Blogger Block Tips

Find five tips to fix Blogger's Block in this blog post written by Ted Demopoulos: Blog : Blogger Talk. You all probably know that blank, bleak feeling when you stare at your blog and can't think of a thing to write about. I had it this morning, glancing down my list of saved drafts. They are mostly links; seldom half-written posts. So, I click on a link to remind myself why I thought it would be post-worthy. It turned out to be this one from Blogger Talk, dated but still dependable.

In summary, Demopoulos suggests:

1. Read old posts
2. Read other blogs
3. Blog from a different location
4. Play with Google
5. Just write

And for over 100 tips on successful blogging, download the free ebook Secrets of Successful Blogging by Ted Demopoulos, also author of Blogging for Business and What No One Ever Tells You About Blogging and Podcasting.

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Writer's Block and Flow

Veteran writer Steven Kotler posted Overcoming Writer's Block last week in Psychology Today. He admits to not having much personal experience with the condition but theorizes about creativity as being a continuum:

On one end is the proverbial impasse, on the other is what psychologist Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi calls a "flow state."

To foster that state, as if it is the only cause and solution, Kotler suggests "...clear goals, concentration and focus, immediate feedback and a correlation between level of challenge and level of one's skills..."

After all the research I've done for a book proposal on writer's block, I could not resist pointing out the fact that other causes exist. I also think Kotler errs in placing the problem on a continuum of creativity. To my mind, being blocked is a lack of creativity. Social psychologist and writing consultant Susan Perry also commented about the continuum. She writes the Creating in Flow blog.

Unfortunately the publication forces viewers to click to a different page to read the comments on Kotler's article. It's worth the effort. Take a look and offer your experiences.

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View on Writer's Block

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

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Writer's Block Book: Organizing

Researching a proposed book is currently both easier and more complex, thanks to the Internet.

The last time I organized large-scale research was for my master's thesis published in 1993. Using the Internet for finding information was still pretty rudimentary. I could search indexes of journals for articles on subjects, then check the UCSD and SDSU library catalogs for book and periodical holdings, and finally visit the stacks and photocopy pertinent material. Holdings I wanted to read that were not local were ordered through an inter-library loan system. I ended up with a standard-size small moving box (book box) crammed with 11 X 17 sheets of photocopies in file folders.

Some people can manage to contain all their research electronically, but I still like to spread out pieces of paper to refresh memory and find connections. I do have documents in computer files, and a directory devoted to the book, and I have already begun using online resources like Google Scholar.

Still, stacks of paper are piling up. They're photocopies of the indexes and end notes and bibliographies of the basic academic books I've reviewed so far. This material will perhaps be scanned into my computer to compile lists of books, articles, and journal to gather further academic research--a job I may farm out to a university student.

I've yet to even touch the sea of popular resources on Writer's Block, usually in the self-help arena. A glance at Amazon listings is overwhelming. And thank goodness for used book availability! The work plan is roughly to research enough to firm up an outline, write a proposal, find and query agents. If I were younger and had more energy, I might query/submit directly to publishers (not top tier ones, because they don't accept unsolicited material).

One of the documents in the BLOCK book directory is a rudimentary outline that I am using to guide the organization of this research material. I'm still vacillating between incorporating the "what to do" with "causes" or putting all the advice in a separate section of the book. Another notion is to develop a self-diagnosis instrument. It could take the form of a series of questions or a flow chart that would lead to potential solutions.

What do you think? If you were searching for understanding and help with Writer's Block, would you want to read about reasons with suggested solutions or look for the help in a different part of a book? Would you like some sort of chart to help decide the cause of your block, or prefer just to read about all the sources of the problem for a general understanding?

Previous articles in this series:

Writer's Block Book: The Commitment (June)
Writer's Block Book: The Saga Begins (September)

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Writer's Block and Alcohol

It is a question of quality.

The notion that alcohol accompanies great writing is only a myth. Many great writers were alcoholics and worse, but they were great writers despite their addictions, not because of them. It is tempting, when faced with a temporary interruption in the flow of creativity (writer's block), to suppose that a little alcohol, a joint or another substance of choice will "loosen up" the ideas or words and get them moving again.

Most assuredly, writers can write while drunk. The problem comes during subsequent sober editing, when the light of reason shines on the crappy writing. It is terribly difficult to edit slop into good poetry or prose. I suspect what happened and still happens is that the drunk writer sobers up, sees the shit, throws it out and writes all over again, more coherently and beautifully.

While it is known by scientists and psychologists that alcohol and other addictive chemicals can loosen inhibitions (and language), research has also proven that the quality of the writing produced during intoxication drops dramatically as does the quality of any other performance.

At one time I decided I wanted to do some serious drinking for a while. I wondered what kind of writing I might create under drunk circumstances, so I tried a little experiment. The first part was easy: drink a bottle of wine. The second part was also a snap: sit at the keyboard and produce a masterpiece. When I sobered up a day or so later, I studied what I had written and found it made no sense! I vowed to never again try to write a serious piece while under the influence. One time I slipped up and sent a long email message to someone and, as a consequence, lost a long-time friend.

If your font of creativity is dammed up (or just damned) don't try altered consciousness as a method to explode the blockage. Many other less self-damaging devices are available. I'm not saying don't drink at all, just don't make the mistake of thinking it helps you write or fool yourself into thinking you've produced your best work while inebriated. You can do better than that!

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Writer's Block Book: The Saga Begins

Back in June I put my money where my mouth is, so to speak an inaccurate cliche, by committing to gather up the most popular posts on Writer's Block into an eBook. That would be a brief, tidy little project, I thought. Maybe something to offer as a holiday gift in a month or two. I still might do that, but read on.

Later in the summer at the Writer's Digest Forum, I ruminated about whether or not I wanted my ideas to stand on their own or risk tainting them with the influences of previously published works on Writer's Block.

Simultaneously a friend published her novel with Amazon's CreateSpace and lent me a reference book on using MS Word to format a manuscript for printing. Just like in Betsy's murder mystery, I suddenly had the means, motive and money (very little needed) to perhaps self-publish! My eBook developed a tree book specter, the same one that haunts most all writers ... just to hold a book I wrote! An utterly irrational, unfeasible, nearly irresistible urge.

I realized the product would be a "slim volume" indeed with only a few dozen posts, and thought I might examine other books on the subject after all. To be honest, my fear of researching was less that they would influence my thinking than that I would find either duplication, no support, or worst of all, deterrence. Yes! I feared that I might develop a block and become unable to carry the project through. How ironic would that be?

Nonetheless, trepidatious research began last month with Amazon and the local library system. As I read the first books I could borrow, I found vindication of the positions I'd been stating, albeit couched in scholarly terminology, sourced by notes. Am I the only person who drools over footnotes? The excitement of research--tracking down references, cross-checking, consulting indexes for journal articles--overcame me.

I think I might see a niche for a book that knits up the various strands of research, theory and advice into a comprehensive, but readable and useful guide for the contemporary everyman (especially every woman) writer. Visions of self-publishing dissipated, replaced by plans for more research and proposal writing (with nonfiction, you sell the proposal, then write the book).

There is still the possibility I'll happen onto a publication that does exactly what I have in mind, or I'll get too caught up in researching (love those details!), or Life might intervene. I've only just begun to consider the work seriously.

See the Original Commitment Post.

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Forcing Writer's Block

An old joke that used to make the rounds intimated that one airline company's motto was "Force to Fit". I'm not sure if it referred to airplane parts or passengers. And once I worked at a newspaper with the informal saying, "All the news that fits, we print", a takeoff on the NY Times' subhead, "All the new that's fit to print".

Writers worry a lot about fittings, too: whether this article will be a good fit with a particular magazine, if this move will fit into a career, how to fit writing into a busy schedule. The last one is a common problem both new and established writers face. And when they force the fit and finally sit, the writing sometimes won't come. Trying to force the creative impulse is similar to blocking it. Sounds counter intuitive, doesn't it, but read on.

