Bust Those Creative Blocks
I don't believe in writer's block. We can always write something. But it doesn't always come easy or feel good. Here are some ways I get back into the flow.
For 10 years E.A. Aymar was repeatedly rejected. By agents. By editors. By magazines. Still, he kept writing. And writing.
Now, Aymar is a bestselling, award-winning author with an agent, a publishing deal, and reviewers raving about his work.
Over the years his work got better. He connected with other writers and people in publishing. He got an agent. Life around him changed—he became a father—but all the while he kept doing the work.
The writers I know who are publishing regularly don’t buy into writer’s block. They just keep writing, whether it feels easy or not.
And that’s the antidote, I guess. The writing.
And, when a piece is difficult to get down, or the writing feels more challenging, I’ve also learned to troubleshoot. I talk about some of the ways I blast creative blocks on the Simply Write w/Polly podcast.
But here are a few of the challenges I encounter and how I deal with them.
When you don’t know what to create.
So many ideas, we don’t know where to start. So we don’t. We sit ruminating over the ideas we scrawled weeks and months before. “I could pursue this…” or “Maybe I’ll look into this…”
Pick one. Seriously, just pick one. Write it. Paint it. Cook it. Do it. No matter how drab the ingredient or subject becomes, no matter what else comes into your life 15 seconds after you’ve started developing this idea, hang with it. See it through. Often when we are feeling blocked, we simply need to get our bodies and brains creating again. The act of doing that matters more than the idea we are developing.
When you don’t feel inspired.
Whelp. Tough. Get to work. I think this is one of the bigger challenges for people who make the switch from writing as a hobby or even a side hustle to writing as a profession.
People go to work every day whether they are inspired or not. Writers have to do it too.
But you can help yourself by creating the conditions for inspiration to strike. Take regular field trips, read great books, listen to podcasts, and attend literary events. Be out in the world observing and engaging and experiencing things. Practice gratitude. Feel awe. Heck just walking around the block can provide the inspiration I need to sit down at the desk.
When I’m really stuck I’ll take a 20-minute break and do some mindless chore, fold the laundry. Take a shower. Go for a walk. Keep your phone off, don’t multitask, let your mind unspool and you’ll find ideas begin to flow.
When the writing is terrible.
Muddled. Unclear. Boring and drab.
When I feel myself spinning and never capturing anything clear or meaningful I know I need to go back to the basic idea. The root of the scene. The focus of the article.
Go back into the planning phase. Jot notes, and play with ideas. Consider the focus or theme of your piece. What changes for the character, what is the key piece of data you need to share with readers? What interests you about the story? What story do you want to tell?
When we feel like the writing is all over the place, it’s often because we are trying to do too much and aren’t clear on what story we are trying to tell.
Go back, refocus, and create the structure that supports the story you want to tell.
I don’t think we are ever blocked from writing. We just don’t have that luxury. We don’t have that kind of time. But there are plenty of times the process feels hard. Some of these ideas might make it a bit easier.
Simply, Write,
-p
