Hello world! In this blog series we will explore the many ways in which writers search for, and typically fail to find, that elusive concept of clarity. Along the way, we hope to furnish your toolbox of writing tricks, no matter what your level of writing skill. We will touch on ideas like mindsets, coherence, cohesion, (in)ability, expectations, standards, some fun bits of cognitive science, and hopefully also the joy, flow, and zen of writing as well!
Today we are going to meander a bit, touching on some key ideas that we hope to explore in good depth down the line. The ideas in this blog are drawn mainly from our own struggles. In addition to being therapeutic for us to write, may they find you and help you in your time of need!
Today’s topic is writer’s block. Writer’s block is an almost universal experience. We should say, though, that it is more of a constellation of experiences. What all of them share is that distinctly unpleasant feeling of simply being unable to translate thoughts into words on a page.
The inability to go from thoughts to words conceals many more specific problems. One problem might be that the thoughts are tripping over themselves. Maybe we are over-caffeinated, harried by deadlines, or distracted. Another problem might be that the thoughts are like molasses. Maybe we are too tired to really get going. Maybe there’s something more important preoccupying us, like worry, hunger, or an insistent cat!
This unpredictability of thought raises a crucial point. We often cannot control the circumstances under which we write. We must get good at recognizing our inner inclinations in a given writing session. And, just as importantly, we must let go of a lot of judgments that we bring to bear on our sometimes unruly thoughts. This is a practice in itself, and we hope to explore how to do this in a way that takes into account the full picture of people’s circumstances, abilities, preferences, strengths, and growth areas.
Those are pretty general thoughts. Fortunately, other problems that make up writer’s block are skill-related. Sometimes we have some giant, brilliant-seeming thought. We have that flash of inspiration. And we try to write it down, and then it rather rudely poofs! There are, on occasion, practices we can do to lose less of these moments. An important initial one is to just develop a habit of free writing consistently. This can be every day, every few days, every week, as one’s life allows. It is shocking how trainable our writing habits are. And it’s just as shocking how quickly we can lose them. But the good news is that writing skills are cumulative. This includes writing stamina.
So how do we gently trick ourselves, or hack ourselves, into experiencing less writer’s block, or less intense writer’s block? Stay tuned!