Writer's Block - A New Perspective To Help You Overcome Writer's Block

Writer’s block, or creative block to use a wider reaching term, is one of the most common issues with writers and other creative people.

The feeling of sitting at a blank screen, sheet of paper or canvas can feel like the ultimate challenge for the writer and the artist.

Creating in this frame of mind feels about as easy as if we were trying for the world 100m breast stroke record in a swimming pool of thick treacle.

We’re staring up close at the face of fear, the fear that not only do we feel we have nothing of worth to express right now, but that maybe we’ll NEVER have anything creative to contribute ever again.

The danger of writer’s block is that it seems to feed on itself and grow more powerful. The more we desperately try to create something, ANYTHING, of any meaning and interest, the tighter its grip seems to take hold and sap our last final few drops of creativity.

But it’s this perception that also gives us hope in overcoming it.

It IS a perception. It’s what WE see at the time, how WE judge the situation we find ourselves in, it’s not a static set of immovable facts.

Unfolding this perception, not just at the time the writer’s block has struck, but consistently over a longer period, is the key to freeing ourselves from its choking and debilitating stranglehold.

Think about the phrase “Writer’s Block”. What images come to mind?

The word “block” is a heavy, physical, immovable sounding word. It implies a fixed and permanent state, one that will not easily be escaped from.

It doesn’t exactly suggests it’s a fleeting state that we can take steps to move on from, which is exactly what writer’s block actually is.

Changing this perception of writer’s block is a major step in feeling less fearful of it and experiencing it less often.

Here’s an example of how a change in perception gives a dramatically different view of a situation:

Imagine a huge sheet of pressed steel, 2 metres wide, 3 meters high and 1mm thick. If we look at the sheet face on, it looks like a massive imposing object, something we couldn’t easily pass in a narrow corridor! The actual area we see is 3m X 2m = 6 square metres.

Now imagine if we turn the metal sheet so it rests on the ground along one of its longest sides and we now look into the end of the shortest side. We see a tall very narrow object, and the area is 2m X 1mm = 0.002 square metres.

This is now 3000 times smaller an area!!. Just from a simple change in perspective. But it’s the same piece of metal.

So what would happen if we applied a similar shift in perspective to writer’s block?

What if we said our creativity was just “on hold”. Or we were on “creative pause”? Or in a period of adjusting our creative perspective? A time of creative reflection?

Anything that reminds and reassures us that it’s just a short term, entirely natural phase that will soon pass.

Whatever words we use to reframe it (and after all being creative with words is what a writer does best!), it will lessen the fear we have.

So instead of thinking this: “I desperately need to avoid getting writer’s block, it’s the worst thing that can possibly happen to me. Once it sets in I’m finished as a creative force.”

We can say something like: “There will be periods when I’m less creative. This is natural in the cycle of a creative person, and my creativity will return as strong as before, if not stronger, after this temporary period of being less active.”

So how can you apply this to YOUR creative life?

What is it about writer’s block, or creative block that you fear most? How can you change your perspective and reframe how you describe this experience so it’ll help you move through it as easily as possible?

Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin is the author of “Create Create!”, a FREE twice monthly ezine for people who want simple and powerful articles, tips and exercises to help them unleash their creative talents. Sign up right now and get your FREE “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook, at http://www.CoachCreative.com