There is No Such Thing as Writer's Block

Many writers, especially young ones, will claim to have writer’s block.  What is writer’s block? There are as many answers to that question as there are writers.

In graduate school when I met with playwright Romulus Linney for the first time to discuss ideas for my first full-length play, I handed him my four page free-write about how I had no ideas and told him I had writer’s block. He took the pages, smiled and told me something that has kept writer’s block away for almost twenty years.  He said, 

“Cynthia, I’m going to tell you something writer to writer, there is no such thing as writer’s block. You may not be inspired by an idea or you may not know how to develop an idea or you may be afraid of an idea, but there is no such thing as writer’s block.  You can always sit down and write something.  You may not like what you write, but so what. Ninety-nine percent of my writing is awful stuff no one has ever seen.  But the remaining one percent, well, that’s the gold isn’t it?” He spread my four single sided pages on the table,  “You have to do a lot more writing.  You may have to write a hundred pages to find that one bit of gold. But I can guarantee you one thing, if you don’t do the work or you wait to be inspired, you will end up with nothing.  Writing is hard work.”

I have never been able to prove Romulus wrong in all these years.  It is wonderful when lightning strikes and golden words flow from your finger tips. When that happens go with it; do not question or analyze it; ride that horse as far as you can.  Unfortunately, that is the exception and not the rule; writers waiting for inspiration to write will have a long wait.  

Most days inspiration must be wrested from granite. Lightning is more likely to strike when you are sitting at your keyboard writing dreck, then when you are playing Call of Duty or sleeping. Writing is busting rocks with your head without a helmet.  My best stuff is the stuff I had to work to get. If writing was easy, everyone would do it. It is hard work that requires the courage of a skydiver.

There are writers who are not lazy and put in their time busting rocks with their heads and claim to have writer’s block. I think these writer's are experiencing a crisis of faith.

Writing takes the same kind of courage as skydiving. The audience wants nothing less than your blood and tears on the page. To give them that, writers must go to very scary places and conjure their worse demons or their best; equally scary. Very often a writer isn’t prepared for what comes up. They write themselves onto the precipice of a cliff over a chasm with no bottom and don’t know what to do.  When this happens there are two choices; go back the way you came or jump. 

Slowly stepping backward off the cliff and finding a way around will often solve the issue. But I recommend taking the leap off the lion’s head or a leap of faith. In the business of writing, the very worse thing you can be is mediocre; by taking the leap you will either soar with the eagles or fail spectacularly; both are good results.  Not every writer is ready to jump. Most writers will find cliffs over bottomless chasms long before they are ready to leap, I sure did.  If you are not ready, do not worry. Go back and find another path. But one time, when the fear is a bit less, just jump.

Whenever I find myself on one of these cliffs and do not know if I have the courage to jump, I like to watch the movie, “Indiana Jones and Last Crusade,” because it turns on a leap of faith and has a great visual for it.

I encourage all writers to learn to identify a cliff when they are on one. Usually a little voice in your head will say, “I you can’t write that!” or “That is stupid!” or "What will my parents think if they read that?" Have faith in yourself and take the leap. Take it from an experienced cliff jumper, it won’t hurt. I promise.

Busting the Blues: Tips for Writing Through the Bad Times

We all go through ups and downs in our lives that make it difficult to be creative--money, love, family, friends.  Here are some tricks that have helped me and others work through them.

Finish Something

Finishing something makes you feel good.  So, if you need a pick-me up, try a simple project that you can complete quickly.  I like to write villanelles, a form of poetry, because I find them challenging, fun and I can share them easily with my writer and non-writer friends.  It doesn’t need to be a poem, though.  It can be a small needle point, a puzzle, a drawing, a paint-by-numbers, a cake, a page in a color book; when I was a kid I had a small music box I liked to take part and put back together. 

Here are the qualifiers for this project:

• you know how to do it, but it’s not a cakewalk
• you like it, but don’t hold it dear
• you can show it to others and say, “Look what I did!”
• you can complete it without going to the store to purchase elaborate supplies

Let me explain further.  Most of my writing is dramatic or non-fiction prose and I write free verse poetry.  A villanelle is a wickedly difficult nineteen line poem with a strict rhyme scheme and entire lines are repeated at strict intervals, so I have to work at them.  When I finish one, I have real sense of accomplishment. The format lends itself to humor, so the finished product often makes people laugh;  an added bonus to dispersing the blues.  Since I know I how difficult it is to write a very good villanelle, I’m happy just finishing it and have no emotional investment beyond that.  All I need to do it is a pen, a piece of paper, and my wits.

Take a Karaoke Break

I discovered this one on accident.  When my day job became stressful and I couldn’t seem to think straight, a friend of mine dragged me to a Karaoke Bar.  I’d never Karaoked before and didn’t plan to sing.  Well, after I performed my fifth song, I noticed I felt lighter, happier.  And I found after that I could concentrate better; the ideas were flowing again and I had the energy to use them.