We speak of creativity and words as "flowing", and when we're caught up in the creative moments, we're "in the flow". We experience writing as an outpouring, almost impulsive, even compulsive for some. The secret, if there is one, is to allow it to happen. Give your creative self permission to play with words. Don't dam them up and then try to channel the stream into a flume, regulating the natural tendency for the writing to occur spontaneously. If you take this approach, when you're "ready" to write, you may find the sluice gates rusted tight.

Trying to channel your writing into specific time blocks (I will write on my lunch hour every day!) can build a block against writing. Commanding your muse, so to speak, is a futile waste of energy. It can leave you with negative feelings--about yourself and your abilities, beginning a downward spiral to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Let your writing out whenever it wants to come, even if you have to snatch a few minutes during a meeting to scribble in a notepad. Don't make your life schizophrenic, trying to keep your "writer self" separate. It is part of a whole person.

I'm not warning all writers of this possibility. Of course those with jobs in journalism must produce on command and during certain hours, but that is not the creative kind of writing that comes from inside the writer. And not every creative will suffer from forced labors of love, so overflowing are their fountains.

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Writer's Block Commitments

Do you know the differences among dreams, goals and commitments? Dreams come to us almost unbidden, although Carlos Castaneda's mentor, Don Juan, taught his followers to enter and control their dreams. The practice of guided dreaming is a long and arduous one. Let's narrow the question to daydreams. What is it about daydreams -- of writing flawlessly in the flow, being a published author, enjoying subsequent successes -- that sets them apart from goals or commitments? It is this: dreams require absolutely no energy. We don't have to do anything, and still we have our dreams. They are very seductive.

Unpublished writers who tell me proudly, "But I still have my dreams!" suggest that they experience only big visions and little actions. Dreams will not become reality without additional effort on your part. That's where the goals and commitments begin, after the dream, the vision.

A goal makes the dream more concrete, more tangible and more probable of attaining reality. Goals are part of a plan, a map. Goals can be mileposts on the road to success. In fact, I encourage celebrating all the small successes along the way to fulfilling your dream. If you plan those celebrations in advance, you will have thought out your pathway and the steps you must take to bring that dream to fruition.

Still, how many trips are planned and marked out on a map, but never taken? What's missing is making the choice to move yourself from the block that is often a fear of failure (perfectionism and procrastination are the most common expressions of this). Commitment is the promise that you will act, invest energy, inconvenience yourself, go without, do whatever it takes to reach those goals. Ironically, you will begin to find that the commitment itself becomes a source of energy and comfort when your physical side flags or your emotions drag you down. And you can renew your commitment, just as married couples renew their wedding vows--different kinds of promises--to replenish your resources.

Use various physical means to remind yourself of your commitment. Some cultures promote "promise rings" for other reasons, but there's no reason why you can't wear something to remind you of the commitment(s) you've made to fulfill your dream via the goals you've set. You can also speak your vow to others, make them public and let your friends participate and support you in reaching each goal. They will certainly be happy to join in each celebration!

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Detailing Writer's Block

The Devil is in the details could easily apply to Writer's Block. Sometimes we are hung up on a fragment we feel is vital to the story, setting, background, or action. Maybe we need to research it to have the information necessary for an accurate description--or even for an inspiration.

Using details to spark your creativity can be as simple as sitting back and cataloging your environment. Whether it is your room, your yard, the laundromat, Starbucks, the library or wherever you are trying to write, start to notice the details. Capture them with a recorder, be it electronic or old-fashioned pencil and paper. Maybe even make little drawings to accompany the words and help remind you of the experience of being there. Make that Being There.

Being There means fully present, using all your senses and your mind (more on that in a moment).

• What do you smell? How many different fragrances are wafting before your sniffer? Focus on the odor and try to detect all the components, pleasurable and not so much.
  
• Taste is more difficult, and I'm not going to tell you to go around licking everything, but do what you can and note what your tongue experiences, texture, flavor, acid, salt, sweet, savory; breathing in; breathing out; pinching your nostrils shut (no smell changes taste).
  
• Touch, within reason, every object you pass or that you can reach. Feel the various textures and describe them. Feel the temperature. Savor the sensations.
• Seeing, really Seeing, is worthy of an article all its own. Don't just pass your eyes across the scene and call it seen. Linger on each item and scrutinize it carefully. Have you ever studied people's ears? Fascinating!
• Now do the same with your ears, listening to all the music that makes up the background of your life. Separate each component and hear each noises individually. As I have previously advocated, listen in on others' conversations--priceless prose to use in a story.

If you are observing and hearing other people, your thoughts may engage in puzzling out what they are doing or talking about. Before you know it, your imagination is teased back to life wondering, wondering ... and what if?

By the time you are bored recording all this minutiae, I guarantee you will have ideas galore for resolving your temporary interruption in the flow of creativity.

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Writer's Block Surrounds

Every writer is different in temperament, circumstances, opportunities, and, yes, even in talents. One size fits all advice isn't going to work for everyone. So many different factors affect our abilities to churn up the creativity machine and let it flow out our fingers. Often we see urges to "find a quiet, private space", "play soothing (or energetic) music", drink coffee, eat chocolate, be sure to have a clean and neat desk ... some people don't even have a desk! How many writers do we see tapping away at a laptop on a tiny table in a crowded, noisy coffee shop? They may claim it's the only way they can write. One of the most productive periods of my life happened when I sat in the midst of an old-style newsroom--people yelling, teletype machines clattering and dinging, phones ringing--and banged out three stories on a manual typewriter before the 10 a.m. deadline.

Now I cannot keep a clear space even between my keyboard and the screen. It seems to be a law of my life that any flat space becomes part of my 'piling system'. Even peripherals stack up on my big office credenza. The windows open onto noisy trucks making deliveries in the alley about 30 feet away, traffic roars along the street, birds sing or chirp or lob guttural caws my way, close by neighbors go about their busy lives. I forget to play music, don't eat because crumbs are anathema to keyboards and attract ants. I do have a mug of cooling tea at hand, part of my morning routine. And I usually forget to drink it.

The point is that you develop what works for you. If nothing seems to be working for you during this temporary interruption in the flow of creativity, the good news is that you can change any or all parts of your surroundings (to a point). This seems to be the principle of running away to a vacation or writers' conference to cure Writer's Block, a drastic and expensive approach. But don't adopt my methods just because they work for me, or take advice from anyone else and get depressed if it doesn't fix your problem.

Maybe you haven't yet found the most optimal surroundings for your writing. Maybe your choices are limited and you haven't adapted to reality. Maybe surroundings don't make a damn bit of difference at all! When I'm in the flow, I notice little that goes on around me, even the passage of time. Caught up in the ecstasy of creativity, I'm surrounded only by my actions and thoughts.

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Do Writing Dreams Matter?

Of course they matter to you. "But," you may well argue, "they don't seem to matter to anyone else." We have a universal need for validation, acceptance, approval, a feeling that we "fit in" to our families, society, and life in general. No one would choose to go through life as a misfit, right?

Let's think about that for a moment. In a world without misfits, no one would feel uncomfortable around others. No one would prick our consciences. No one would act outlandish, stretching the boundaries of what is with what might be. There would be no "what if?" Reality would be a fixed agreement, possibilities nonexistent, and crazy dreams crushed before they are even spoken, maybe before they're even dreamed.

Now the landscape begins to sound bleak and life as sterile as a gulag. As much as we may individually want acceptance, as a whole we need the dreamers to thrive as a part of Life. Without the dreamers, barriers would never fall, innovation not take place, and humanity might as well be stillborn. Your dreams matter more than individuals can ever tell you to your face in critique groups or boilerplate rejection notices.

This is what is meant when you're told, "Don't take it personally." Literally, don't take the setbacks personally. The agent, editor, peers, your family and friends may not support you in the way you'd like, but they also may not realize the importance of your dreams to their own lives. To all our lives. When the rejections threaten to build into a Writer's Block for you, keep in mind that your dreams matter to the universal book of Life.

