How to beat writers' block
newyorker.com
newyorker.com
I like to think of writing (or any creative work, really) as a large-scale process with many intermediate steps, like say, producing diamonds. You have to start by locating the raw materials, drilling them out, getting a sense of what they are, isolating them, cut them up, polish them, set them, present them, sell them.
Block can happen at any point along the process. It could be that you don't have enough raw material. It could be that you're not sure how to cut the particular stone that you have. It could be that you've got the wrong tools for the job, or that the job itself is not worth doing.
The challenge is to zoom out from the present moment and to see the bigger picture, and often to move upstream in the process. Sometimes you need to abandon the process altogether, and maybe return to it later.
The creative person's anxiety and paranoia can seem like a petty thing compared to say, somebody who has to deal with "real" problems. (I'm reminded of Anthony Bourdain saying "Cooking professionally is hard work. Writing is a privilege and a luxury. Anybody who whines about writers block should be forced to clean squid all day")
It's a fair point. That said, I think it's useful to try and understand what exactly the block is. It's fear, anxiety, attachment to outcome, a sense of incompetence and worthlessness.
Elizabeth Gilbert also has a great TED talk on dealing with that, about separating your self-esteem from your work: https://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius?langua...
Oh yeah, good point. As Pressfield would put it, the important thing is to go Pro. And a Pro would finish the job that he started, even if it might not be "worth doing". Unless you're literally risking your life or something improbable like that, it's worth finishing what you start.
Usually, I'm fine with the creative aspects -- I know what ideas I want to communicate. What troubles me is finding the words to say it. And the more time I spend thinking about it, the more difficult it becomes. Sometimes, I can spend an hour working at a paragraph, and still can't get comfortable with the wording.
Does anyone else have this problem?
I wouldn't say it's writer's block altogether, I think it's just the "stretch" of trying to communicate something you haven't effectively communicated before.
The analogy I would use here is– it's like a standup comedian trying out new jokes. He knows that it's funny, but the audience isn't laughing– because there's something about the delivery that he isn't getting right.
My advice for people struggling with these things is to do multiple drafts. Try to write it down, then start over altogether from scratch. Explain it to other people. After a while, you'll start "catching" the right turns of phrases and sentence structure and so on.
Absolutely. This is so important. The writing and editing process should be decoupled– trying to do both at once typically leads to frustrating contortions.
We lose the ability to look at our work objectively after spending a long time struggling with it, if you can put your writing aside for a period of time (some people say a few days others a week) stuff that you thought looked like dreck can turn out to be promising or occasionally perfect.
(I still struggle with this, not preaching down at you from a high mountain. Very far from that in fact.)
- allowing for error—and realizing how nonlinear a process creativity can be—was an essential step for overcoming blocks in writing
- It’s useful to escape from external and internal judgment—by writing, for instance, in a dream diary, which you know will never be read—even if it’s only for a brief period... [your dream] serves as a reminder that, no matter how blocked you may be, you still have the capacity to imagine something new—no matter how small and silly it may seem
- Such escapes allow writers to find comfort in the face of uncertainty; they give writers’ minds the freedom to imagine, even if the things they imagine seem ludicrous, unimportant, and unrelated to any writing project.
- Creative people do a lot of trial and error and rarely know where they are going exactly until they get there
You want to beat a slump? Produce more work until it gets better. That's all. Want to get fit? Eat right and exercise.
I've fallen this path before and I'm pretty sure I'll fall for it in the future as well. Our brains don't like waiting. Our brains like to reap the rewards now. Some of the best work I've done was when I basically turned off anything that would drag me away from doing something (ie. phones and emails are the biggest culprits). I even rented out a private small office that I could go in for a few hours and work on my projects.
Yes, but get some valuable feedback (whatever that means in your concrete situation) on your way. Otherwise you could end up writing rubbish for the rest of your life.
Pesca manages to write ~15 minutes of extremely witty news-related material every day, and I am constantly amazed at it.
https://wrd.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/1-Shitty%20First%...
Editors block is much less prevalent.
Edit: Removed a suspicious apostrophe =).