February 18, 2011

(Due to the flu hanging on, this is another repeat from several years ago. It’s long–but I think you’ll find it helpful. I had forgotten that there could be so many causes for writer’s block–and so many different cures!)

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A Rose Is a Rose Is a Rose . . .
If you’ve been writing any length of time at all, you’ve experienced writer’s block. You may have read articles about it, following different authors’ recommendations to blast through your block. Did the solution you tried do the trick? If not, the reason could be that you applied the wrong answer to your problem.

Aspirin or Band-Aid?
If you go to a physician, he doesn’t doctor you with a one-medicine-fits-all or one-treatment-fits-all solution. Instead, there are specific treatments for specific ailments: the broken arm gets a cast, the cut gets stitched, the infection gets an antibiotic. Only when you identify the specific ailment can the right treatment be given, or a cure found. The same is true for writer’s block.

A Multitude of Sources
Reading an article on writer’s block might help you if you happen to stumble across a suggestion that truly corresponds to your problem. But 27 years of writing and 22 years of teaching the craft of writing have led me to believe that there is no single type of writer’s block.

If you can’t identify the origin of your block, treating it is impossible. Have you stopped writing because you can’t face any more rejection slips, or your spouse (or a parent) is/was overly critical, or you’re disillusioned with having to shape your writing for the market? Are you blocked because you eat or drink too much, sleep too late, or are just plain exhausted from trying to combine writing with earning a living for your family?

Possible Causes of Writer’s Block
1. Critical childhood voices: those voices from the past that tell you you’re not good enough, you’re not creative, you’re untalented, or lazy. They might have originated with parents, grandparents, caretakers, teachers, or siblings. While you may no longer hear actual voices in your head, you’ve incorporated their views of you somewhere along the way, and they crop up at the worst times for your writing. The resulting feelings of anger and self-doubt produce confusion, sap your motivation, and make you wonder if you should just throw in the towel.

2. Personality style: passive or aggressive, outgoing or shy, rigid or flexible, courageous or fearful. An outgoing person may be great a book signings and marketing his work, yet block when it’s time to sit down–alone–and write for three hours. The flexible person may have numerous ideas that flow effortlessly and may be able to juggle a number of different projects, yet he may block when it’s time to choose just one idea and get to work. The insecure person may write fluently and happily alone, yet block when nearing the end of her story because she’s too afraid of rejection to submit a finished product.

3. Self-criticism: harsh and self-punishing judgments on our work and marketing efforts. Even when our self-criticism is well founded and accurate, it can defeat and block us before we get started. Self-esteem plummets, courage fails, and we shut off the computer and head for the refrigerator. We’re afraid we’re deluding ourselves both about the viability of the project we’re working on and about our ability to pull it off. This can certainly stop our writing in its tracks.

4. Marketplace blues: delays and rejections. After a few months or years of nothing but rejection slips, it can become harder and harder to keep pouring your heart into your work. Sometimes, after numerous near misses and “almost” sales, writers can come to mistrust editors, agents, even the writers in their critique group, wondering if they have hidden agendas. After being rejected enough, the writer may feel unable to face another editorial comment, bad review, or misplaced manuscript, not to mention payment that never arrives and stories that never get scheduled for publication. It’s not surprising if he’s blocked.

5. Regular life: finding time and energy to write while attending to the ongoing demands of life. All the pressures we human beings face–family and financial needs, inner compulsions, leaky faucets, illnesses, difficult bosses–make us feel sometimes that we can’t have both a writing life and a regular life, one that includes time for play as well as work. When we’re busy writing, we feel guilty about neglecting friends and other interests; yet when we’re playing or socializing, we can feel guilty for not writing. This inner push/pull can eventually cause us to block.

6. Fatigue: physically worn out. Each step in the creative process requires energy. If you’re working a day job to put food on the table, coaching soccer on the weekend, and hosting a dinner party for a friend’s anniversary, there may simply be no energy left. You may still want to write, truly want to, but be blocked because for the moment your tank is running on empty.

