Writing is hard and will always be hard. Writer’s block will always be lurking in the wings. When it comes, it comes as a big pile of interrelated feelings. Our fact sheet on getting unstuck in writing has some practical suggestions for dealing with the feelings when it’s necessary.
But what is going on in this big pile of interrelated feelings, really? We think there are a few pieces at play if we really drill down. A caveat before we begin: take all this with a grain of salt. Part of the process for developing our understanding is writing about writer’s block and discussing it. Come along with us as we explore as we pry open a little piece of the scripts that we internalize!
One piece of the script is an expectation of flowing, frictionless productivity. Some parts of us expect writing to be a deep flow of brilliant thoughts: ideas and words tripping over each other beautifully to generate precious insights and thoughts with every phrase, sentence, transition, paragraph. We like states of flow, where our skills and the challenges we face are finely balanced. Expecting writing to feel like this more than 5% of the time is unrealistic, to put it lightly. And so as we sit down to write something new, or to continue a piece, we are confronted by the plain fact that it doesn’t feel good. We may be anxious, or rushed, or indecisive. The task may be too much for our skills, and so we feel anxious. Or the task might be over-learned and mundane, in which case we feel bored. Or the feeling may oscillate rapidly. Or, frustratingly, we might feel both bored and anxious! And so we may take much, much longer to get our heads in the game, and so produce the writing slowly. And this feeds back to the feeling of being stuck.
Of course, acknowledging all that does little to change the internalized script. So we need to internalize an alternative script, again and again, at the bodily level.
Here’s the script. Most writing is craft: the patient and repetitive application of habits that we’ve learned. Most writing is mundane: the arrangement of marks on paper or screen to convey some shadow of the thoughts in our heads. Thinking is easy but vague; writing is more precise, and for that reason, harder. So much thought is actually the expectation of precision: a half-baked idea is exciting because in thought we can skip past the effortful task of executing the idea. Writing is closer to reality. It forces an honest confrontation with the vagueness and half-bakedness of our precious ideas, an honest confrontation with our tendencies to avoid work, or to expect that ideas can spring forth fully formed like Athena from the forehead of Zeus.
And most writing feels mildly tiring. Only occasionally can we look back on what we’ve done and get energized or excited. The good news is that if you let the writing sit for a day or two, you will forget the pain of crafting it. So let us give thanks for forgetfulness!
To deeply internalize the two previous paragraphs takes patience and gentle persistence. Try to find one minute in a day to reflect on these truths, and you may find writer’s block appears a little less powerful. We will explore how to do this in follow-up posts.