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Writer's Block Emergency

The terms emergent and emergence are hot in several disciplines (physics, evolution theory, social sciences). From the Encyclopedia Britannica: "In the philosophy of mind, the primary candidates for the status of emergent properties are mental states and events."

The two words are, in my mind, too close to the alarming word emergency, a sudden or unexpected event which connotes danger. Writer's Block can have the aspect of an emergency or it can creep up on the victim. Better to focus on preparing the mind for the condition of emergence, which, according to the Geographical Dictionary is "The creation of new phenomena, requiring new laws and principles, at each level of organization of a complex, and often non-linear, system." Sounds like lateral thinking, huh?

To do this, we can take some cues from The Center for Creative Emergence:

• Everyone is creative and simply need the right conditions to access that infinite well.
• Focused creativity is not separate from the bottom line, but a major factor in contributing to it.
• Next-level innovative solutions require new levels of being as well as thinking.
• Comfort with change increases with consistent practice entering unfamiliar territory in non-habitual ways.
• People can transform their experience of uncertainty from one of fear to one of discovery.
• Creative thinking skyrockets motivation and breeds more relevant - and successful! - contribution.
• With safe cocreating, a group collective intelligence takes over and the “whole exceeds the sum of its parts.”

Try following one or all of these principles as first aid for a Writer's Block and as preventative medicine.

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Writer's Block Book: The Commitment

A swift or slow perusal of past posts reveals the most popular and passionate ones, as measured by comments, are about Writer's Block. I'm thinking it's about time to gather these and tie them together into a coherent bundle. This will most likely take the form of another e-Book, easy to download.

Although logic and logistics can cause Writer's Block, the most common sources are psychological. And there I'm more than qualified to comment, to offer explanations and advice. I don't mean to lean on my two degrees in psychology, either, but also on my intimate understanding of fighting fears. Yes, I have generalized anxiety, a fear of everything, even of being afraid. I suspect many writers suffer this in one form or another or from agoraphobia or social anxiety. I know the paralysis of analysis and the funk of fear.

The confusing aspect of fear and Writer's Block comes about because fears are multiple and can be expressed in so many different forms. If you don't believe that, just consider how many types of phobias exist. The referenced list includes "graphophobia" (writing) and "scriptophobia" (writing in public) Seriously, I don't think that those contribute to Writer's Block.

When fears aren't attached to a particular object or situation as with phobias, they are called "anxiety". For writers, it is easy for anxiety to focus on the instruments, location, or the action of trying to create writing. The specific fear can involve criticism, disapproval, rejection, or the opposite, success, which would thrust the writer into a spotlight, attract attention, require a performance before others.

For some, the causes are deeper and more complex. I don't want to go all psychoanalytic on you here but if the ending of the unconscious script of your life reads "failure", then your unconscious will force you to make decisions and to act in ways that sabotage success. O.K., Dr. Freud will leave the room now.

Having written this post and released it to the universe, I have taken the scary step of committing myself to this project. It could fail. Correction, I could fail. What's the worst that could happen if I fail? I will have spent time in a labor of love that is reward enough in itself.

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Conquer Writer's BLock

When I reveal that over the last year I've lost almost 50 pounds, 25% of my body weight, the almost uniform response is: how? Sometimes it is a desperate wail, HOW?! Ah, the sound of a desperate dieter. Others express a touch of awe or curious interest (usually from the already skinny). The simple secret for me was to have an incentive intense enough to force me into losing weight. But that's too personal. What the questioners want to know are the mechanics, and those are the same as for overcoming a Writer's Block: choice and persistence.

These are not secrets. Diets don't fail, people do. They fail to choose a path to success; instead, they choose sidetracks, derailments, and dead ends; and they choose to quit before arriving at the destination. Right now those may not sound like choices to you. That may be because you're still looking for someone, something external to blame for failure.

The favorite refrain in the soap opera I watch is: "I had no choice!" It's right up there with, "We're soul-partners. We were fated to be together." Excuses, all, allowing the plots to continue when the characters would be axed if they accepted responsibility for their actions.

Life and writing aren't fantasy plots, however. No secrets open the doors to success. No pleasant, smiling doorman waits to serve. Writers must self-motivate, get up and walk the path toward the door marked "Published", grab the handle, twist, pull, and heave that door open.

Without a doubt, there will be obstacles. That's when persistence shines. Both persistence walking the path and persistence in making choices that lead toward the goal. Vacation in the Poconos or stay home to work on the book? Keep up with the latest fashions or attend an excellent writers' conference? Surf the best break or wrestle with a story on surfing?

Sometimes conquering Writer's Block is a simple as making a choice and sticking with it.

I know I skipped the promised piece on Social Networking. Maybe tomorrow. Stay tuned.

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Why Is Writer's Block?

"Creative block — or artist’s block — comes in many different forms, but they all have one thing in common: they stop you from creating what you’re capable of creating and what you long to be creating."

For a general overview of dealing with Writer's Block (temporary disruption in creativity) read Dan Goodwin's article: Creativity Coaching: Creative Block | Why You Don’t Create More. He offers a method for overcoming the negative thoughts he dubs "creative resistance".

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Breakout on Writer's Block

The first time I saw the term "breakout sessions" in a conference schedule, I wondered what acne had to do with it, but "breakout" is also associated with imprisonment. Indeed, the first definition listed in the American Heritage Dictionary is "A forceful emergence from a restrictive condition or situation."

Part of that sounds like a good description of a Writer's Block. Remember, WB is only a temporary interruption in creativity, like dammed-up water. Behind the dam is a deep, deep pool of ideas and actions, just waiting to break out. That's what I'm advocating here, "a forceful emergence" from the thinking, routine, slants, topics, maybe even "the rules" you think govern your writing (and your life).

Let's "shake things up" as the FBI agent on Bones urges his forensic team. Do something different, or differently, if that applies. Make it a radical change. Investigate subjects, ways of thinking, physical activities that you've never tried in the past.

For example: until this decade, I knew little about Islam or an existence in which religion is the law of the land. I've learned about a strikingly different way of life through intellectual exploration and friendships with Muslim women. My thinking has changed, several times, about many topics as a result of this new interest. I've read, watched programs, attended art exhibits and talked or emailed with resource people (a.k.a. my new friends).

Bring fresh new activities, topics, and thinking into your life and feel the creativity break out from a Writer's Block.

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Writer's Block of Fear

In twelve step programs, participants learn several mantras about fear and courage. For example, courage is just fear that has said its prayers. Courage is being afraid and doing it anyway. My favorite reminds me of junior high school:

Fear is

F alse
E ducation
A ppearing
R eal

Why am I talking about courage and fear in relation to a Writer's Block? Because often the true source of a temporary disruption in creativity is knotted up with one or more fears.

Finding the worm within can take a slow course, such as writing down any dream you have (even a daymare) and analyzing it, but then you risk the paralysis of analysis. In other posts we've already explored the critical voices from childhood whose echoes haunt the chambers of our minds. Contemporary sources promoting veiled fears can include an unsupportive significant other, a too-critical critique group, still living relatives who doubt your potential for success, and friends whose attitudes promote a budding writer's self-doubt.

Of all these undermining attitudes, the one that matters most is your own. Even if you are unaware of the negative messages your psyche is sending your mind to generate fears about writing, YOU ARE STILL IN CONTROL. You can effectively counter the fears by two types of action. Just like the old song says, "Accentuate the positive. Eliminate the negative."

Learn to use a list of affirmations about the successful writing career you envision. Fill your outer life with people who give your spirit a boost, understand your goals, and offer support. Yes, you may have to drop out of the family for a while, get new replacement friends, find a different critique group, join a gym, go for counseling if necessary. Just do it!

