning.
Some authors and writers would say this almost never happens to them because they outline the entire story beforehand.
I would tend to agree with this notion. If we take the time to outline the entire thing and make sure we have enough resources to look through along the way when we run out of ideas I would think that the ability to see what’s coming next would be much stronger.
If you are the type of writer that just starts writing and sees where it ends up, I would say that you will face this problem more often than someone that outlines everything.
Confession: I am totally guilty of this on a daily basis.
I am 100% by nature the type of writer that gets an idea and just starts writing. Where the idea came from can give me a bit of a heading but otherwise the story or project usually unfolds before me as I write it.
Now, learning from James Patterson I did pick some very powerful outlining tips that I have taken advantage of from time to time.
But on a normal basis I usually just sit down or lay down and start researching and writing.
What is Writer’s Block?
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5. Not enough research
Since I am the type of writer that doesn’t naturally want to outline, this is where I can often run into writer’s block if I’m not careful.
Sometimes we don’t do enough research or we don’t have our research tabs organized in an easy fashion to be able to continue forward.
The last thing we want to do as people that have to get the project done is to sit down and stare at a blank page and a blinking cursor and try to think our way out of writer’s block.
Nope. We need to read about what we want to write and find interesting facts and thoughts to bring to the page. To do this we have to be CONSTANTLY researching.
For me, writing is not just writing. It is a never ending flow of reading, writing, reading, writing, reading, writing.
So make sure you don’t hit writer’s block because you’re not doing enough research.
To add to this, I should definitely say you can watch videos too if that’s more your speed.
I find that video learning and writing slows me down so I try to do it, but it’s not my personal go to.
I am much more trained and geared to skim quickly and write.
I say this because it is important for you as a writer to figure out how you learn best and utilize that as a strength.
People learn differently. A close friend of mine learns very well through audio and video. He puts videos and podcasts on 2x speed and he’s off on the races. He’s learning and using what he learns that way.
I am not like that, as we discussed.
So it just goes to show, you have to try different things and figure out what works best for you.
5. Too tired
Writer’s block can come from simple things like being sleepy or tired. The brain isn’t flowing at 100% and it needs to take a break or have sleep.
This can be a bigger factor than one might realize or expect.
Sometimes it’s better to take a nap or go to sleep than grab that next cup of coffee. Unless it’s crunch time, then definitely grab the coffee. 🙂
6. Boredom
Sometimes it’s not writer’s block. It’s just boredom.
You might be bored with the genre your in, the story itself, or a character you’ve been working on. You could be bored with a scene, a lore, or a backstory that’s taking forever to hash out.
You might be bored with a copywriting or freelance project that just doesn’t have any interest to you whatsoever.
Whatever the scenario may be, boredom can really kill creativity. And if you are bored with a project it can feel like it takes a loooooooong time to get it finished and out of the way to make room for projects you care about.
Final Thoughts:
What is Writer’s Block?
Writer’s block seems to just be any amount of time where we run out of things to write, but the underlying causes could be any number of things.
There can be a plethora of reasons to attribute to any type of writer’s block you may be facing, but taking the time to understand your specific case of writer’s block can lead you to a quick solution on how to get rid of writer’s block.
Hope this helps!
Happy writing!
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