DEALING WITH WRITER’S BLOCK

I decided to write about writer’s block again because I want to normalize the problem, rather than demonize those who suffer from it. I have seen so many people get frustrated and angry at themselves because they cannot write as productively today as they did yesterday.

Creative block is a common occurrence in life. For writers, however, it is especially discouraging. Sometimes we get too many projects and we don’t even know where to start. Other times, we have too few projects allowing us to warm up before we tackle the truly important tasks.

I have always argued that writer’s block happens whenever you force yourself to work on something that fails to inspire you. This does not mean that you’ve fallen out of love with the subject, or even writing in general – all it proves is that your head is in another place. Focusing on the writing isn’t your first and foremost concern right now.

For me, this happens when I am rushing too much. Writers in particular place unreasonable amounts of pressure upon themselves; as a result, we end up hating everything we come up with while drafting. That is exactly why we should prevent ourselves from forcing our creativity – it does ourselves and our clients more harm than good.

I deliver my best work whenever I am relaxed enough to put my thoughts into words naturally. This applies to social media creation just as much as it applies to more traditional forms of copywriting. Unfortunately, getting out of writer’s block is easier said than done. Even if I spend a few hours away from a particular writing project, it does not guarantee that I will find the right words to start working again.

In such situations, it’s better to remain organized. I realized very early in my writing career that maintaining a schedule, complete with strict deadlines, is what allows me to pace myself appropriately. If not, I could spend hours on a project tweaking some things here and there. Or worse, I could get completely burned out and fail to draft anything at all.

If you ever find yourself in this situation, wait until you feel ready to get back on your word processor and start typing again. If you need an editor to provide a second opinion or a new direction, you should take advantage of that opportunity as well. Do whatever it takes to keep yourself as happy as you can be while remaining as productive as you should be! Creative block is only as discouraging as you make it.

morissaschwartz