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Thinking Around a Writer's Block

You can look at a Writer's Block as a problem to be solved (rather than only wallowing in the drama and angst of the moment). Edward de Bono suggested that creative people need to incorporate lateral thinking into their repertoire:

We may need to solve problems not by removing the cause but by designing the way forward even if the cause remains in place. Edward de Bono

In an article for The Journal for Quality and Participation (Vol. 11-3), de Bono described types or categories of thinking that you can use to bypass your block:

Metacognitive -- thinking about thinking

Positive -- benefits and workability

Negative -- cautionary judgements

Provocative -- finding changes, alternatives

Informative -- assessing available facts

Intuitive -- unjustified feelings

I've redesignated the kinds of thinking because I find the metaphor of colored hats a weak tool, but feel free to research de Bono's "Six Thinking Hats" system for yourself. These kinds of thinking about your Writer's Block can be used in any order or sets. I've presented them here in a series that more or less alternates right-brain, left-brain functions to provide more opportunity to shake up your process and jog you into thinking along a lateral track to success.

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Writer's Block and Depression

Much research and writing goes on about creativity and depression. Creativity is the opposite side of Writer's Block. It's the flip side in the recordings of our writing lives. Depression can also be a two-sided coin: an impediment to our work or a catalyst. If you suffer with depression and feel it is holding you back, consider this list of famous writers thought to have had depression:

• Mark Twain
• Charles Dickens
• William Faulkner
• Mary Shelley
• Isak Dinesen

This is from an appendix in Kay Jamison's Touched With Fire; Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament. According to Amazon, "Jamison marshals a tremendous amount of evidence for the proposition that most artistic geniuses were (and are) manic depressives."

The good new is that depression is sometimes only temporary, and it is treatable and manageable when a chronic condition. (And we don't all need to be geniuses or crazy to be creative.) Still, depression can sometime hamper our production. It makes us dull, slothful and fosters the "I don't give a damn about anything" attitude. This can also translate for writers into, "I can't think of anything to write" or simply, "I'm stuck!"

When writers fall prey to a of lack of creativity, it can result from or lead to a depressive cycle of I can't write -- My writing is no good -- I'm no good -- I don't deserve to be a writer -- I can't write. Break out! Whether with self-help methods like affirmations, with counseling or with a course of antidepressant medication (or any combination), taking action can be one of the most powerful antidotes to depression that we have in our survival tool kit.

The truth is that you are fine just as you are. Don't use a permanent solution (like giving up) for a temporary problem.

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Balancing Writer's Block

Writing is like crossing the Grand Canyon on a tightrope. Sounds impossible, yes? You know where to start, firmly anchored with an idea. And you know the end, a polished, finished piece. In the center is a yawning chasm one mile deep with sharp rocks and a raging river at the bottom. This looks like an endeavor fraught with danger. But all you really must do to succeed is put one foot in front of the other without losing your balance. Start and finish. Simple.

Most of us are blessed with the ability to walk, or we have some means of moving, even if only in our minds, so that leaves balancing, the tricky part. I'll leave the tightrope metaphor here, because I have no experience in that area, and anyway I don't want to beat it to death. I'm sure you get the picture by now. Balance is an important element in becoming and remaining a successful writer.

Several different kinds of balancing support creativity:

• physical
• emotional
• intellectual

These are my top three. Losing balance in any of them can block progress.

PHYSICAL

Although "just sit and write" is often hurled at beginners as the cure for Writer's Block, spending too much time sitting at the computer or curled up with your notebook can work against you. Muscles stiffen, eyes burn, the brain drains. The writing part of your life, like everything else it seems, needs physical exercise and variations. Neglect to move around and you may have more than one type of constipation!

EMOTIONAL

It's good to be emotionally invested in your writing. That's part of being committed, and your enthusiasm affects the writing. Too much investment, however, elicits irrational fear of rejection and fosters the myth of the "lonely writer". Keep building connections with other people in your life, spend time with your family and work on improving any troublesome relationships. We writers need the emotional support of others, and sometimes we need to ask for it in plain terms. Fall in love with writing and life, not your characters.

INTELLECTUAL

A novel can easily take over a writer's mind. I used to hear my characters having conversations when I was not at the keyboard. Spooky! The brain needs a break from writing activities, too. Depending on whether you are creating fiction or nonfiction work, the "other" side of the mind can benefit from stimulation from different creative arts or left brain challenging activities like working Sudoku puzzles, preparing tax forms, and home fix-it repairs.

Keeping your life in balance is a good preventative measure for warding off Writer's Blocks, as well as potential cures. Good for the writer in any case, good for those around you, and good for life in general. Take a cue from Mother Nature: balance is everything.

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Writing Through Writer's Block

Avoiding the empty page. Staring at the blank screen. Puzzled at a pause. Stopped at the end of a sentence. You've come to the start of a Writer's Block. Nothing is coming. "I have no more to write," -- or so you think. Right here, right now, on the same page, begin a new section and write about this temporary interruption in creativity. *

• How or where did it start?
• What does the block feel like?
• How do you feel about yourself?
• What were your plans?
• What do you need to continue?

When you've exhausted these and any other issues you can think up about your block, cut and paste this section into a new document (if you're working on a computer) and "play" with it. Shape it up into an article, a blog post, a journal entry. Turning it into a salable article might include listing methods to prevent or overcome this particular form of Writer's Block. Maybe you will need to do a little research, digging up references.

At any rate, you will have been writing. Not blocked at all. In the process, you will gain insight into your feelings and thoughts, perhaps about the original piece, perhaps about yourself as a creative producer, and perhaps about writing itself.

* reframing the problem can help overcome it

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Help Your Writer's Block Yourself

Many people feel stymied when they try to write and no one cares about their efforts or productions. The flow slows and eventually stops at the beginning of a Writer's Block. Beginning writers are especially prone to this, partly because they lack experience and partly because they haven't developed a tough skin for protection. Writers farther along in their careers recognize these feelings as part of the writing life. Missing enthusiasm from others can feel like rejection. Personal rejection.

If you're feeling so alone and unappreciated in your endeavors, stop and think about the ways in which you ARE receiving help in your whole life. Having even some of your physical and psychological needs met (emotional and mental) holds you up to be able to write. Perhaps you have spiritual ties that comfort and aid your living. That's another form of help. Participating in a writing group, even if no one is particularly wild about your writing, is still a source of assistance.

But wait! There's more: how about relying less on others? If you take an inventory of resources to help your writing life and find something lacking, step up and reach out for what you need. It is up to you to get your needs met in this life. I always think of baby birds that do nothing but poop up the nest and open their mouths to have food stuffed down their gullets. Then suddenly they are kicked out and must fly! Don't be a baby bird and expect Life to provide everything. Help yourself.

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Undermine a Writer's Block

All the many factors that individually or in any combination unite to cause a temporary disruption in your creativity (Writer's Block) rest on the same substrata: living beings are attracted by pleasure and avoid pain. Blocks protect you from possibly hurting yourself. One small success (finishing an article or The Book, submitting a manuscript, querying an agent) might lead to subsequent agony (failure, rejection, more hard work).

Eureka!

Now here's something you can grapple with, rather than founder on the hidden shoals of protective devices of your own making. Even better, you don't need to go into psychoanalysis to discover exactly what kind of annoyance or suffering you're avoiding. Acknowledging and addressing this sub-basement of anti-creative monsters will be effective against any and all of them. It's not the old "Name it and Claim it!" You don't have to identify whether you really fear success, rejection (who doesn't?), coming up dry, or public speaking.

Realize that what's happening, in reality, is a basic, nonverbal human reaction to potential danger--fight or flight. You are fighting your urges to write and running from the pitfalls such activity. You are actually loving yourself as a living being. That's nice. It's good. If you are risking large failure left and right, we'd worry about you! What to do to undermine Writer's Blocks:

• recognize your humanity
• permit the self-care
• be grateful for it
• accept that some pain is inevitable
• know it won't come all at once
• realize you can cope

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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!

