Kick Off Writer's Block

Do you hear voices? Or do you think someone from the past may be sabotaging your work? Many people stumble onto such a situation when they are in counseling for other psychological issues. Critical voices from our childhood echo down the years to hold us back. I'm thankful that we can combat this experience.

Here's a helpful method that I learned long ago from the women's empowerment movement: we all have "boards of directors" in our heads. They tell us what we "should" do, what's right and wrong (you may think of this as a conscience but it is even more powerful than that). If you think back to your childhood and remember the people who influenced you the most, you'll usually find those people on your board of directors. Now, think about who is holding you back. Who gives you those negative messages that keep you down, make you feel "less than"?

Once you've figured out who are your anchors kick those people off your board, and (here's the key to improvement) add some positive role models, people who support you. These substitutes don't have to be from the past, either. When I was in my 30s I met a wonderful writer who became my standard for all behavior. Whenever I was in doubt, I'd ask myself, "What would Anne do?"

Anyway, the idea is to evict the board members with the negatively critical voices. You may have to do this exercise repeatedly over a period of time to get them all out and make sure they don't come creeping back. Don't feel bad about doing it--the real people will never know!