Destroy Writer's Block

Because a temporary creative stoppage (that's this week's pseudonym for Writer's Block--remember reframing?) is a psychological activity or construction, the mind is most often the place to deal with it. What can you do to prevent or tear down a blockage?

• Let go of perfectionism in all it's various forms. Don't procrastinate. Take chances and let yourself fail once in a while. Writing is both a learning and a process. No one expects you to succeed the first time ... or the first fifty times, depending on what you're trying to create. Why hamper yourself by expecting no mistakes? And when you edit your work, don't edit it to death or get trapped in not knowing when enough is enough-- say, "three edits and I'm through. That's as good as I can make this piece at this time."


• Don't confuse yourself with your work. I know this is a hard one, especially for beginners, to wrap your head around. You feel like you pour yourself into your work, especially if it is personal writing or based on your life experiences. In reality, you have poured words onto a piece of paper. You must detach from the emotional notion that it is part of you or represents your worth. Otherwise, those early rejections will overwhelm your psyche, possibly stopping your efforts permanently.


• Don't try to be the next Norman Mailer (or any other famous author you may admire). The danger in this goal is that you will constantly compare your early, new and unpublished productions to that writer's polished published works which resulted from a long learning process (remember this from the first point?) You will always fall short and then feel "less than", a block-builder if I ever experienced one. Writing is the place to use the spaghetti method of trial and error on the path to success. Just look at how many different forms of writing Stephen King has attempted (and had a few spectacular failures). In the terms of my youth, "Do your own thing!" Boldly attempt everything to discover your strengths.