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Baby Step Around Writer's Block

Remember the movie "What About Bob?" In it Bill Murray practices his psychiatrist's therapeutic technique of "Baby Steps". The neurotic character "Bob" is anxious to ... do anything. If he were a writer, he would have the biggest block, Writer's Block I mean, of all time. He would fear inserting a page into the typewriter (he would be too afraid to own a computer)! "What About Bob?" is a very funny movie with a seriously useful, if subtle, message about overcoming obstacles.

A writing block can occur at any point in a project. The newer (to you) or larger the job, the more likely it will rise up near the start of the process. More experienced writers are often bogged down in the middle when everything seems in chaos, and it is, and they wonder if they'll ever be able to sort it out. Writers who fear failure or success, whether they know it or not, will balk towards the end. They edit or rewrite endlessly or complain, "I can't find a good ending."

Baby steps, very small actions, can move you toward a part of your creative enterprise. Baby steps also build good writing habits. Examples of baby steps that a writer can take:

• prepare a 30-90 seconds description of your project
• write in a different format
• outline or write a synopsis
• organize your material
• write a "trial" part
• brainstorm with friends
• write in increasing time increments
  

Have you tried taking baby steps to successfully walk yourself through a writing project? Feel free to share them with us.

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Blank Page Writer's Block

You've been chugging along, cranking out, well, whatever it is that you do involving words strung together, probably for profit. Maybe you've been at it for a few weeks or even quite a few years with successes spurring you on. Perhaps you've never even experienced a "temporary creativity interruption" in your life. You start a new project and POW! [comic book eruption]. Nothing happens. Usually writing happens, but this time you sit there and stare at the blank page.

Now, all the naysayers who deny Writer's Block even exists will tell you to apply seat of pants to seat of chair and write. To stop being lazy and looking for excuses. Just do it. Blah, blah, blah. It's all baaaaad advice because you have been producing, you did show up, you are perspiring (by now, it's possibly from panic.) And most of all, you have been doing it. You're obviously not lazy and you weren't looking for an excuse not to write, or you wouldn't have shown up atthe appointed time and place all ready to go AS USUAL. Your expectation was that things would go on the same as always, but this is a different experience and calls for a different tactics.

Many other advisers (myself included, at times) will suggest that you take a break, maybe visit museums, cross-pollinate with other arts, take a walk or even take a few days off from writing. These quick fixes work when the writer discovers she doesn't know enough about medieval basket weaving or he is stressed out by the new twins. IF you can analyze your state and determine no lack of knowledge or planning is holding you up and no emotional or psychological cause has plugged up your font of creativity, THEN I have a radical suggestion:

Put writing on a hiatus. Take a sabbatical. Make it a real vacation from this type of work, but don't throw it out of your life, just ease your pot of now simmering creative juice to one of the back burners. If you need immediate income, take a temporary job (at its worst, you'll be exposed to new characters, dialog and plot ideas). And that's what you can always tell busybodies who snoop into your business -- "I'm doing research for a new article/book/website."

While your mind is relatively empty, it's time to recharge the batteries of your senses. Notice the fragrances, colors, sounds, tastes and touches all around you. Focus on one sense at a time, then the zeitgeist, near and far. Be good to yourself, indulge and play, maybe even revisit childhood activities. Try something new and expand your horizons. And do it all as long as you need to. You're opening a door and who knows what will stroll in? Maybe your missing muse, or maybe a whole new life.

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Fake Out of a Writer's Block

"Fake it 'til you make it" is one of many mottoes that twelve-step self-help programs offer to assist people in changing their lives. It's one that I instinctively recoiled from, despising falsity in any form. Ah, but I didn't understand what "faking it" really meant. In the context perhaps "mimic" would be more accurate, but it doesn't rhyme with "make", and the purpose in devising these jingles is to ingrain them into a person's psyche.

To my mind, a key aspect in faking it is to know what "it" is. If you've been struggling with a temporary creative interruption (Writer's Block) for some time, you may have forgotten how it looks and feels to be a productive writer. Believe it or not, drunks have to learn how to behave as sober people.

Maybe you feel stymied at how to become a writer (take on a new role) or you're a writer in a slump (need to relearn, reinforce good writing habits). Start with or go back to basics. You're first a writer in your own mind.

• Stand in front of a mirror and repeat aloud, "I am a writer." Try it out with the emphasis on each different word. Add some gestures, if they help. Find the form that fits you: one you feel comfortable saying and makes you feel good about yourself. Mine is, "I am A WRITER!", loud and proud, smiling, head held high. Repeat the phrase ten times as often as you can remember to daily . I plaster PostIt notes on my bathroom mirror for help with such aspirations.

• Keep the focus on yourself, and don't try to compete or compare your productivity with others'. Generate your joy from your own creativity (although it's fine to rejoice for fellow writers and to draw inspiration from their work).

Then it's time for more actions. What does a writer do?

• Drain your brain for writing ideas and goals, but be realistic. Don't expect to complete monolithic endeavors if you're just starting out. If you do aim for a wide target, like writing a novel, break it down into bite-size chunks. If you want to be a self-published poet but know nothing about publishing or poetry--take a class.

• Establish your writing time, too. No matter how little it is, stick to the schedule. Make it a top priority in your life. Write SOMETHING, even if it is just practicing queries or cover letters. They make be "fake" letters, but they are also stepping stones to success.

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Another Writer's Block Repair

I see I've managed to lose the background to this page. What a challenge! I'm trying to switch from a two-column to a three-column template, HTML to xhtml markup language, and Old Blogger to New Blogger--all in One Swell Foop! Unfortunately, I avoided learning xhtml, seeking to hone my CSS skills, then resting on my fat assets. Wrong! A writer, even those who write the behind-the-scene coding for web pages, must keep learning. So, here I grow. And although little shows on this page yet, like the duck floating serenely on a pond, I'm paddling madly below the surface!

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Writer's Block of Garbage

Some folks experience a variation of Writer's Block in which they can't write anything worthwhile. No, really. Instead of being stuck at nothing, they're rooted to the groove of writing, well, garbage. You know you're stuck in this rut when you start on a story, writing several pages, only to discover it goes nowhere. The characters are flat. Dialog doesn't sparkle. You have no story. Or you've written an article, let it rest a while, and come back to find it's just not as good as previous ones. You're moving in the wrong direction with your writing development. And the harder you try, the worse it gets.

STOP!

Stop what you're doing immediately. You don't want to make this type of writing a habit. Nor the behavior and/or the mindset that comes with it. Begin by taking a break from the trying to write well. This can take three forms:

1. Let your writing be lousy for a while. Let it be O.K. that you are out of touch with your source, your muse, your inspiration. Don't beat yourself up about this situation, because that will only make it worse. You'll descend into a spiral of feeling worse about yourself and consequently writing worse. And so on. Instead, just let it go. Meditate if you must to achieve this state of acceptance that this is only a temporary condition.


2. Write differently. Shake up your routine. Change the way you approach writing or how you develop a story/article. If you are strict about outlining first, start a new piece and just "let it flow". If you're the opposite type of writer, usually loose, tighten up and do more planning first.
   


3. Get away from writing, if you can get away with it. Stimulate other senses with a concert, an art or craft show, or better yet, participate in other types of creativity. It doesn't matter if you're all thumbs or a rank amateur, the idea is to use alternative methods to refresh the well with no performance pressure. Go it alone, if that helps.

I can just hear the staff writers and freelancers with deadlines shouting to the rafters, "we must write!" This is true, especially for those in the news media. See #1, consider #2. Maybe you have a virus and aren't even aware of it. You're entitled to be off your game once in a while. Do a quick self-check to be sure you aren't feeling physically bad. If not, chances are that this is a passing problem that will correct itself quickly, and your editor might not even notice.

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Facing Fear of Writer's Block

Let's look at the fear aspect of Writer's Block. First are those people for whom fearing creative constipation becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. They've heard of Writer's Block. They want to be a writer. They are afraid they will get blocked, especially because in the beginning the most common perplexity is, "What shall I write about?" followed quickly by, "How do I [whatever you're struggling with]?"

