{"id":24,"date":"2020-03-24T04:47:02","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T04:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accintrotocreativewriting\/chapter\/lesson-2-writers-block\/"},"modified":"2022-08-19T16:12:50","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T16:12:50","slug":"lesson-2-writers-block","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accintrotocreativewriting\/chapter\/lesson-2-writers-block\/","title":{"raw":"Lesson 2: Writer&#8217;s Block","rendered":"Lesson 2: Writer&#8217;s Block"},"content":{"raw":"[caption id=\"attachment_113\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"289\"]<img class=\"wp-image-113 \" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1715\/2017\/05\/16194138\/The-Passion-of-Creation-Leonid-Pasternak-300x233.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"289\" height=\"225\"> The Passion of Creation by Leonid Pasternak, a Russian post-impressionist painter[\/caption]\n\n<strong>What Is Writer's Block?<\/strong>\n\nWriter's block is the inability to write because the writer doesn't know what to write, doesn't know how to proceed in a piece of writing, or&nbsp;doesn't have the confidence to write. The condition can last for several minutes to days to weeks, and even months and years for some writers.\n\nOften, the&nbsp;inner critic, a&nbsp;still, small, critical voice that sends negative messages to the brain, keeps writers from writing. Those negative statements may sound something like this:\n<ul>\n \t<li>I don't have anything to write about.<\/li>\n \t<li>No one will read what I write.<\/li>\n \t<li>No one will like what I write.<\/li>\n \t<li>I don't have time to write now.<\/li>\n \t<li>I'm not a good writer.<\/li>\n \t<li>An editor won't publish what I write.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<strong>How Do Writers Overcome Writer's Block?<\/strong>\n\nWriters who succeed are the ones who have the drive to push through their writer's block. Here are some suggestions for overcoming writer's block:\n<ul>\n \t<li>Find the root cause of the inner critic's statement. In other words, why do you believe the negative statement(s)?<\/li>\n \t<li>Restate the inner critic's statement(s) in a positive way. Read and recite them regularly until you believe them to be true.<\/li>\n \t<li>Talk with another writer about the problem. Find out what they do to overcome writer's block.<\/li>\n \t<li>Remind yourself that mistakes are okay in the first draft and that revision is where the magic exists in writing.<\/li>\n \t<li>Don't start at the beginning if that's where you are stuck.<\/li>\n \t<li>Draw the piece of writing in pictures instead of words.<\/li>\n \t<li>Work on another piece if one piece isn't working for you. Then, come back to the piece that wasn't working for you.<\/li>\n \t<li>Try writing in a different location: library, cafe, kitchen table, cabin, coffee shop, etc.<\/li>\n \t<li>Attend a writer's conference or retreat.<\/li>\n \t<li>Try writing with a different tool: pen, pencil, marker, computer, etc.<\/li>\n \t<li>Try writing during a different time of day.<\/li>\n \t<li>Put writing and reflective thinking time regularly on your calendar. Don't allow other events take its place.<\/li>\n \t<li>Give yourself permission to write without concern for success.<\/li>\n \t<li>Know that many authors who have been successful had their manuscripts rejected multiple times.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n&nbsp;","rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_113\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-113\" style=\"width: 289px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-113\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1715\/2017\/05\/16194138\/The-Passion-of-Creation-Leonid-Pasternak-300x233.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"289\" height=\"225\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-113\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Passion of Creation by Leonid Pasternak, a Russian post-impressionist painter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>What Is Writer&#8217;s Block?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Writer&#8217;s block is the inability to write because the writer doesn&#8217;t know what to write, doesn&#8217;t know how to proceed in a piece of writing, or&nbsp;doesn&#8217;t have the confidence to write. The condition can last for several minutes to days to weeks, and even months and years for some writers.<\/p>\n<p>Often, the&nbsp;inner critic, a&nbsp;still, small, critical voice that sends negative messages to the brain, keeps writers from writing. Those negative statements may sound something like this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I don&#8217;t have anything to write about.<\/li>\n<li>No one will read what I write.<\/li>\n<li>No one will like what I write.<\/li>\n<li>I don&#8217;t have time to write now.<\/li>\n<li>I&#8217;m not a good writer.<\/li>\n<li>An editor won&#8217;t publish what I write.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>How Do Writers Overcome Writer&#8217;s Block?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Writers who succeed are the ones who have the drive to push through their writer&#8217;s block. Here are some suggestions for overcoming writer&#8217;s block:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Find the root cause of the inner critic&#8217;s statement. In other words, why do you believe the negative statement(s)?<\/li>\n<li>Restate the inner critic&#8217;s statement(s) in a positive way. Read and recite them regularly until you believe them to be true.<\/li>\n<li>Talk with another writer about the problem. Find out what they do to overcome writer&#8217;s block.<\/li>\n<li>Remind yourself that mistakes are okay in the first draft and that revision is where the magic exists in writing.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t start at the beginning if that&#8217;s where you are stuck.<\/li>\n<li>Draw the piece of writing in pictures instead of words.<\/li>\n<li>Work on another piece if one piece isn&#8217;t working for you. Then, come back to the piece that wasn&#8217;t working for you.<\/li>\n<li>Try writing in a different location: library, cafe, kitchen table, cabin, coffee shop, etc.<\/li>\n<li>Attend a writer&#8217;s conference or retreat.<\/li>\n<li>Try writing with a different tool: pen, pencil, marker, computer, etc.<\/li>\n<li>Try writing during a different time of day.<\/li>\n<li>Put writing and reflective thinking time regularly on your calendar. Don&#8217;t allow other events take its place.<\/li>\n<li>Give yourself permission to write without concern for success.<\/li>\n<li>Know that many authors who have been successful had their manuscripts rejected multiple times.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"menu_order":3,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-24","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":19,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accintrotocreativewriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/24","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accintrotocreativewriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accintrotocreativewriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accintrotocreativewriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accintrotocreativewriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/24\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accintrotocreativewriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/24\/revisions\/25"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accintrotocreativewriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/19"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accintrotocreativewriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/24\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accintrotocreativewriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accintrotocreativewriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=24"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accintrotocreativewriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=24"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accintrotocreativewriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=24"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}