Writer’s Block Is a Sneaky Bastard — Here’s How You Can Outsmart It

Creative constipation is an ailment like no other, but you don’t have to be its slave — here’s a guide to consistently beating the crap out of writer’s block.

Emily Sinclair Montague
Curious
Published in
12 min readFeb 21, 2021

--

sneaky goat staring out at the audience in a suspicious way
Photo by Cate Bligh on Unsplash

If they sold brain laxatives at CVS, I’d have a lifetime supply stacked up in my medicine cabinet. Nothing is worse than moving through your motivational ‘writer’s morning montage’ only to sit down and experience…it.

The block. The hurdle. The vast and yawning abyss of that beast called writer’s block. It ought to come complete with sound effects: the deafening screech of machinery coming to a halt, perhaps, or a comical descending trumpet note.

Alas, it is usually a silent affair, and in more ways than one. That’s really what a block comes down to. Painful, stubborn, unyielding silence. It blows a**. Or does the opposite? Whatever. This is my article, and I can make butt jokes all I want, thank-you-very-much.

Writer’s block is not only derailing, but it can quickly become traumatizing. Once you experience it, you live in fear of the next time it will emerge, and soon you find yourself on edge and anxious when you ought to feel happy and inspired. But take heart, my dear friends, for there is yet hope.

I’m going to teach you how to consistently kick writer’s block right up the a**. So pull on those steel-toed boots and let’s get started.

Step One: Admit That You’re Lying To Yourself And That This Was Not A Sneak-Attack

Okay, so the title of this piece may be only half accurate. In many ways writer’s block isn’t that sneaky…we just tend to be oblivious to its many omens. Self-awareness isn’t exactly something artists are known for, on a practical level.

And writer’s block — W.B. as I’ll call it from now on — is actually a rather practical matter, when you really look at it. Maybe that’s why it always seems to catch us by surprise. We assume it will be a moaning, artistic matter complete with stormy weather and an air of tortured melancholy.

--

--

Emily Sinclair Montague
Curious
Writer for

Author & Full-Time Writer. Embracing life’s chaos one word at a time. Get in touch at emsinclair@wordsofafeather.net (or don’t, but I love the attention)!