Eliminating Writer’s Block The Easy Way

 I don’t care how good of a writer you think you are, but eventually, at some point you need to deal with a good old fashioned writer’s block. It’s going to be a major frustration. and that frustration is actually going to cause you to be more blocked. That block is going to cause you to use more frustrated which will cause more blocking.

You need to figure out a way to bust out of that feedback loop.

So let’s discuss a few ways while dealing with writer’s block, either how to avoid completely or if you do happen to get it, how to get rid of it.

Why Writer’s Block May Be A Good Thing

Writer’s block may not be a completely bad thing. Sometimes you’ll say to yourself, “This just isn’t working.” You’ll then stop, figure it out why, and delete what you’ve been doing. And then you’ll be able to go forward.

Sometimes you need to kill your darlings. You’ll do something really, really cool, get really, really excited about it. And they realize it really, really doesn’t work. Or worse yet, in order to make it work, you need to a lot more work than is worth it.

So you have two options: You can delete the thing completely. Or you can shelve it and work on it later. Yes, you’re going to hate having to kill anything because you put all this blood sweat and tears into it. But…it’s part of the process. every writer has to go through it. Every writer has a graveyard full of ideas. It’s just part of the process.

Just figure it out then move on.

Schedules and Blowing Through the Block

Keeping to a simple schedule can help kill writer’s block. Each day you should start at the same time and go for the same amount of time each day. You can go a little bit over, but try to keep going for the same least a minimum amount. And doesn’t matter if you’re actually writing or if you’re doing outlines. Are you moving the writing forward? That’s all matters.
 

You’ve done something. You’ve accomplished something. You’re good to go.

Get Away to Where the Block Doesn’t Follow

If necessary, go out and talk to people. You’re allowed to go play cards, go to a meetup, or even have hobbies. For some, it’s getting some exercise. Sometimes just taking a quick 20–30 minute walk is all it takes. Other people tend to be a lot more extreme. If you have to do an Ironman marathon to feel good about yourself.

If necessary, read or watch TV. You’d be surprised how well that inspires you to actually do stuff as well as allows you to keep track of what’s going on.
 

The key here is that sometimes the block is caused because you keep rushing at it and that actually empowers the block. Get away from it and distract yourself, and you’ll find that the block melts away on its own.

When it comes to killing writer’s block, either keep to your schedule, eliminate the offending writing, or just do something else; you’ll find it melting away.

Taking a Machine Gun to Your Darlings

The harshest advice any writer has to heed is that you must occasionally kill your darlings. And trust me: It’s a murder that hurts to the core.

Every so often, you’re going to find yourself in a situation where you’re going to write something you really, really love. And then realize that it really, really doesn’t work for what you’re writing. You’re going to have to figure out what to do with it and no matter what you decide it’s going to hurt: You’re either going to have to put it away in a dungeon, possibly to never to see light again, or send it to oblivion. Neither choice is easy.

Be Vicious

This is just part of the craft and you’ve got to learn how to edit yourself, but sometimes editing can hurt. You’re going to write something that’s going to fall into one of three categories:
 

1) You’ve got this really great chapter that has a really great flow and there’s some really great stuff going on in the chapter. But the chapter just doesn’t go with the rest of the project.

2) All of a sudden, you find out that you keep hitting writer’s block after writer’s block, and it all comes back to the same particular character, place, or item. It looks fine, and you like it, but you’re having problems proceeding.

3) The project you’re working on just totally sucks. The writing is pretty decent, but your heart just isn’t in it. The project isn’t right for you, you just don’t like the project, or there’s just some reason you’re having problems getting into it as much as you would like.

How To Handle It

Don’t stress; this happens to all writers all the time. When it does happen, you have three options:
 

1) Just delete the writing. No muss, no fuss: Just select it and hit backspace. Send it to oblivion and put it out of your mind. You may regret the time spent, but look at it as getting a bad idea out of your system; life is too short for regrets. You’ve gotten the idea out of your system and now it’s time to get serious.

2) Save it to a different file. The neat thing about computers is that we can cut, paste, and save things for when we really need them. Sometimes this is the best solution, especially if the text you’ve written can be used as the seed for something else. However, try to do this only for the most promising of seeds. Otherwise, you’re going to end up with a ridiculously huge file that’s just going to cause you stress later on.

3) Figure out what’s going on and deal with it. You shouldn’t look at this as wasted time as it actually helps you try something just to see what would have happened. You need to go through and figure out exactly what the problem is, be it a character or situation or arc or it’s just not something you like. Once you figure out the situation kill it or save it but do something to get it out of the way and move on.

It’s A Relationship!

Look at it like any other relationship: Sometimes your relationship is going to hit bumps in the road and you need to decide if the relationship is worth continuing or if it’s worth fighting for. If it’s toxic dump it, if you can save it, and if you need to eliminate it. I know it sounds strange, but just like a relationship there’s an emotional investment and you need to decide if you’re going to invest further in the relationship or if it would be better to just cut it off.

