Unblocking the creative
Isn’t it awful, this little thing known as “writer’s block”?
It undoes your flow, interrupts your plans and leaves you feeling less than capable of the most basic writing task. The longer you look at that blank piece of paper, or a blank word document on your laptop, the more paralysed you feel.Honestly, knowing that every single writer experiences it does not help either. It’s great to know you’re not the only one stuck, but it’s just not helpful in overcoming it.There are many approaches to writer’s block and how to make it a thing of the past. Some advice shows excellent writing practices while other opinions are about as meaningful as someone patting you on the back saying “there, there”. Not helpful!What most advice doesn’t cover off on is the “Why?” Why are your creative juices blocked? Why is that piece of paper so terrifying right now? What is holding you back?When you get to the why, you can then deal with the underlying cause and get back on track.So. What are the leading causes of writer’s block?
Self-doubt
Fear
Perfectionism
External influences
Procrastination
Getting side-tracked by “bright-shiny” objects
Did you notice the top 3?They are all about what’s going on inside of you. What you are thinking and feeling and fearful of. These top 3 are also all inter-related. They are mindset.Mindset – that’s your biggest enemy!It will have you on the floor sobbing, eating ice-cream out of the bucket in fear and frustration if left unchecked. Isn’t that just awful?So, ask yourself these questions:
Am I doubting myself, my ability, my worthiness or even if I should be writing anything at all?
Am I scared? What of?
Scared of failing? Scared of letting others down? Scared of starting and not being able to finish? Scared that my story or ideas are rubbish? Scared that people will laugh at me? Scared that people will doubt me and my ability or my vision? Scared of the unknown?
Am I a perfectionist? Am I letting myself get carried away with getting every single comma, font, indent, word or theme perfect? Am I concentrating too hard on what’s not right, rather than allowing myself to appreciate what is right and just keep writing?
Do any of those questions seem familiar? Most likely, a lot of them are very familiar to you.So a great place to start is by addressing these 3 things first.One by one.Take out a notebook (this works best with an actual pen in hand on paper you love) and make three columns with these headings:
Your 3 headings are:
My Doubts
My Fears
My Perfectionism
Then, without overthinking or trying to find the “correct” answers, scribble them all down under their appropriate heading. Take at least 5 minutes of brainstorming these to get the full benefit.At the end of the 5 minutes (or 10 or however long you choose), read through one column at a time.Next, ask yourself 3 questions:
Are these true?
How am I defining myself by these thoughts?
How can I do something positive about these thoughts/feelings?
Remember, they are thoughts and feelings. You do have some control over those. Take some decisive action, speak positive self-talk and praise yourself for facing some fears, taking action and being a strong, capable person.Now, have a look at the last three items on the list:
External influences
Procrastination
Getting side-tracked by “bright-shiny” objects (oh dear, this one is so good at stopping your flow!)
Do some more deep thinking about these things and do the same activity as before. Three columns, three headings, 5 minutes, review.
Your next 3 headings are:
External Influences
Procrastination
Side-tracked by “bright-shiny” objects
Finished? How was that? Did you notice anything you can work on or needs to be addressed?There is one item on the list that you can only control to a certain degree – external Influences.External Influences may include:
Distractions of children and pets in the home while you’re trying to write
Time constraints from your “day job”
Financial pressures
A partner who doesn’t understand your need to write and maybe isn’t as supportive as you would like
No “Zen” place you can go to write
No support from friends and colleagues who, without meaning to, may trivialise your writing and place no importance on it
So many other possibilities!
While it’s usually not possible to just up and leave your day job, put your kids into a cardboard box in the corner of the room and find a million dollars in the sugar bowl, you can put some boundaries in place to help preserve your physical and mental space.The first thing to do is to validate what you are doing and to place importance upon yourself and your writing. Many a great writer was born out of scattered notebooks, filled with random scribblings, hiding in many secret places throughout their home. Why not you?After completing the 2 exercises above, you will have discovered the “deep and meaningful” reasons of why you are blocked in your writing.Then you will have validated your writing, placed importance upon your writing, your own precious self and have put some boundaries in place to benefit you. Even if at this stage, those boundaries are just road mapped before being put into action – it’s all progress.Congratulations!But don’t stop there!There are many other things that you can work on and excellent writing habits you can form, however, I will cover those another time.
“Unblocking the Creative” Activity
What you need to do now is an “Unblocking the Creative” activity. I highly recommend this technique and use it often myself when my creativity is slowing down.
This “Unblocking the Creative” activity is in two sections: Recall and Story.
Get out a notebook & pen, or your laptop – whatever you love the most.
Recall: Think of some things that bring you joy or pleasure, places you have travelled to, people who have ignited your heart – in reality, or in your imagination – it doesn’t matter.
Now, set a timer for 10 minutes. No more, no less and answer each of the following questions.If you can only think of 1 thing – that’s ok. If your pen is flying off the page – that’s ok too. Whatever you do, just keep going for the full 10 minutes.
What is your favourite memory?
What is your least favourite memory?
What experience was been more enjoyable than you imagined possible?
What experience left you bitterly disappointed?
What experience challenged you physically and was exhilarating?
What was a hilarious experience you’ve had?
Next: Read your answers to the above questions as though you are a stranger who knows nothing about you. Are there any that a stranger would think are interesting, strange or intriguing and want to know more about?Choose the 3 answers that are the least interesting and cross them out! Leave only those that a stranger will want to read more about.
Story: Now, choose one answer from your remaining three, the fascinating answers and choose the one that would be of most interest to a stranger.
Again, set your timer for a full 10 minutes. No more, no less.Describe your chosen experience. Use rich, full words, include as many senses (other than sight) that you can. Taste, feel, sound, fear, joy etc. Do not stop until you have written for 10 full minutes. Just keep writing! Did you do it? How do you feel? Was it hard, or did the words flow? Is your mind functioning differently now? Hopefully, you are less blocked!There is something really powerful about time. Used in this way, it forces you to block out all of the “white noise”, procrastination, perfectionism, and every other thing that is stopping you from writing.
What’s blocked now?
Everything EXCEPT your writing!
You don’t have to do this exercise with the same topic each time. In fact, I do it on something different every time and usually unrelated to what I am having difficulty writing about. It tends to clear the pathway, re-set and re-invigorate.Jodi Picoult said once: “if you have a limited amount of time to write, you just sit down and do it”. There is merit in that and I firmly believe using time as in my “Unblocking the Creative” activity is akin to opening Pandora’s creative box.
Happy writing! Samantha xx