Resources to Overcome Writer's Block

Episodes of difficulty in the writing process can happen to anyone attempting to become a writer. Thankfully, literatures on how to overcome writer’s block abound in the internet.  But what really is a writer’s block?  In order to properly deal with it, it is best to understand the concept and its underlying causes.

Wikipedia defines writer’s block as “a phenomenon involving temporary loss of ability to begin or continue writing, usually due to lack of inspiration or creativity.”  This is usually related to one’s mood disorders such as depression and anxiety.  Some would say it is their fear and anxiety of not coming up with decent enough quality of output, deadline stress, beginning or end of a project, etc.  Writer’s block causes scant writing output, and others consider this as merely a part of the natural ebb and flow of the creative process.

Whatever the causes are, be they legitimate reasons or excuses, an episode of a writer’s block can spell disaster to any writer.  This can best be illustrated by Stuart Townsend’s character as The Best Man in the movie Unhitched, where his publisher took back the $50,000 down payment for his book when he suffered writer’s block.  This could happen to you if you could not manage going over this hump in your writing process.

There are many ways of dealing with or overcoming writer’s block.  For those who find starting or resuming work on a writing project the most difficult part of the writing process, they set a fixed time schedule devoted to writing alone.  And they do it, writer’s block or not.  Others, to ensure they constantly come up with written output, find it very helpful to set a personal quota of x number of words per day.  Graham Green, English short-story writer, playwright and journalist, and one of the most widely read novelists of the 20th-century famously wrote 500 words, and only 500 words every morning.  With these mere 500 words per day, he wrote and published over 30 books, on top of other masterpieces from other medium.

If the first measures cited above would not help, taking a break could be a good idea.  Meditating, or doing relaxation exercises to relieve any pressure on oneself and the writing may be effective in putting your mind to a “refreshed” state.  Doing something out of the ordinary could be helpful especially if the writer’s block comes from one’s inability to come up with new or fresh ideas.  Doing something out of your ordinary routine or going to a different kind of environment may spark creativity.  If this is not an easy thing to do, reading, watching movies or plays may help.  Others attend gatherings of fellow writers, and the more informal the setting is (gathering for a few drinks at a local pub), the better the result gets.

To overcome writer’s block is just a matter of identifying its underlying cause.  For some, it is the stress and pressure brought about by the writing process itself.  To overcome this, you just have to take it easy on yourself.  Anna Quindlin says, “People have writer’s block not because they can’t write, but because they despair of writing eloquently.”  Don’t be too hard on yourself by being overly critical.  Just keep on writing, let those creative juices flowing and reserve the critiquing at a later part: when you start to edit your work.