You’ve just got to realize that sometimes things just aren’t going to work out. It needs a working relationship: No matter how great the person is all relationships have their issues occasionally and you need to decide if the drama is worth it.

And just like every other relationship, there will be some emotional feedback. Sometimes you will be relieved at removing the problem, sometimes you’ll need a bucket of ice cream. You did just end an intense relationship, however short, so don’t be afraid to engage in whatever ritual you feel is appropriate, be it getting a drink or lighting a candle. Yeah, some are going to look at your strangely when they see you lighting yet another candle, but forget about them; this about you not them.

But you need to realize that killing your darlings is part and parcel of the job. Sometimes you need to make hard decisions in order to create the best possible writing, choices that you don’t like but need to be made anyway. Just remember to be merciful and you should be okay.

The Necessary Balance Between Light and Darkness

It’s sort of fun when you start looking at a lot of the really great writing, that there’s a certain level of balance about the characters. That is, the best heroes have a bit of darkness in them while the worst villains have a bit of the light.

A Sailor and A Husband

Consider if you will Odysseus and Darth Vader. Odysseus was a great person: He was loyal to his wife; he was able to maintain a love for his wife over 20 years. He was able to figure out clever solutions to hard problems, and there’s no doubt that his crew was willing to follow him no matter where he would lead them. There’s no question the guy was a hero.

But for all of his loyalty, for all of his leadership capabilities, and for all of his problem-solving capabilities, he still had some serious issues when it came to straight, good old fashioned ego. Every time he screwed up, it was because of his hubris; his arrogance sometimes got in the way of making the right decision. He also had a pretty solid reputation for sadism; he once framed a man he had a grudge against, resulting in the man’s death.

So even though we recognize him as a hero he’s got some serious darkness in him.

A Man with a Force of Will

Conversely, Darth Vader in any other context would be a hero. He’s honorable; he even questions certain courses of action when they break bargains made or when they cause unnecessary death. He does what he can to make sure that his followers can follow his orders, and there’s no question that he’s definitely somebody who’s there to make sure things get done. He is unswervingly loyal to his emperor.

All of these are normally admirable qualities.

However, Darth Vader fully embraces his arrogance and anger. Whenever he is mad, it’s because somebody just questioned him on something, and he does what he can to punish that person. His promotion plan, based on killing those that question him, is famous. He’ll fly into the battle, regardless of how intelligent, just to show that he’s the best pilot around.

It’s this inability to control his anger and ignore his pride that makes him a villain.

Sides of the Same Coin

We recognize the good and the bad in a person even as we define them as heroes and villains. For heroes, it is their ability to overcome their flaws that make them heroic; by overcoming the demons within they can take on the demons without. For villains, it’s their inability to overcome their flaws that make villainous; it’s the very fact that we recognize that we could have followed them down that very dark path that makes them so scary.

So we need to remember as writers that our best characters are those characters that stared into the darkest parts of their souls and either backed away from it, fearful for what they could have become, or ran right into its embrace, not worrying about the price. Ironically, it is the hero’s fear and the villain’s bravery at this one juncture that defines them forever afterward.

By recognizing where that point is and exploring it we can create some very powerful characters. We need to decide where that tipping point is for each character and push them to where we need them to be. But we need to recognize where the balance between light and dark is and keep that balance as close as we possibly can in order to create the best characters we possibly can.

You’re Not an Impostor

All writers, no matter how good or bad we are, tend to go through some phase where we think we’re basically some sort of impostor, where it feels like we’re an alien who’s been sent here to record the human race, and figure out exactly what the human condition is all about. And because of that, well, we’re fully expecting somebody to come over to us and rip off our rubber mask and expose us for the alien that we are.

We all go through this.

That is, writers will always be that person who is on the outside looking in. That’s just part of who we are. That’s part of our very nature. We’re basically trying to find all these really cool little grains of reality and the only way we can do that is by looking in. We have to maintain a certain level of objectivity; we need to be the alien.

Because that necessary perspective, that is, where we’re necessary, we’re basically looking at things as they are we have a very definite different perspective on a decent average person. That is, we recognize the good and the bad in a person even as we can look at them overall. Most people don’t do that. They tend to look at people as either heroic or as villains. And there’s no real crossover. And that’s sort of what sets us apart at the same time because we recognize that difference. Obviously, we’ve got to be some sort of different race, because we’re obviously not looking at the same way everybody else is.

We’re obviously looking at from an alien perspective.

You’re trying to figure things out and you just look at it from a different perspective. But that’s what makes you a writer. Humanity needs that and it doesn’t make us any less human; we just have a different perspective. Just recognize that and learn to enjoy it.

So keep that in mind next time you feel like an impostor. That feeling will quickly subside, and you may even smile a bit as you realize that you like being a bit alien.