Educating yourself about writing structure and processes takes care of the latter question. Listing ideas and/or instituting a goal system handles the former. But what about the basic being so afraid you'll "catch" Writer's Block that you build a block for yourself?

I had to haul out my old 12-step handbook to find the scribbled aphorism for fear:

F = false
E = education
A = appearing
R = real

Fear is false education appearing real. Yes! It simply isn't true that all writers experience temporary interruptions in the creative flow or that it happens frequently or every time writing is attempted. You may have a long and full career and never once feel truly blocked. So don't believe in false information so strongly that you stop yourself before you even get started. How do I face fears? Another aphorism springs to mind: courage is being afraid and doing it anyway.

Fear is an emotion--one of the basic big four that humans experience. You are more than your feelings. You're also a thinking individual. Don't allow fears to derail your desires and railroad your resolve to write. Identify the fear you feel and act on that knowledge. Part of your action can be to write about it. Then keep on writing.

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Bust the Writer's Block

From Courage and Craft: Writing Your Life into Story by Barbara Abercrombie:

To live your own true and precious life, you need to express yourself and make your inner life as important and known as your visible life. Whether you’re published or not, you need to turn the chaos and the glimpses of beauty, the questions and the search for answers, the days and months and years of your life into something meaningful on a page.

Sometimes all those bits and pieces glom together to build up a creative block. Just too much information, too many experiences, feelings, people, relationships overload our writing circuits and plug up the flow.

The good news is that out of this chaos, you can choose to own the mess and design an orderly arrangement that allows creative construction. Busting the block is deconstruction, selecting the elements on which to focus. Incorporate and discard features as you experiment with a piece of writing. If it isn't working--fix it. Don't fear experimentation. No one will penalize you for overproduction and flops. We'd never see Broadway successes if playwrights and producers didn't take repeated risks.

Each day, as you age, fragments of life add to your store of ideas, memories, experiences on which to draw. If you're the type to compartmentalize and pigeon-hole this material, you have a tidy, orderly inner castle. The downside is a tendency to rigidity that needs occasional messing up in order to play the "what if ... " game which nurtures imagination and creativity. At the other end of the continuum, if you can simply absorb what life tosses your way and let it pile up inside, a little housecleaning and organization can help you find the order necessary to make sense and make art.

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Don't Let Others Build Your Block

"It's a phenomenon all artists and creative thinkers must face eventually: a show down at the Small Thinkers Corral. It's not that our family or friends actually wish us harm or that they secretly have curly tails and pot bellies. It's more that when you light up with inspiration, you glow. That light can be overwhelming for some and blinding for others. If those friends, family members (or critics of any relation) lack light beams of their own, they're likely to want to turn yours down or--in some cases--just douse you with the cold, clear water of their "reality" 'til your light flame snuffs out."

So lyricized the Muse, Angi Sullins, in Pearls and Pigs--An Artist vs. Critic Phenomenon. I've mused on this topic since finding it a couple of months ago. I've received beatings about the head and body for being "rude" or "too harsh" in replies to beginners. I fit into the category of those who want others to be aware of the realities of the writing world, to help them avoid the pitfalls and mistakes I've already experienced. Have I helped build a Writer's Block for them by my apparent lack of support? I am not insensitive (Lord knows!), but perhaps too blunt, impatient and unwilling to repeatedly post long explanations couched in tender terms. [Yes, I just split an infinitive--it sounds best that way.]

One of the gems of advice you'll see most often in chats and forums is this: toughen up! You can't learn to be a better writer if you can't bear honest critiques of your writing or hear warnings when you're headed down the wrong path. Getting angry or depressed easily leads to giving up or freezing up. This isn't to say that chronic nay-sayers don't exist in your life and online, although they're usually hounded out of chats and forums.

I watched a thread wherein a guy vented his anger because he couldn't find a traditional publisher who would print his book exactly the way he wanted it (and pay him). We tried to tell him that the traditional publishing world doesn't work that way. He just argued and finally went away. Mad, I presume. Then there was the girl who had finally been published and even secured a column. She's in pain because the people who previously supported her desire to be a writer now seem uninterested in her continuing success. I was tempted to write, "And do you want egg in your beer?"

Toughen up! It's your responsibility to keep your creative light lit. Or else you'll find yourself circling a never ending block in the dark.

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Overwhelming Writer's Block

New novelists often feel the weight of "too much" early in their creative process. Nonfiction writers can fall prey to the confusion and paralysis of preparing large projects or working with complicated topics. When writing about a new nuclear plant under construction, I had difficulty deciding where to begin. Environmental issues? Power needs? Impact on rural employment? So many handles popped up that organization and selection of what to include were problems for me.

Eventually I realized that everything was not of equal importance. That seems to be the difficulty when we build up an overwhelming writer's block. A quick conference with an editor can help determine which way to slant a story or what to emphasize, what to leave out. Good short story writers already know how to select just the salient points to move their creations along and provide a satisfying structure and solutions. I learned to prioritize the elements of a large project, especially when working on my own. As the rappers say, "break it down."

Sometimes it takes talking with another to help you gain perspective on a creative project that appears to loom over you with menace. The other person can be a fellow writer, mentor, editor, teacher or even a trusted friend. This is where participating in a community of writers can play a supporting role in building your career. Someone else may have already faced your overwhelming block and have a solution at hand. You can knock it down with allied forces, too.

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Think Outside the Writer's Block Box

Let's face it: when you're suffering with Writer's Block, you're in a box. You might feel like there's no way out, not a ray of light, and you're suffocating. The good news is that you've probably built that box or placed yourself in it. Blocks are usually constructed within your own mind. Do you really have to be there? Can you change the material, bend the bars, open a window?

This reminds me of my early art experiences with big, fat waxy crayons and printed books of images I was expected to fill in with colors. If the print had been more faint, the cute kittens and puppies would have disappeared into the background, because I was unable to STAY INSIDE THE LINES! I was more interested in what might be happening in the background, because I knew puppies and kitties didn't just hang in featureless space. Coloring outside the lines is thinking outside the box.

One of the best examples I know about writing is the recent development of memoir writing. Prior to the late 1980s, life story writers were constrained by the limitations of autobiography or personal essay. Then some brave souls broke out of those box/blocks to run free with tense and voice and time, mingling then and now, the person I was with the person I am, the tale with the teller. Thinking outside that traditional box was coloring outside the lines, making for a richer, layered, more colorful creation.

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Don't Stop on the Writer's Block

Too many writers confuse writing with self, especially self-worth. No better illustrations of this phenomenon are the following: tendencies to hang about the mailbox, urges to contact editors about submissions made three days ago, delirious indulgences after receiving acceptances of freebies, and excessive depressions over rejections--the kind that prompts you to say, "I'm no good. I'll never be any good. I might as well give up."

When you experience an unintended interruption in the flow of words (how's that for reframing?), you tend to feel devalued, less than, under-talented and broken. The reframing note is important. How many of you have experienced an unintended interruption in the flow of income? Everybody raise hands! Did that mean you were a baaaaad person? Of course not! It meant that you needed to get busy finding a new job, maybe a new direction.

The point of detaching your feelings of value from the experience of Writer's Block is to avoid creating worse problems for yourself. Pretend you're having a near-death experience, hovering above, observing yourself. "Oh, look--the writer has stopped writing," the spirit notes. "Why is that?" Seize this opportunity to question all aspects of your block. Write them down, and then write your answers. Everything you have to say is valuable. Write all about your block. And keep on writing.

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Yoga for Writers' Block

Let's see if I can get my mind in gear today to contribute something useful, especially because I missed writing on Writer's Block earlier in the week. Yoga exercises are another technique for relieving the types of blocks that come when you've sat too long, staring at a blank page or the computer screen. Blood pools in our feet, breathing may slow or become shallow with anxiety, muscles go slack (or worse, cramp). The body pumps out stress chemicals which do not enhance creativity.

