Writer’s Block Isn’t a Thing
“Don’t try.”
- Charles Bukowski // writer and bonafide badass
That’s part of a longer quote by Bukowski in which he talks about his writing process. “You don't try,” he said. “That's very important: not to try, either for Cadillacs, creation, or immortality. You wait, and if nothing happens, you wait some more.” That’s coming from a guy who wrote thousands of poems, short stories, and novels. And he’s right.
Creativity Block is not a thing. Productivity Block is not a thing. Give a Fuck Block might be a thing. But Writer’s Block is most definitely not a thing. Writers don’t get to declare themselves the sole victims of some otherworldly force that’s hell-bent on preventing us from writing the next Great American Novel. That’s a little narcissistic, don’t you think? People in every corner of every profession go through the same shit. Whether they’re a chef, a banker, a nurse, or a porcupine breeder, everyone suffers a breakdown of their most basic mental faculties at some point. And it’s different for everyone. For some, they lose focus for an hour or two. Others struggle to even start tasks for days on end. Or if you’re like me, you’ve spent years not finishing things that once consumed your every waking moment. The problem isn’t writer’s block: it’s you.
Well, not you specifically. I mean you, the human being/sentient meatsack. I say that because humans aren’t designed to maintain a single, consistent thought process or idea for sustained periods. We’re not computers or machines that have a dedicated function or hard-wired process for completing tasks. We’re complex, messy, flaming garbage barges of firing synapses, raging hormones, and cravings for tacos. We’re designed to think and ponder and doubt and question, so it’s only natural that our train of thought runs off the track from time to time.
So, if it’s not writer’s block, what is it?
Writer’s block is just the catch-all term used to describe moments when we feel stuck, uninspired, or distracted. It's the scapegoat for our own inadequacies and insecurities because it’s always easier to blame something beyond our control than it is to fess up and admit that we suck.
Here’s the harsh truth that I’m basing on no empirical data or peer-reviewed research: you don’t have writer’s block, you’re just not ready to “do the thing.” At least, not right now.
Sometimes we don’t know what to write or how to write it. Sometimes we’re plagued by the fear of being judged or criticized. Other times we’re just not focused on the task at hand because of any number of reasonable or unreasonable excuses. The timing isn’t always perfect, your mind isn’t always clear, and your grasp on the idea or topic isn’t always firm.
Think back to school when you needed to write a paper or give a presentation on a topic you knew fuck-all about before the project began. Sure, you learned enough to hammer out 15 pages of drivel or stutter through a half-memorized speech but it was probably a long, frustrating process from start to finish because your understanding of the topic was so limited.
Now imagine if the topic had been your favorite hobby or what you did on summer vacation. You could probably sit down and write until your fingers bled. The words would flow, the jokes would come naturally, and you wouldn’t even need to practice your speech because of how deeply you understood the topic. You were ready.
Stop blaming some tired cliché for your problem and start identifying the real reason(s) why you’re stuck, distracted, or hesitant.
Blame human evolution
There are roughly 86 billion neurons in the human brain that fire synapses at a rate I can’t even comprehend. Those neurons are responsible for everything we do, from moving our limbs and pumping blood to helping us process information and produce creative works—among countless other tasks. So if you think they’re ever all working toward the same goal at the same time, clearly you never participated in a group project at school. If you had, you’d know that not everybody pulls their weight in equal measure.
The human brain is infuriatingly complex. It also looks like a soggy, fleshy maze with no exit. Never mind how to get out, how the hell did we even get in? Confession time: I don’t know how brains work. And sadly, neither do the experts. Christof Koch, Ph.D., Chief Scientist and President of the Allen Institute for Brain Science once said “we don’t even understand the brain of a worm.” That’s refreshingly honest and slightly terrifying, but it should also help everyone calm their tits when it comes to trying to understand why we can’t just do the things we want to do in the way we want to do them when we want to do them. It’s because it’s not that simple.
Our brains might be what separates us from the animals (barely) but that doesn’t mean we’ve completely severed ties with our hairy ancestors. We’re still vulnerable to primal urges and raw emotions, but the problem is that we’re often painfully aware of those urges and emotions. We know we’re experiencing them, especially when we don’t want to be. Animals don’t have the ability to consider and analyze the effects of their mood, feelings, or emotions on the same level as us. Computers and machines don’t get distracted because they don’t have free will . . . yet. But your brain isn’t a machine that can be fired up, forced into action for ten straight hours without a break, and then shut off with a switch. It’s more like a tangled ball of Christmas lights rolling through a dark labyrinth that’s being carried around in the body of a glorified gorilla with really good posture.
Focus, discipline, and the human condition
I know, you’re not here for the world’s shittiest physiology lesson (which I fucking nailed). You want to know what the hell you’re supposed to do when your brain goes on strike. The answer is: it depends on the person. What works for you won’t work for someone else and vice versa. Here are a bunch of options that might be genius or utterly useless to you. Take your pick.
Embrace your procrastination and distractions (within reason)
Thinking that you can or should operate at your peak level of performance/productivity at all times is a fallacy. Even the world’s best athletes have “off days.” It doesn’t mean they suck. It means they’re human, just like you and me. There are days when I can crank out thousands of words and days when I feel like never writing again. I used to beat myself up for being undisciplined and lazy but that never changed my behavior, it only made me feel ashamed.
Sure, some days you can summon the willpower or self-discipline to get back on task but it’s not an effective strategy over the long term. Just like crash diets eventually fail, the manufactured fucks you’re able to give in short bursts will have diminishing returns. So, if your mind is focused on something else, let it wander. Get it out of your system. Once it’s done, maybe you’ll be able to direct it back to the thing you really want to do.
