Writers Block is the high blood pressure of the writing profession, a disease that sneaks up and affects us in such a variety of ways that it is not easily diagnosed or defeated. One day we're all enthused about our next writing project. Thirty days later we hate the thought of the project because we haven't done anything much in the previous month. And we don't know what happened.
I've thought about this for more than twenty years, possible a record for
procrastination. At first I simply did not believe there was such a thing as
writer's block.
I got into writing by writing for money, to tight deadlines with unforgiving
editors. I was tossed into the deep end of the pool and I knew I either had
to grow gills or learn to swim. I learned to swim. Looking around at all the
writers drowning around me, I could not understand what their problems were.
Obviously, many writers aren't very good at it and they will not get better without education and practice. But that's a given. What I'm talking about is writers who are perfectly capable of doing the mechanical parts, who know the King's English better than I do, but who, as the saying goes, "Stare at a sheet of white paper until droplets of blood appear on their foreheads." What's wrong with these people?
I think I know now. They don't have deadlines, and they subordinate their creative urge to their other lifestyle demands. They have not yet made the decision to put writing foremost in their lives. So all their best intentions just…slide.
I've done it myself, though not often, and, in my own experience three things happen:
1) A big project that has no intermediate deadlines can be postponed because there are more urgent things to do with our time and the deadline is a long way off. We keep doing this until the big project is upon us and now we are in big trouble. But it happens in such small increments that we never see it sneaking up. Its like the big project is playing Simple Simon with us. And winning.
- SOLUTION: Establish incremental deadlines. Make each one a do-able deadline
in the near future.
2) A big project is intimidating because it's so—big—that we can't
see how we will start it, let alone complete it. So (1) happens.
- SOLUTION: As with (1) establish small goals, mini-projects, that ARE do-able and not intimidating.
3) Sometimes (not always) the problem is that our subconscious knows that we really do not want to do this project and so takes advantage of our tendency to fall for items (1) and (2).
- SOLUTION: Finish the project anyway just because that is good discipline for you. Then never take on another like it.
4) We are not accustomed to doing this kind of work and need more discipline. Writing requires that you be a self-starter and, more, able to self-start and keep at it, even in a house or office filled with distractions and people telling you that other things are more important. Successful writers think WRITING is more important and order their lives to revolve around their writing.
Don't know if that helps, but it might. Let me know your thoughts. Go to our Message
Board link to share your opinions. Or email
me.
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