How I Overcame My 20-year “Writer’s Block”

Kirsten Schuder, M. S., Mental Health Counseling

Published in

Kirsten’s Short Attention Span

5 min readAug 14, 2022

It took me 20 years to finally be able to start my first piece of fiction. Many would assume that I had a bad case of writer’s block.

Even though I did experience a “block” of some sort, I do not believe in writer’s block.

“How could you say that?” I had one person ask. “Of course you had writer’s block. You couldn’t write fiction for twenty years.”

The Term Writer’s Block Is Inaccurate and Misleading

I don’t really like the term “writer’s block.” The term is used when writers cannot sit down and get their job done, get their thoughts on paper. They feel like they are in a creative rut.

Sometimes, writers blame writer’s block because they fear the idea well has “run dry,” and they have written their last word. Hopes and dreams seem dashed upon the rocks.

There are many people who write articles about writer’s block. They have these gimmicks and tricks to resolve writer’s block that sound good on paper, but when applied in real life, they don’t fix the problem. Then, writers wind up blaming themselves, deepening their anxiety.

The problem isn’t them, necessarily. It is because they are not given the correct tools to fix the problem.

The causes of the block happen because of our own personal issues, so yes, sorry, your writer’s block, many times, will not be resolved by doing some sort of writing exercise to get you writing. These articles promise magic pills, professing simple things will relieve a complex issue. When those fail, then it can actually worsen the block.

In my experience, the period we define as “writer’s block” is ridden with fear, insecurity, and anxiety. I agree I had a block, but it did not have anything to do with being a writer. Nor is this kind of block something that only writers go through.

How to Beat Creative Blocks

The causes of creative blocks can happen for many reasons, but through my writing journey, in order to resolve what was blocking me, I had to work through my causes or give up.

I worked on my self-esteem. My husband is a great person, and he helped me believe in myself. Every single time I had a self-doubt, he was there to tell me that it’s not true. If you read about what my parents did to discourage my becoming a writer, you’ll understand why those thoughts were there in the first place.
I learned to visualize, plan, and work toward my goals. I have a bit of a deficit when it comes to visualization. Again, wonderful hubby worked on this with me, and also, watching movies seemed to help a lot too, as I was finally able to picture my stories as I created them. I also realized that no one had taught me to how bring a project to fruition, especially one that is long and involving a lot of steps. This is important when you’re going for a dream. You have to be able to visualize yourself completing the steps to get to the end. I realized my writer’s block was, in part, stalling and not being able to reach the end on novel-length projects.
I had to dispel the negative talk in my head. As adults, if the adults in our childhood were not able to support us, we have a responsibility to ourselves to get rid of the “scripts” they put there.
I had to learn to manage my own stress. Negative thoughts create a lot of stress, and then it sinks our self-esteem. It’s all interrelated.
I needed more writing experience. When I graduated with my masters degree over ten years ago, I had completed my thesis, which was over 100 pages. Graduate school allowed me the practice I needed to get more than 1000 words written. When I wrote 100 pages for my thesis, I then believed I was able to write a novel-length story.

With my most recent project, Jack Gets You Back, I am trying to meet a deadline for the Kindle Storyteller Award on Amazon.com. There is this wonderful story that was shared with me, and I had to write about it. I had a good idea on what my cover should look like, so three days ago, I got it together, which helped my motivation for the project. I started the book on Amazon.com, got my ISBN number, and then uploaded the cover.

Wanna see it?

This gave me some motivation to get the project started.

It’s coming along.

Then, my motivation stalled. I didn’t write anything for three days.

I was pretty busy all summer long and didn’t have time to devote to this contest, but then again, this idea for the book was inspired last week, so I can’t really say that procrastination was involved.

Today, I vowed to sit down and at least get it started. After all, how could I not complete it, having completed the cover?

Before my writing session, I did a self-check. Yes, I was stressed because I was worried about meeting the deadline. I began to envision all the projects I have started and never finished (something ADD sufferers are familiar with).

I told myself to cut it out. Yes, I can write at least 100 pages before the deadline at the end of the month. I have even finished the book cover, which I most likely would have left to the last minute, so it actually felt pretty good that I completed that part.

I was also feeling pretty good about how far I have come in my skills and self-confidence, and I felt like sharing it all with you.

The Takeaway

Before I get back to writing, let me summarize some steps you can take to banish writer’s block. Look at the common culprits I listed above. Are you sinking your own ship with negative self-talk? Are you stressed? Are you doubting you can do it? Do you need to cultivate a skill?

This is why I don’t believe in writer’s block. My personal issues were simply getting in the way of my success, and I needed to be able to cultivate the skills I needed not only to craft a great story, but also to manage large projects with no guidance or structure.

I’ll let you know when my book is finished. I’ll have it for free for a couple of days, and I’m looking for people to review it. I’ll put out the announcements when I have it ready to go.