Never write about writer's block
Larissa Walkiw
Yesterday morning, I tried to choose a blog topic for today. Nothing surfaced immediately, so I figured hey—no problem. I'll just go about my day and let some ideas roll around and choose a subject later.
But by the end of the day, I still didn't have a topic. I had little bits of ideas (Train graffiti! Superpowers! Obama! Look-alikes! All work and no play makes jack a dull boy!), but nothing that I could really run with. So I decided to write about writer's block.
I thought I was being terribly clever. I thought I was getting away with writing about, well... not writing. I also thought that by looking into writer's block, I might also find its cure and (by default) become forever immune to temporary losses of creativity. Win win win.
Two encyclopedias and a Google search later and I was in distress.
"Writer's block can be closely related to depression and anxiety."
That doesn't mean it's always related to depression and anxiety! I'm not depressed – they covered Beatles songs on Idol tonight. I'm far from depressed. And far from anxious. I don't even know what anxious is, that's how far I am from it. What a silly conclusion. Keep reading, Larissa.
"Writer's block can be caused by a person's own lack of trust in the subconscious processes involved in creative thinking."
Lack of trust– ridiculous. I totally trust my brain. It's always been there for me, through the good times and the bad. We're totally cool. It's natural to draw creative blanks every once in a while. It will be gone by tomorrow, probably.
"There have been cases where writer's block has lasted for years or decades."
(At this point, I gave up on being defensive. I thought I was being clever, but the articles made it very clear: I was actually a dejected nervous wreck with trust issues, and no ideas would come my way for the next ten years or so.)
Fortunately, I did stumble across a bunch of ways to dodge writer's block (try them out next time you're stuck):
- Don't panic. (Easier said than done with all the encouraging writer's block facts out there!)
- Change it up. Go do something completely different for a couple hours, and come back with a fresh mind.
- Free write. Impulsively write whatever comes to mind.
- Stick to a schedule. This helps train your creative side to be on call when you need it most.
- Find your inspiration. Watch a movie, read a book or listen to a new album – surrounding yourself with creativity can help boost your own.
How do you deal with writer's block? How do you keep your creative channels flowing? Post it in a comment below.
Holding out till 2018 for my next creative spell,
Larissa
