Thoughts on writer’s block
TRANSCRIPT:
When I mention writer’s block, do you immediately think of authors and lofty philosophers and assume this term doesn’t apply to you when it comes to running a business and creating content?
I’m here tell you that’s not true. If you write, or even just come up with ideas for your business, you’ve probably had writer’s block. Whether it’s social media captions, blog posts, or grant proposals, when we’re put on the spot, we freeze up sometimes.
I find writer’s block hits me more severely with my business-related work than it ever does with my creative personal pursuits. Probably, this is because I don’t have deadlines on my creative work, but that’s all the more reason to recognize that “writers block” is a legit obstacle for anyone creating content of any kind.
Writer’s block probably looks different for everyone. Because I have anxiety, it presents for me with the heart palpitations and chest heaviness of a looming deadline and the fear of failure—not just failure to finish this project but failure as a writer in general. If I can’t make this blog post work, do I have any skill at all!?
Then, there’s the issue I imagine is ubiquitous to every instance of writers block: that damn empty page and the taunting, flashing cursor. It’s all Oooh, whatcha gonna write? No ideas, hey? It’s cool, I’ll wait. I’ve got all the time in the world, unlike you... For a pixel-wide vertical line, that thing cuts deep!
So, what’s the fix. I highly doubt we’ll ever be able to eradicate writers block entirely, so here’s what I do when inspiration doesn’t strike.
First off, ChatGPT! A Google search for ideas could work too, but there’s something so nice about feeling listened to, you know? You tell the program you’re in such-and-such an industry and you need to write a blog post about so-and-so, general concept, but you have no ideas. Knowing chatGPT lately, you’ll probably even get some artificial sympathy to go along with your artificial intelligence recommendations!
My other trick is taking a break, and this is one I need to remember to implement more because it really does help. Often I’m so bogged down in what I can’t do right then that I forget to remember what I can do. Like, go for a walk. This is obviously not my original idea. Countless experts have told us for decades (maybe millennia?) that the best way to get a jump on solving a problem is often to get away from it for a bit.
One more thing I want to throw in here as a third option, that I just thought of this week, is just starting writing. I was thinking about it this week, when I was just kind of stuck, I didn’t know how to start a blog post, and then I was just like “why am I thinking I have to start in the middle [edit: at the start]?” I had this idea about something I wanted to cover further on in the piece so I just started writing that paragraph. And from there, the next paragraph flowed, and then it was like “Oh yeah, that’s how I want to introduce the piece,” and it just spun out from there. Just…write something.
You know, I think this is the crux of this whole post, really. It’s not so much how you deal with your writer’s block, because, when I start writing it out, I realize I don’t have any groundbreaking thoughts on that. I think I more want to make sure you recognize that writer’s block isn’t some comment on your right to exist in your industry. It also isn’t a lofty achievement accessible only to the esoteric echelons of the Author’s Ascension. It’s just a normal thing that happens, like digestion, or distraction, or muscle cramps from sitting at your desk for eight hours.
So here’s my point: writer’s block happens. You’ll get past it. You got this!
And by the way—if you ever feel hopelessly bogged down in a block, message me! I’d be honoured to talk it through with you, or distract you with some utterly unrelated mundane anecdote. Or suggest a GPT prompt. Whatever helps, that’s what I’m here for! Thanks for listening.