InkyBlots

While some people may argue over whether or not writer’s block actually exists, I’ll be the first one to say that it does. If nothing else in the world tells me it’s so, my own experiences prove it to me.

Over the past three years, I have had what’s felt like the mother of all writer’s blocks. I started plenty of things, finished one thing – and that was a nonfiction ebook. Not exactly my preferred area.

I examined the most common causes for blocks and the not so common ones. I asked myself, “Are you afraid of becoming successful? Are you convinced that everything you write will be garbage?”

Some of the questions revealed thoughts and fears that I hadn’t previously been aware were there. Other questions were easily shrugged off. Even so, there was still something there, some issue, that kept me from writing like I wanted to write.

The time came for me to sit down and force myself to write.

I finally managed to sit myself down with pen and paper to write. Oh, it was a disaster. At least, I was convinced it was. I hated everything I wrote, forgot about crucial and obvious things, sounded forced (which kind of made sense)… I hated it all.

But, the important part was that I had written something. Sure, I thought it was crap, but there were words on paper created from my imagination, proving that I could at least write something.

The next time I sat down to write, I nearly sent myself into a panic attack. My pulse raced, I wanted to eat everything in sight (one of my more unfortunate fear responses) and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Extreme response? Yes. Did I let it stop me? No.

Instead of plunging right in, I took five minutes to calm myself down. I wrote a writing mantra, just for me, stressing that I did know how to write, I could write well, I could finish a novel and some other things that I needed to hear (but no one was there to tell me).

I finally managed to calm down enough to write, and what I wrote… Well, I felt quite pleased about it. Not perfect, but a great start, I figured. And that was my first step.

When it comes to writer’s block that plagues you for whatever reasons (there are plenty of causes for blockages), the key is to take things one step at a time.

Maybe that first step won’t be right for you. Perhaps forcing yourself to sit down and write just doesn’t work, but it does work if you have meditated for five minutes beforehand. Maybe you have tried just letting the inspiration come to you, but it doesn’t work. So try scheduling time out just for writing, no distractions.

Experiment. Try different things. Try to feel out what is right for you. It might not be what you expected.