Three Ways to Defeat Writer’s Block, From a Guy Who Writes 3,000+ Words Per Day
As a professional musician and writer, I am pretty good at handling writer’s block. I think this is my superpower - while I am not good at many things, one thing I’m extremely good at is creativity.
I am often filled to the brim with new ideas and want to make so much art. There are many music and writing concepts in my veins. YET. Even for me, there are days where I sit down to work and nothing will come out.
Writer’s Block is Real
I sit in front of my computer with an empty pages document open. No words come.
I click out and browse steemit for a few minutes. Then I exit the browser and refocus on the empty page.
I write a headline. It is hideous. I delete the headline.
I write a few sentences of an introductory paragraph. Garbage. Delete.
A few more failed attempts later, I give up and go back to browsing Steemit, then YouTube. Twenty minutes go by with no progress, the self-defeating talk is starting up in my head, “wow aren’t you being lazy today… fuck you!”
Oof. Writer’s block is in full effect.
At this point, there are three tactics that can be deployed to overcome the writer’s block.
(1) Change Location
I can pick up my laptop and leave. Go to the coffeeshop and get a cup of brew. Or perhaps to the sports bar next to the coffeeshop, for a bloody mary and some loud football games to put me in the writing mood.
It could be the local park, your friend’s house, or the front porch. Whatever it is, try changing your location.
Our brains naturally create associations with different places. By moving to a different spot, you put your thoughts into a new context and allow for new combinations of ideas to blend together. Suddenly, eureka, a new concept comes forth and the writer’s block breaks apart.
(2) Write Something Shit
Just finish a shitty thing. Whether it’s a steemit post, a song, a business idea, whatever, just do it badly. Make something terrible and save it somewhere in a dark corner of your hard drive.
Sometimes we need to get something lame out of the way. Our minds get stuck on weird ideas that won’t leave us alone, or we just aren’t wired the right way to create good work that day. One of two things will happen when you commit to finishing a bad product:
(2a) It is bad, you discard it, but you feel better (and maybe can start working on something good)
(2b) It actually comes out pretty well, maybe you end up deleting the first few paragraphs but have some good content towards the tail end of the creative session. This is even better than the above outcome, but don’t expect it.
The power of making bad art (in private) is way underrated.
(3) Walk Away
This is not common advice, but I think it is fine to succumb to writer’s block now and then. If you don’t have an imminent deadline and you are really banging your head on the wall… take a break.
Sometimes the best antidote for writer’s block is a good night of sleep. Your brain will reset and you’ll shake loose new ideas in your dreams.
Stress is the enemy of most productive creativity. Hard work is good, but the destructive stress of “UGH I CANT MAKE ANYTHING GOOD” will just kinda make you crazy. When you feel creative burnout rearing its ugly head, cut the session short and get some rest.
Of course, sometimes you don’t have the luxury of walking away… Under a tight deadline, the first two tactics will be better suited for you :-)
Good Luck!
The creative life isn’t easy.
On the plus side - neither is any other kind of life. lol. Just do your best and the next time you have some writer’s block, try referring back to this article. You could bookmark it and then it’ll be easy to find when you need it.
I hope your next creative project is some of the best shit you have ever done. Good luck.
I often have days when I am neither able to write nor take good photos. A couple of beers help somtimes, but more often than not, I end angry at myself for not being able to come up with a good post. I'll try visiting a coffee shop or a bar next time I am in a creative block :)
I haven't used it in a while, but when I was in grad school I used a web site called "writeordie.com" where if you were inactive for too long, they would start deleting your work. I just took a quick look at it, and it looks like it has gotten much more sophisticated since then.
LOL. I love that idea. It is amazing what can happen when you are under an urgent need to write - my friends and I used to do an online songwriting club where we'd all commit to write a song in one hour. It was ridiculous but some good ideas came out of it!
I'm surprise with the second point. And I totally agree with that. Because that's the way it is. Sometimes when stuck writing, the garbage in the head must be removed first, and of course how to get rid of it is to write it down. Thanks a lot for sharing us @heymattsokol. Cheers from Aceh.
In my head there is a lot of garbage. So I have to get that all out first lol
Me too. But I think one way of presenting rubbish in our heads to others is with a fictional approach. I believe fiction has its own way how to manage the garbage that is in the author's head. 😀
It’s true for me sometimes if I go to a park or some other place public I feel my mind gets more relaxed and my thoughts start to flow more easily.
Being always in the same place doesn’t help our creativity.
I remember being told, keep writing. The longer you go without writing, the harder it is to pick it up again.
Writers block, for me, isn’t being unable to write once sat down in front of a keyboard, it’s the way that there is a complete aversion to doing the activity. Words and phrases are in the mind, but I somehow find just about everything in the world to do instead of formulate them into something concrete.
Sometimes what you are describing happens to me too - I find it helpful to take in more new art when I'm not feeling creative myself. For example recently I listened to 10 albums I hadn't heard yet all within three or four days, and then I had a ton of ideas and made a bunch of music of my own. The same thing happens with reading books maybe
Haha, it’s the new music that often overwhelms me. I get so much, phrases form in the mind, but then more come in and, before I know it, release date has passed and I have missed the boat. Focus is the issue and getting from just thinking about writing to actually doing it. It’s actually easier doing it here as I can be quite casual about it all.
You are right. Writers block can be very problematic for many individuals. Fortunately, I am like you in that it doesn't pose too much of a threat for me.
I have written several ebooks that may interest you. I'm also working on maintaining a blog with many purposes. One of them will be giving tips to writers.
Thank you,
Spencer Coffman
SpencerCoffman.com
amazing instructions, I will act on it to create more progressive work. Thanks for the suggestions.
Such a nice blog dear @heymattsokol. I like and enjoy to read your every blog.
Great advice, especially point 2. In fact, I'd say that was part of the initial problem. I do the same thing, though; probably all of us do.
Never delete until you're editing, and never edit until you're done.
These are all useful! It's strange but I find movement to be incredibly helpful for writing. Most of my writing is done on public transportation or even while walking at a turtles pace through the park. Writing at home is sometimes so difficult for me but as soon as there is some kind of light and unpredictable stimulus in the background, everything flows.