Yoga asanas (poses) involve gently stretching out muscles and adopting body positions we might not ordinarily assume. The benefits for a blocked writer are relaxation of any built-up bodily tension and getting the blood circulating better, especially to bring oxygen to the brain. You also simply get a break and interrupt a negative pattern of behavior (remember developing habits?) Gioya (pronounced Joya) McRae, a black writer who bills herself as "Mocha Mind", blogs at Writer Outta My Mind. In her post, Yoga for Writers, she suggests three poses to help keep "hands, arms, eyes, and mind, in top writing shape":

Downward Dog Pose: This pose stretches muscles and tendons in wrists, arms, shoulders, and back, as well as legs. Begin on your knees with palms on the floor in front of you. Slowly raise your rear, while pushing your heels into the floor, and hold for as long as possible.

Warrior Pose: This pose calls on your balance, while stretching palms and forearms. Stand with your legs wide apart, and stretch arms out to either side. Palms should be parallel to the floor.

Eye Exercises: Focus on a point middle distance away from you. Without moving your head, move your eyes to the top left corner of your periphery. Return to center, refocus your eyes, and blink several times. Repeat with top right, bottom left, and bottom right corners. End by closing eyes for a few minutes to relax.

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Reading in Stores for Writer's Block

When you have Writer's Block, especially the "no idea at all!" type, treat yourself with a dose of reading. Read anything and everything, not necessarily about writing. Reading something from which you learn is especially helpful, but whatever you choose, it should be an enjoyable experience. One method to accomplish this has a bonus: visit a big book store, the type that also has a newsstand. Read some of the books, but also look through a few magazines. Maybe buy a different newspaper and read all of it. Leads for articles or bookish thoughts will creep insidiously into your mind and wrap themselves around your creativity, waking it from slothful slumber.

And you can people-watch! See what others are reading. Maybe strike up a conversation with someone who looks like a fellow scribbler. Even if they aren't writers, chances are they'll have interesting stories to tell. One of them could become the nubbin of a story you'll tell. And all because you went to read when you couldn't write.

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Communion for Writer's Block

You often hear and read that "writing is a lonely profession". Perhaps lonely people turn to writing, but the writer should not try to go it alone. Community is one of the features I advocate in my eBook, Be a Successful Writer. This is never more true than when facing Writer's Block. Sometimes the best action to take is to socialize with a few good writer friends. Who better to understand what you're experiencing than other writers? In addition to sympathy, you might find in your compatriots inspiration and practical assistance.

Got no writer friends? All the more reason to join a group, local or world-wide, amateur or professional, online or in real life. It is an advantage to have someone nearby you can call up and whine to and trade complaints with, but many writers find online relationships just as rewarding and motivating. Others benefit from finding a writing buddy and some seek out co-authors or co-writers to share the load and spark more inspiration. The book includes a long list of writers' organizations with links to their websites. They are also contained in the Report on Continuing Education.

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Let Writer's Block Flow

Facing the blank page, what do you feel? Just empty? Focus deeper, deeper still. Touch the fear, the rage, feel the sadness that is the undercurrent of an unproductive life. If you are honest with yourself, you'll acknowledge being filled, gripped by strong emotions. What you tell yourself about these feelings keeps you in paralysis, as does trying to hide from them, deny them.

A better approach is to identify your emotions and be aware that you are separate from the feelings. You are not the thoughts or the feelings or the block. They flow through you, and by identifying them, you can let them pass on, flowing out of you. The Buddhists call this "mindfulness" and practice meditation to achieve similar results.

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Habits to Prevent Writer's Block

Not to become obsessive/compulsive, but developing little rituals or habits surrounding starting to write can help prevent, and possibly overcome, the kind of Writer's Block in which you sit down to write and nothing comes. In fact, this very type of block can be considered a habit--a bad one. Fortunately, from self-help psychology we've learned that it takes three weeks to develop a bad habit and three weeks to unlearn it by substituting a good one.

What kind of habit to develop? It doesn't really matter, as long as you practice it consistently, every time you attempt to write. Some people like to light candles or incense, play certain music, clean and arrange a desktop, assure an ergonomically correct posture, even to blog as a way of priming the pump, so to speak. For others the simple procedures of starting their computers, opening a word processing program and finding or setting up the right file can do the trick.

When I write by hand, I MUST have a certain kind of ink pen (black Uni-ball Micropoint, if you're interested), unless I'm writing poetry. Then I need a sharp pencil, with or without a functioning eraser. And I prefer being curled up on my couch with a full-size composition-style notebook. And lots of tea to drink. It's as if these signals tell my mind, "O.K., you're ready to write creatively."

This procedure of developing a set of habits to foster writing works best if first attempted when you aren't suffering from a block. Otherwise, you risk associating them with failure. Start with several elements. When you feel them firmly in place, you can begin to reducing the number gradually, one at a time, until maybe you need only one activity or object to induce the desired result.

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Reading for Writer's Block

Not to develop a writer's block, but to get around one. And I am not necessarily suggesting reading about it, although much material is available from Amazon about writer's block! In general, reading can help with several different kinds of literary constipation. Take my friend Susie, for example. She was having problems starting to write a mystery novel. Part of the story involved a New Age healer who used crystals.

"Do you know anything about the topic?" I asked.

"Just that it exists," she confessed.

Suse is lucky enough to be able to buy any book she wants, so we browsed through a big box book store and found a perfect reference on the topic. She probably could have found something similar in the public library. Later Susie said that reading about the different types of crystals, especially their uses, gave her several plot points and got her out of the writing slump.

Let's look at what really happened: reading something related to what she was writing about fulfilled two functions to ease her writer's block. First it filled a knowledge gap she hadn't realized was holding her back. Secondly, it provided sparks of inspiration that ignited her zest for writing again.

Read around the block.

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Jump Over a Writer's Block

Having promised to write about Writer's Block weekly, I think I've fallen down on the job. I wasn't blocked, honest! If you aren't completely blocked, write the parts you know first.

Then jump ahead in your story or novel and write a scene you know will take place. You might even write the ending. There's no rule that says your writing must be linear. I often have the climax scene in mind before I start a piece of fiction.

If you're writing non-fiction, write a chapter or section that you already know how to handle. Again, nothing dictates in what order you write a book or an article or essay. At the end, you can rearrange parts to make it flow smoothly. Sometimes I just get it all down on paper, labeling the sections A, B, C etc., then put those parts where they seem to fit and finally write transitions between.

Have you tried jumping your block? Does this method work for you?

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Persistence, Not Muse

Many conversations in creative writing especially circle around the idea of a writer's "muse", the mythical source of inspiration and genius. "How do I ignite my muse?" beginners ask, as if it were a sparkplug. "She has deserted me!" Abandonment issues? Here's the secret: discipline, not myth, pays off.

Barbara Kingsolver majored in biology at DePauw University in Indiana, and then got a master's degree in evolutionary biology. She was working on a Ph.D. thesis on the social lives of termites when she decided to abandon a career in science and try to become a writer. She took a job as a technical writer, which forced her to sit in front of a computer for eight hours a day and do nothing but write.

She later said, "I learned to produce whether I wanted to or not. It would be easy to say oh, I have writer's block, oh, I have to wait for my muse. I don't. Chain that muse to your desk and get the job done." Kingsolver went on to success writing both novels and nonfiction books.

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Overcoming Writing Anxiety

Anxiety about writing: feeling tense as you approach or sit at the keyboard, a gripping sensation deep in your gut, shoulders creep up to your ears, paralyzed thought processes. Sounds a lot like a form of Writer's Block, no? It can be, and it can strike both fiction and nonfiction writers at any time. Seldom is the cause the writing process or tools you use (unless you have a weird phobia), although the subject or topic you're attempting to write about may cause such fear. A lot of tension can surround a writer's first love scene or sexual encounter (in the writing, not the writer's life).