You may think this one should be, Try Something New, and this is also a good way to break out, but I did a little research on this and specifically Karaoke is good for you.  Studies show that moving rhythmically to musically, especially with others, releases the right chemistry in the brain to make you feel good.  Singing while moving rhythmical to music releases even more of the good chemicals.

I recommend a Karaoke place where you can stand and sing and have room to move; one with a stage is even better.  To really reap the benefits, do some sing-a-long songs like Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” or Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Pray.”  Invite a friend or total stranger to sing with you.

Walk Away

Taking a walk or run or doing some kind of physical activity can give you an extra boost.  If you are under deadline pressure, taking the time to do this may seem counter-productive, but it’s not.  Try it.  I have a great story to illustrate this, but it will make the blog post to long.  

Hit the Road

When I’m working on something complicated and my brain doesn’t want to focus, it only wants to think about my troubles, I’ll go on a road trip.  I’ll write in several different location.  In New York, I’d walk down Broadway and stop at various coffee shops.  Sometimes I stay for an hour, sometimes 15 minutes; depends on how long I stay engaged.  When the negative thought start sneaking under the door, I move.

Moving to new places gives you a feeling of progress.  It may start as a false feeling of progress, but can turn it real progress.  Something like feel it to make it real, I don’t know.   If things start to flow in a certain location, stay there.

Make a Plan, Stan, and Set Achievable Goals, Joels

I always feel calmer when I have a plan.  It can be a plan for finishing the project or a plan for making time to finish the project.  Keep the plan simple; don’t get carried away with how you make the plan--no spreadsheets or elaborate post-it systems.  It can be a simple list of actions or a simple schedule.

It’s important the plan be realistic and contain small achievable goals.  When you are down, it’s better to go a little easier on yourself so the goals can be achieved.  Saying, “I WILL write for two hours every morning, gash darn it!” when 30 minutes is more realistic; only sets you up for failure.  This will make you feel worse.  Ask yourself, “What can I do?”  Then set your goals slightly lower.

To be honest, making a plan has always helped me, but I’ve had little success with the goal setting part.  It’s a mental game I’ve never been good at playing, but that doesn’t mean it won’t work for you.  You may have a different relationship with goals then I do.

Give Up

I hesitated including this one because it could be misunderstood and maybe unique to me, but it is one that helps me consistently.

Give up.  I mean really give.  Admit to yourself you can’t do the project.  Throw an all-out, paper-tearing fit on how you can’t do the project--scream, yell, throw the couch cushions.  As soon as I do this, ideas start to flow fast and furious and the way to tackle the project becomes clear.  

Please be careful with this one.  Don’t destroy anything you don’t have backed up in some way.  Don’t hurt yourself.

Dealing with the Feelings

Weather it’s finances, love, career or family; the stress in your life is caused by how you feel.  If you deal with those feelings, it may lessen the stress.  Even if you are not a writer, write what you’re feeling and why you’re feeling it.  Remember, no one needs to see it.

If the stress is caused by a person, write them a letter and tell them about it.  DO NOT SEND THE LETTER.  It will not make you feel better--I guarantee it.  In fact, it’s a good idea to do this type of writing with pen and paper and not on a computer.

Take the Medication

Many people who are drawn to creative fields suffer from some type of “mood disorder” as they call it these days.  Very often it is the one I suffer from where you go through high productive periods (manic) followed by low periods where can’t do anything and don’t care if you do or don’t (depressive).  They don’t like to call it manic/depressive anymore because of the many forms this condition can take.  In my case, the cycle is caused by a sleep disorder that changes my brain chemistry.  If I follow my prescribed sleep schedule, I’m fine.  For the doubters out there, what I’m talking about is not normal ups and downs.  The highs are euphoric accompanied by superhuman productivity; and they are just as disruptive to your creative process as the lows.  The lows are soul numbing and in some cases physically painful.  If you experience this cycle, I urge you to seek help from your doctor or therapist.

If you do have a “mood disorder” and are recommended medication, take the medication.  I have seen many people struggle with this because they are afraid the medication will take away their creativity.  It won’t.  What it does is allow you to eliminate the parts of the high and low that are chemical.  You will think more clearly because you’re not fighting the false anxiety that often manifests itself as cycling thoughts; a tell-tale sign of the disorder.  

Sure, you won’t have those super human bursts of mental energy where your brain seems to function at 2XLightspeed, but you will be able to work consistently to deadlines without putting yourself into a “state.”  You’ll find your creative powers are more readily engaged and stay engaged longer.  You’ll probably discover, as I did, that you don’t do your best work during those highs

I recommend that you find a psychopharmacologist or psychiatrist to work with you because they have the most experience with mood medications.  It has been my experience that regular doctors often prescribe doses that are too high increasing the side effects without the benefits.

If you have any questions or comments, you can leave them below, or on my Discussion Boards.