Just do what you can with what you've got when you’ve got it.
Start small and finish early
Author James Clear wrote an awesome book called Atomic Habits that’s all about the practice of implementing incremental changes to your daily life and routine instead of trying to make a massive overhaul that rewrites your entire personality and natural tendencies. In the book, he proposes several “Laws of Productivity.” Inspired by Newton’s First Law of Motion which states that “an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion,” Clear’s First Law of Productivity theorizes that “a mind at rest tends to stay at rest and a mind in motion tends to stay in motion.” The rationale being that once you start working on something, it’s easier to continue working on it. Just focus on one word at a time and try to build some momentum.
Then, even if you’re just fucking crushing your writing, turning off the tap before you empty the tank can actually help you sustain your productivity across multiple days/weeks. By stopping in the middle of a thought or paragraph, “tomorrow you” will be the perfect starting point instead of an ominous, flashing cursor and the suffocating void of blank white space.
Get in touch with your emotions
Being human means taking the good with the bad. It’s like riding a roller coaster at a county fair: the brakes don’t work and the carny at the controls is drunk. So if you want to enjoy fun emotions like happiness, excitement, gratitude, and serenity; you have to accept that from time to time you’ll suffer through emotions like anger, sadness, fear, and anxiety.
If you’re stuck or feeling uninspired, the problem might not be with your ability as a writer. It might be some completely unrelated bullshit that your subconscious has deemed more important than whatever you’re writing. A fight with a friend or loved one that went unresolved, fear or uncertainty about your job, anxiety about the state of the world and your general existence within it—even if you’ve got some sturdy emotion-blocking walls up, these problems will just keep pounding on the door until you put on your big-kid pants and deal with them.
Get some exercise and/or get some sleep
Despite what some genetically gifted influencer said on Instagram, your body is not a temple. But it’s not a den of iniquity either. Sleep and exercise and crucial for your mental and emotional well-being. I’m not saying to spend six hours a day at the gym or put yourself into a medically induced coma every night, I’m just saying you can’t burn the candle with a flamethrower every day and expect your body to thank you for it.
Go for a fucking walk. Eat something that grew on a tree or out of the ground. Turn the lights off before the sun comes up. Maybe it’s not for you, but just try acting like how you think responsible adults normally act and see what happens.
Change your environment
Writing in different places can impact your creativity and productivity. The changes can be subtle for some and seismic for others. If you typically write in a calming space with tranquil music, try popping into a coffee shop to see if the sounds, movement, and smells tickle your bits. If you typically feed off energy, noise, and chaos, try getting away from it all and write somewhere that’s just on the safe side of being mistaken for the perfect place to do a murder.
Tailor your environment and sensory experiences to what you’re writing. If you’re working on a historical non-fiction novel, blasting Pantera and chugging Fireball probably isn’t going to help you turn out your best work. I mean, I definitely want to read whatever you come up with but I’m guessing the ghosts of Victorian lords and ladies shan’t be pleased with the result.
Carving out writing time vs. chasing the muse
What works for one writer won’t work for another, so stop listening to blogs or podcasts or strangers on the internet (hey, that’s me!) when they tell you what will work best for you. They don’t know you. Hell, if you’re honest, you barely know you.
Some people thrive in structured, process-driven environments where they follow the same routines and rituals every day. They’re able to carve out specific chunks of time to complete specific tasks, and most of the time it works. They’re called “sociopaths.”
Other people function better when they float from task to task based on their mood or how much energy they have. The thought of starting and stopping a task at predetermined times fills them with anxiety and actually makes them less productive. They’re called “me.”
And then there’s everyone else who falls somewhere between the poles on the spectrum of productivity. They take a little from column A and a little from column B but not always in the same doses. I find that I generally work best in sprints of 30-60 minutes because I don’t feel pressured or confined by some enormous block of time where I spend a fraction of it working and the majority of it hating myself for not working. By giving myself the freedom to procrastinate or daydream or raid the fridge for snacks, I’m actually able to focus on my writing and get more done in less time.
Setting deadlines
This can be a source of motivation for some and the source of misery for others. Knowing that a day of reckoning is on the horizon can inspire people to work harder and block out all distractions until the work is complete. Others curl into the fetal position and wish for the sweet release of death. Talk about taking “deadline” a litt too seriously, amiright?
I can’t tell you how many school projects, work assignments, and panicked birthday present-shopping shitshows I’ve completed at the last possible moment. I knew when the deadline was and I had plenty of time to do the work, but I’m just a slacker. The more time I have, the more time I waste.
Maybe you’re like me or maybe you’re normal and you can pick an arbitrary date on the calendar and tell yourself you have to finish what you’re writing by then.
Always be writing
No, I’m not contradicting myself. It’s not healthy or even physically possible to write 24/7. What I mean is, let your mind work in the background. Kind of like how Google is always tracking your location even when you’re not using Google Maps.
This is especially effective with newer ideas or if you’re debating between two paths/options. Your brain can keep working away at it while you’re doing other things. Instead of trying to write everything down verbatim, you can ponder things while you’re in the shower, taking a shit, making dinner, or enjoying some naked time (alone or with a special friend). Your brain will even try to work things out while you sleep, hence the phrase “sleep on it,” which allows you to put some time and distance between yourself and the idea, then come back to it with fresh energy or a new perspective.
What, if anything, has helped you get unstuck when writing? Do you think writer’s block is a real thing and I’m full of shit? Let the faceless masses know in the comments.