Writing is painfully hard: how to prevent writer’s block
When you tell someone you write for a living, they start to fantasize about doing it in inspirational environments, with lots of creativity triggers surrounding you, like inspirational boards and best-selling novels. I stop them at that point: I’m either writing in my full-time job as a copywriter in a typical office, or in my living room wearing my pajamas. Cut down the fantasy about writers. Writing, like any other creative job, is painfully hard.
Sometimes, ideas don’t come up as we needed. And that’s nothing wrong with that if you’re writing for a personal project, like a novel, but it can be troublesome if you’re writing for a boss and you have a deadline. Staring at the blank page, knowing that, in a few hours you’re supposed to deliver something finished, exciting and compelling. And you can’t just figure out what to write. Words don’t come up. The blank page remains blank as your anxiety levels increase. You start losing yourself in dark thoughts about your ability to produce quality content.
My experience tells me that, if I start to lose my shit regarding a specific subject I was supposed to write about, the longer I think about it, the worse. No great ideas will come as I start to hyperventilate in front of a blank page. Over the years, I developed some tools to prevent anxiety block my writing. I always ask for a briefing before the deadline. I try to have as much time as possible to not think about it — to let ideas flow freely, I need to focus on something completely different. So, if I have an article to deliver on Monday morning, I will ask for the briefing a week before. I will spend a couple of days not thinking about it until the idea comes up. And, as soon as a brilliant idea cross my mind, I write it down in a draft. Usually, I get my ideas when I’m not in front of the computer or even at a desk, so I always have a pen and a notebook to write it down immediately. And I mean immediately — I’ve pulled over my car, once, to write down something.
One other way I prevent myself from having a writer’s block is to never allow myself to block. Tricky, isn’t it? The way I see, you only have writer’s block when you’re trying too hard. If I do not feel myself in the mood for writing, I will not force me to write. I’ll do something different instead. Because I know if I try to write even if I do not feel into it, the only thing I will come up with is anxiety, stress, and fear. So, if that happens, I try to accomplish tasks with a lower level of creativity. That clears up my mind to eventually come back at it, latter.
Writing can be painfully hard. Meeting deadlines can be spooky as hell. Creativity is not an on and off button you can switch as you wish. Sometimes, you have a job to be done and no inspiration at all. And not all of your writing will be masterpieces. Sometimes, the subject is not even that interesting. You have to try, but not so hard you’ll burn yourself in the process. Know when it’s time to stop when it’s time to quit for a moment. That will prevent you to have writer’s block.
