The Cure to “Writer’s Block”

Helpful Tips To A Healthy Mindset:

What Exactly Is “Writer’s Block” ?

Writer’s block is a lot more complicated than just being stuck on an idea for what to write next. It can lead you to believe that you are not a good writer at all, which is heartbreaking to the writers who have dedicated their time and effort to entertain their fans.

Like I said before, it’s a lot more complicated than just being “stuck”. Unfortunately, depression can get involved which is never not likely and once you fall into the heap of giving up, you can say goodbye to finishing your work and what I mean by this is simple. Often when writers work on their craft during the process of writing fiction or facts, some writers will tend to throw away their work entirely and try something different if the idea of the story becomes boring or even slightly less interesting to the creators, themselves. It’s more of the: “If it’s trash, why work on it?” type of logic. But in reality; that logic alone, is what’s useless. Your hard work is never “trash”. Think of it as only past workings that were never published. I’ll get more into this subject in a minute.

It’s also extremely possible to benefit from your past mistakes. You may end up changing your mind on what you believe is worthless and what others believe is intriguing. This is where the annoying ‘writer’s block’ starts to come into play. Your mind is now twisted into believing the intrusive thoughts that appear in your brain and you’ll soon begin to feel criticized by your own insecurities that can severely damage your hard work and self-esteem. Once this happens, you won’t be able to write anything else moving forward.

Even if you’re new to the writing scene and you have no clue what to write about next, it’s perfectly normal. To this day, people -including myself- who write on a daily basis still come across writer’s block on certain occasions without a single idea for new content. In no way at all does this mean you are lacking in your work! If anything, it means you are showing progress by proving to yourself that your mind is trying to capture something new and spontaneous.

Do not feel ashamed for hitting a roadblock. Everyone goes through it, not just you.

Allow Yourself To Write “Garbage”!

Again... Your work is never actually “garbage”! It’s a term we use as writers to hate on ourselves by the overpowering judgement within our own selves. This often happens just before writer’s block begins to strike.

A common problem that I have and can’t seem to shake is perfectionism. While being this way isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s important to realize that everything you write is never going to turn EXACTLY how you want it to. Regardless, if you have perfect punctuation, no plot holes, and 60,000 words printed in the “perfect” font; Someone out there is not going to interpret your story the way you perceive and that’s okay. A key uniqueness for being a good writer is always having the love for what you create, despite others’ opinions. Keep in mind that your hard work, talent and dedication should always mean more to yourself, first and then, you can worry about the audience. If your mind is concerned on your content being “perfect” for the public to read, it’ll never get finished…Believe in yourself.

No one is able to know how long you’ve worked on your projects. It’s only yourself that truly knows. So you can forget thinking that working on a book for a year or a blog article for months is something that will come off as “impressive”. The readers of your content are mostly -if not only- focused on the story, itself. Not the author or even how long it took him/her to complete the final print will matter to the impact of the story.

Pay attention to what I have to say next because it is very important.

It’s good that you try to make your book or blog as perfect as you can. It’s awesome! But remember the difference in working and criticizing. It’s great to go back over your story or post more than once, maybe twice or even ten times. It’s not great to criticize yourself until you become annoyed by your own projects. If your story isn’t completely interesting to you, it will be to your fans! I can’t even imagine how many of my favorite authors have backed out of an incredible story and cheated his/her biggest fans out of what could’ve been a bestseller. All because the writers, themselves thought it “wasn’t good enough”

Don’t think. Just write.

Trust your first instinct and finish what you’ve started. Even if the story wasn’t meant to be, it’s an added project to your growing corpus to enlighten new readers of your work and show that you are more than just a writer with only one “perfect” idea. Don’t force yourself into a one hit wonder novel or an article that only went viral once. Write what you want and stop judging yourself.

Most importantly, it’s better writing something that has a good chance of being amazing than writing absolutely nothing at all.

Time!

The time that you will use to work on your goal is very important.

I couldn’t imagine telling someone about me becoming a full-time writer one day and they find out I only work on chasing my dream once a day or just a couple times a week. The reason writers take the time out of their day to perfect their work is so that others can be astounded when they view the admiring material.

The more you work, The more you accomplish.

Be prepared to take your work seriously and eliminate any distractions around your workspace as you take your time and focus. A general workspace for me has always been the key to my creativity. The environment that surrounds you will either demolish your chances of writing something good or will help you unlock the special secret to your hidden talent.

Take the time to create or find a well-spaced environment, take the time to seek your inspiration, take the time to find your muse and take the time to become better and better each and every day until meeting your goal.

READ!

Any good writer will not have time to write if he/she has no time to read.

Read something that speaks to you that will give you more information than you thought was needed. While it’s still possible to be a skilled writer with the natural talent of creativity and imagination, it’s very necessary to read from others and gain inspiration at all times. It also wouldn’t hurt to re-read your own work as well. You’d be surprised of how often you’re prone to finding a hidden treasure of yours just by looking through what you thought about throwing away. Do this and you’ll cure that funk of yours in no time.

Another helpful hint in reading is to never get lost in what you’re looking at! Don’t allow yourself to just simply read the words on a piece of paper but instead, try to process everything you’re reading and comprehend every little detail to open your imagination as much as possible.

The Cure

You’re reading this article and the chances are you’ve most likely Google-searched plenty of methods to curing writer’s block once and for all but couldn’t quite find the correct solutions.

If I could tell you that leaving your house and going for a walk for two hours will help open your mind, I would. But the truth is every person is different. It’s not possible for myself to tell you what works best for you; Only you, yourself know that. Some people love to go on walks and others could think better isolated. For me, I’ve always believed in leaving your casual spot of thinking will help the brain escape to finding uniqueness and much-needed serotonin. For instance, if you usually like to write on your computer or a notebook in your bedroom, I suggest attempting to venture out of your comfort zone and live in a new vibe. I practiced years of becoming a writer inside the same four walls every single day until I drove myself crazy. The minute I stepped outside and into new places and even through new cities, I’d felt like my mind was soon able to take its own version of fresh air as I was finally able to concentrate.

Let me also explain an excuse I’ve heard from countless people:

“It takes money”… First of all, money is hardly ever an issue. Not everything in life requires the financial need in finding solitude or happiness. Saving money is quite important so don’t feel the need to spend every dollar on what you believe is worth buying. Something free can do just as good for your brain as anything fundable would.

For examples: Libraries are free! Try reading something that opens your mind in a pleasant way. If you don’t have a library around your community or the transportation to one, music has probably been my muse more than anything else. (Tip: Don’t pick any music that drives you to sing every word of the song since it causes your brain to focus on the song’s lyrics instead of gaining a new thought.) If you choose the method of music, pick a song that could fit your mood and helps with the tone of your book or blog for the best possible outcome.

Finally, I’d recommend paying attention to your mental health. I cannot possibly stress this enough. Writer’s block is a serious issue that is often taken too lightly and should never be overlooked. Instead, I believe it’s curable if your mindset is clear of all negativity and requires absolute patience. Of course, having patience isn’t always easy; Then again, neither is writing. Stay positive. Find your breakthrough and tackle the world, one step at a time.

I hope my tips of conquering the horrible thing that is ‘writer’s block’ will soon help you more than you could ever imagine.

Best of luck & Thanks for reading. — Logan Tucker