A Few Words on Writer's Block

Writers in all genres have complained of writer's block, that nefarious condition in which one finds oneself entirely unable to create.  We sit down, and distractions overwhelm, inspiration fails us, or we simply can't bring ourselves to care enough to write--or, can't bring ourselves to write what we sat down feeling we needed to write.

One school of thought deems this condition bunk.  The problem, following this school, is not a mysterious condition that renders us unable to write, but rather a symptom of a writer's lack of focus.  This certainly holds some truth.  Even so, writers should understand as well as anyone that perception of a problem means the existence of that problem.  Whether the problem existed before the writer perceived it is irrelevant.

Thus, whether writer's block is all in the writer's head or a problem with the writer's head, steps to work through it become important.  What works best will depend on the situation and the writer.  So, find what works best for you and go with it.

One solution that often works with creative writing is, when unable to write about what you want, write about what you can.  In other words, if you are stuck on a story idea, or a next step, look around you.  Write a description of your coffee mug, or the sensation of the coffee (or water, wine, iced tea, arsenic, or whatever you are drinking) passing over your lips, splashing on your tongue, trickling down your esophagus.  Write about the way the light moves through the slants in your blinds, the way shadows persist in one corner.  Describe your headache, or your backache.  Find something, in other words, and write.  You will soon find a way to draw what you're doing into your story, or perhaps to create a poem from it.  Fix on concrete details, and build from there.

A second solution, perhaps the most popular for essay writers but certainly viable for all writing, is the "brainstorm": begin writing ideas as they pop into your head, ideally without filtering.  From there, trace the connections between ideas, making a path you can use as a rough guide to follow.  Usually the starting point is a topic, or perhaps a thesis sentence if you've developed that already.  Generally speaking, though, you should free yourself from trying to think of "good" ideas, or even overtly salient points.  Once you have the ideas on paper, you can then sort through them.  Decide what is usable, or what you can rebuild or connect to something more powerful.  But once again, you are putting ideas into words--which is what writing is really all about.

Finally, a more radical notion, but one that works best for some writers: walk away.  I find my ideas often arrive during exercise, during cleaning, or even in the shower.  If you are like this, get away from the keyboard, legal pad, or whatever it is against which you find yourself beating your head during your vain effort to create.  But if you choose this route, do so with purpose.  Make an appointment to return once your head has cleared, and stick to it.  By doing so, you are clearing your head to allow you to write, rather than escaping to something else and avoiding your work.

Any or all of these can work.  Writer's block exists, whether it is real or not.  Find a way through it or around it, and keep writing!