7. Environmental blocks: too much noise and chaos in your surroundings. Writers who can’t write at home–who swear they’re totally blocked–have been able to write easily and prolifically when transported to a cabin in the mountains or an isolated seaside retreat. Why? They were removed from the noise of city streets, roommates’ stereos, toddlers crying, other people’s phones, or whatever was keeping them too distracted and on edge to write. Freed from the noise and chaos, surrounded by peace and quiet, these blocked writers often find they’re not blocked at all.

8. Information-specific blocks: when you can’t answer or solve a particular question in your writing. Perhaps it’s your first mystery novel, a private eye whodunit. You realize you don’t know how it should differ from a police procedural, nor are you sure of the legal limits on a private eye’s operations. Or perhaps the 12-year-old hero of your children’s book aspires to be an Eagle Scout someday and you don’t know just what activities that will entail. You’re blocked because you lack specific knowledge. These types of blocks can be taken care of easily, as soon as you identify what it is you need to know.

9. Skill deficiency block: when you don’t have the practical skill needed to proceed with your work. Perhaps you’re blocked in finishing your biography of the first African-American astronaut because you don’t know how to acquire permission for the photos you’d like to use. Or maybe you’ve planned to take your own photos for an article about a local nature reserve; you have the writing all done, yet you’re blocked from finishing because you realize you don’t really know enough about cameras and lighting and film speeds. These are practical skills you need to acquire before you can unblock.

10. Anxiety and/or depression blocks: nerves, doubts, worries, fears, and panic. This may be the first sign of any kind of block, and the foremost symptom to deal with. Sometimes our worries are realistic. Can we afford to spend time writing stories that might never sell? On the other hand, if we sell a book, will our insecure partner sulk or even walk away? If we write that “coming-of-age” novel, will our parents or siblings recognize themselves in our work and be upset or angry? Anxiety can produce a restless energy that keeps us from being able to sit still long enough to write. On the other hand, depression can leave us too lethargic to get up off the couch and make it to the desk.

A Tailor-Made Solution
Different blocks require different solutions. A few days of peace at a seaside cottage wouldn’t help the blocked writer who didn’t know how private eyes operate–but it could work wonders for the parent of twins. Taking an assertiveness training/confidence building course won’t help the weary postal worker moonlighting to write a historical novel–but it could work miracles for the shy, retiring writer with a drawer full of manuscripts he’s afraid to s
ubmit.

So take the time to get to know yourself. If you’re blocked, find out why. Then outline and implement a step-by-step plan for blasting through your block. Read excellent books on the subject, like If You Can Talk, You Can Write by Joel Saltzman, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamont, Deep Writing by Eric Maisel, and The Courage to Write by Ralph Keyes. Help is available if you want to break through your personal blocks and create the writing life of your dreams.

(excerpt from Writer’s First Aid by Kristi Holl, 2003)

4 Comments »

1. 

   Hi Kristi,
   I am sorry you have the flu! Hopefully you will feel better soon. Take it slow.

   Comment by Sarah Yale — February 18, 2011 @ 4:30 pm

2. 

   Thank you, Sarah. I haven’t been sick with flu this long since I was in college, I don’t think. I am feeling better today finally. I may even get outside and go for a walk!

   Comment by Kristi Holl — February 18, 2011 @ 6:01 pm

3. 

   Good laughs. Thanks…experiencing those symptoms right now..for the past few days. Haven’t even wanted to blog..so I haven’t. Right now, it’s life that is blocking it, but that will pass and I know I’ll get back to it soon. But, making steps towards that is something I need to plan out. Thanks for that tip. Don’t want the writing break to be for too long. =)

   Comment by MaDonna — February 18, 2011 @ 9:59 pm

4. 

   MaDonna, you’re wise to be planning your way back already! My biggest help is my kitchen timer. Even while I had the flu, I made myself set the timer for 15 minutes and go journal. The entries are pretty sad! But it kept things oiled.

   Comment by Kristi Holl — February 21, 2011 @ 4:03 pm

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