New writers commonly are so afraid of experiencing rejection (which we all do) that they can't get to the submission gate. A way out of this is to realistically think about "What's the worst that could happen?" The worst is that you'll get a slip of paper in the mail, or an email, that says, "No thanks." Working writers may feel nervous over their earnings. Some of us never overcome performance anxiety, hesitating to make that first mark on a blank page or entry box, but it does remind us we're ALIVE!

Whatever is making you anxious about writing, some practices that can help include using affirmations about yourself (tape a big one on your monitor if necessary), relaxation exercises, giving yourself permission to fail or to write just anything not for publication for a set period. In the case of money problems, it is acceptable to take a break and get a day job or work part-time doing something else to earn income for a while. Sometimes we just simply need a break from writing.

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Find Article Ideas Easily

Working on a new website for an up and coming author has kept me busy the last couple of weeks. Rather than continue to neglect the Writing Help page here, I persuaded Bonnie Boots to let me swipe one of her great articles from The Internet Wizards Magazine site. Bonnie gave the piece a title too long to fit in the space where I list the free articles, so I've called the subject "Article Ideas". Bonnie describes her system for freelancers to come up with great article ideas all year long. You could also use the system to overcome a writer's block on what to write about. Here are quick links to the other free articles now available:

Book Signing Tips
Give and Take Critiques
Write for the Web
About Agents
Copyrights

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Good Writers Get Organized

One of the principles I harp on a lot is that writers need to be organized in all they do. Julie Hood agrees with her Organized Writer website. Writers often complain that they have so many ideas, they can't keep track of them; or they get distracted by new ideas while trying to work on a novel and it is never finished. Hood knows exactly what they mean and offers some tips to help them overcome this unproductive state. I suspect her book would be quite useful to a new writer overwhelmed with the multiple tasks embedded in the writing life.

Years ago I became a devotee of Steven Covey's "7 Habits" system, from which I learned to prioritize, schedule and effectively use "to do" lists. Hood offers writers a sample weekly schedule of activities online and in a printable checklist. You can adapt it to your type of writing (this one aims freelancers toward sending out a query each week) and get on track to reaching your goal.

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Runaway Writers

Running away from your problems is only a sometimes solution. If the problem is within yourself, well, wherever you go, there you are. And your problems drag along behind, but eventually catch up to you. However, creative people can use a different kind of running away to recharge their creative batteries and get over a Writer's Block slump. The escape may be as drastic as a tropical vacation or as simple as a walk in a local park, sitting by a lake or other body of water (I like running streams). It is a beneficial practice to schedule regular breaks from writing work, both for physical exercise and mental revival. Expose yourself to other forms of creative endeavors, even if you have no immediate interest in them. You don't necessarily need to participate in another medium; just observing and soaking up someone else's creative vibes can rejuvenate your own.

Every week I try to visit museums and shows that cover the gamut of arts and crafts. I usually learn something new, make new connections, deepen my understanding of the creative process. Sometimes I lurk behind a docent or professor giving students a tour. Yesterday I heard explanations of why Harry Callahan's photography was so innovative 50 years ago. It was the second time I'd visited that show at the Museum of Photographic Arts. I still don't think much of those photos, but I know a tidbit more about the evolution of photography as an art form. I can see the relationship to composition that I'm reading about in a book on painting with acrylics. None of this is immediately applicable to anything I'm writing about, but expanding my thinking and making new connections can't be detrimental and may help. Anyway, it was good to run away from the computer and walk about for a few hours.

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Overcome Writer's Block

Blogger Nate Whitehill suggested five ways to overcome writer's block in a post specifically for techie-type writers (bloggers). He explained:

Writer's blocks is something everyone experiences at times, and it is especially frustrating for bloggers that are dedicated to regularly publishing unique and interesting content.

Then he offered these methods to get over the hump:

* Take a Break
* Read a Few Related and Interesting Blogs
* Have a Conversation
* Check out Technorati's Top Searches
* Reread Your Reader's Comments

The last one rings so true in my experience. Just this week a comment in my Orcut group on Writer's Block sparked another idea in my mind, a technique for getting fiction writers out of a slump. I'll write about it here in the next post in this series.

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Unblocking Writer's Block

Some writers, especially those who have specialized in nonfiction, believe Writer's Block is a myth, an excuse or a "cop out". I used to think it was solely due to an acute case of perfectionism, placing it squarely in the realm of the psychological. My thinking and understanding of the phenomenon has expanded recently. I can now see that it as a multifaceted problem, and the facets are not necessarily joined to any one core difficulty. Sometimes the cause is simple such as other life stresses, exhaustion, hunger, or poor health. We don't always need psychoanalysis to sweep away a block. Simple causes call for simple solutions.

I like the suggestions Vicki Vialle offers. She says, "Even if they manage their time and follow writing guidelines, many writers will still experience a time when the words just won't come together, when they are simply "stuck" and can't think of anything to write. This is writer's block. Fortunately, a few helpful techniques make it possible to overcome the challenge of writer's block." They include:

* Take a break
* Be flexible
* Relax!
* Move

The brief article is a quick read with six more techniques and explanations. You might want to print them out and stick them up near your monitor as reminders.

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Unlock Writer's Block

Continuing the series on various forms of writer's block and suggested solutions: one type is the "empty well" syndrome or lack of inspiration. Many beginning writers, especially those intent on producing short stories or the great American (or any other nationality) novel, wonder how successful writers find their ideas. I usually tell them to just look around. The world is full of stories. It's easier for nonfiction writers to recognize hot topics or interesting reads, especially if the writer is blessed with curiosity and alert to changes. Fiction writers who focus on people and relationships may need maturity before they can understand the intricacies of human entanglements. Motives for behaviour are so often hidden in the unconscious. In the meantime, writers can turn to prompts to get them thinking about writing topics. I've listed several prompt resources in the past (1) and (2), but recently came upon a doozie at TDavid's MakeYouGoHmm.com.

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Writer's Block Dramas

More movies and books about writers exist than I'd ever imagined. We seem to be our own favorite topics. Maybe that's from following the dictum "write what you know" or because some of us can't think of anything else to write on. I wondered about that in relation to having writer's block, the solution to which is often "just write". Some authors may have done so, and the following dramas resulted:

8 1/2
Adaptation
Barton Fink
Secret Window
Shakespeare in Love
The Shining
Swimming Pool
Throw Momma From the Train
Quills
Wonder Boys
Stranger Than Fiction
Finding Forrester

I found this list near the bottom of a page at Answers.com, and on it each entry links to another page of information there. If you can't write, you can always read or watch a movie about someone in a similar situation. Maybe it will give you an idea that leads to a solution for your particular case. Remember, each one is different.

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Writer's Block Solutions

When people set out to become writers, they're often stumped when asked about their activities. This is a problem that pops up regularly in forums and online chats. What do you say? You're a writer, so why won't the words come? Last month I mentioned Kristi Holl's Writer's First Aid. Another cause of writer's block that she mentions is:

Personality style: passive or aggressive, outgoing or shy, rigid or flexible, courageous or fearful. An outgoing person may be great a book signings and marketing his work, yet block when it's time to sit down--alone--and write for three hours. The flexible person may have numerous ideas that flow effortlessly and may be able to juggle a number of different projects, yet he may block when it's time to choose just one idea and get to work. The insecure person may write fluently and happily alone, yet block when nearing the end of her story because she's too afraid of rejection to submit a finished product.

This reminded me of C. Hope Clark's well-known The Shy Writer. On her eponymous website, Hope offers hope for shy writers on a page titled What You Can Do. The very first tip from her book states, "Clearly define the type writer you are." Another is, "Learn that "People Like Positive" and how that phrase can help you." The last piece of advice that I think can help most all beginners is: Create your basic essential statements so you do not have to think when asked question like "What do you do?" "What do you write?" "What is your book about?"

This is where elevator speeches and loglines (one sentence summaries) of your works come in very handy. How can you say something when you have nothing to say? Be a Girl Scout, be prepared!

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