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Writer’s block – stress when writing
You’ve been working on a manuscript for weeks or even months and aren’t making any progress. What you wrote there does not correspond at all to what you vividly saw in front of you in your vision. You really want to write, but the quality is lousy, even abysmal. Every time you want to continue writing, something inside you resists. You have writer’s block! How did it happen?
Every writing problem is a psychological problem. If you are stressed while writing, your expectations and reality do not match. Every story is a complex system that exceeds our conscious awareness. In order to feed our powerful subconscious with it, we have to consciously train our dramaturgical skills.
The easiest trick to break any creative block.
When a story is just beginning, you may have an idea, but you’re far from knowing how to express it. You are about to explore the idea. Your idea is original, it follows its own rules, which you have to find first. In the search for these rules, it can easily happen in the writing process that you stray from the original path because you are looking for simpler structures that are familiar to you. The result is often a creative dead end. The story is then not the one you want to tell.
In the end, writer’s block is always an excuse not to continue writing. It protects us from being overwhelmed.
Writer’s block – your best friend
Most writers are familiar with writer’s block. What many do not know: they are basically a good sign. You can take them as a warning signal. They show you that you don’t settle for mediocre stories. You are an author, you want to write. And you want to write well. They show you that you have to change something for this. Without writer’s block, the creative process would be a pure process, without variety, without creativity and above all without quality.
What to do if you have writer’s block?
“The secret to getting ahead is to start. The secret to getting started is to break down your complex, overwhelming task into small, manageable tasks, and then start with the first one.”
– MARK TWAIN
Why do you want to tell this story? Who is that special main character you keep thinking about? Why do you like her? What exactly drives you, why do you have sleepless nights because of her? If you focus on this, you will find that you will regain your muse in no time.
More tips against writer’s block
“Writing about writer’s block is better than not writing at all.”
– CHARLES BUKOWSKI
If you’re a stubborn case and nothing really helps you, then it may be that you don’t have writer’s block at all, but author’s block. Maybe you really should take a break, go for a walk, meet up with friends, go to the movies, or even let your story rest for a few days. But that’s really just advice for those where nothing works. It usually helps the most to push through, keep writing, and keep at it. Writing exercises, such as writing about the blockage, are also popular tools. Whatever you do, don’t make the classic rookie mistake of starting a new story because you’re not progressing on the previous one. That just shifts your problem from one project to the next.
A few words about me: As a Writer-Director, I write my own stories. I wrote the eBook The Ultimate Reading Guide for students as a learning aid. I also give Writing Seminars and Film Workshops.