It happens to everyone, whether amateur or professional. When I just started writing, it used to worry me when this dreaded creature reared its ugly head. Panic and self doubt crept in; thoughts like, ‘you’re wasting your time’, ‘no one is gonna buy your book’ & ‘ it’s not like you have a deadline’, are not uncommon.
It took me a while to come to grips with the fact that, I was just experiencing a necessary step in a writer’s journey, a ‘write’ of passage, so to speak; thus, instead of fearing writer’s block, I embrace it as a sign that I’m on the ‘write’ path.
Apart from a love of writing & reading, I watch a whole lot of TV, both movies and series; so much so that I have an app on my phone that keeps track of my favorites. It is my fervent belief that you can learn something from ANYTHING or ANYONE. A line from that famous poem, the Desiderata says; “listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.”
My interpretation of that line is; nobody’s perfect, no matter how good or bad, smart or dumb, no one remains that way a 100% of the time. In other words, stupid people talk sense on occasion.
All that rambling above was meant to highlight the fact that, while not writing; that is, while reading someone else or watching something else or going someplace else, I learned a valuable lesson that propelled my writing to another level. That lesson is, my mind is smarter than I give it credit for.
When you encounter a problem, such as writer’s block, the tendency is to push against or through it until you get past it, but that doesn’t always work. Consciously working a problem is a logical course of action; however, the results are not guaranteed, so, I’ve learnt to get out my own way and allow my subconscious mind to work the problem.
When you accept that you have a puzzle to solve, just go do something else, take a walk or a book, something unrelated to the issue at hand. This is not giving up, oh no, on the contrary, what you have done is reassigned the task; so while life goes on, your mind is working the problem in the background.
The next time you sit around that typewriter or plop down in front of that computer screen, you’ll be amazed at how easily the words flow onto the page.
This method has proven itself time and time again.
So the next time you encounter that awful obstacle called Writer’s Block, stop writing and start doing…. something else; it’ll come to you eventually.
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For more of Dane Andrew’s writings, grab a copy of his first thriller novel – The Martial Art. Click here to own it today. You can also follow Dane Andrew on all major Social Media platforms @DaneAndrew876