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I've thought very long and hard (and written loads) about writer's block, and have made a lot of personal progress in dealing with it. [I'm currently 550,000+ w

I've thought very long and hard (and written loads) about writer's block, and have made a lot of personal progress in dealing with it. [I'm currently 550,000+ words into a "write a million words" project.] I'd be happy to chat about it with anybody who struggles with it. I like to think of writing (or any creative work, really) as a large-scale process with many intermediate steps, like say, producing diamonds. You have to start by locating the raw materials, drilling them out, getting a sense of what they are, isolating them, cut them up, polish them, set them, present them, sell them. Block can happen at any point along the process. It could be that you don't have enough raw material. It could be that you're not sure how to cut the particular stone that you have. It could be that you've got the wrong tools for the job, or that the job itself is not worth doing. The challenge is to zoom out from the present moment and to see the bigger picture, and often to move upstream in the process. Sometimes you need to abandon the process altogether, and maybe return to it later. The creative person's anxiety and paranoia can seem like a petty thing compared to say, somebody who has to deal with "real" problems. (I'm reminded of Anthony Bourdain saying "Cooking professionally is hard work. Writing is a privilege and a luxury. Anybody who whines about writers block should be forced to clean squid all day") It's a fair point. That said, I think it's useful to try and understand what exactly the block is. It's fear, anxiety, attachment to outcome, a sense of incompetence and worthlessness. Elizabeth Gilbert also has a great TED talk on dealing with that, about separating your self-esteem from your work: https://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius?language=en https://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius?langua...

mayhabib 11y ago
i love the gem analogy. it is friggin hard. i find it productive to think about resistance as an enemy. the visualization that maria writes about doesn't work as well for me. i like thinking about hard thinking work in physical labor terms. whether it's a ppt or a new mock up or a piece of writing. this super short read by stephen pressfield is totally underrated and a great contribution to the topic: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NK0MJBK/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NK0MJBK/ref=dp-kindle-re...
- visakanv 11y ago
  Yes, big fan of Pressfield's work too! Wish I encountered him soner. I think one of his best points is that you can practically "navigate BY resistance" – acknowledging, addressing and leaning into it.
  - mayhabib 11y ago
    yes! re your point re what if the "job itself not worth doing" -- when blocked that can be a tempting cop out. for pressfield's framework for this is simple and brilliant: when you try to look beyond the resistance, is there love there?
    - visakanv 11y ago
      > when blocked that can be a tempting cop out. Oh yeah, good point. As Pressfield would put it, the important thing is to go Pro. And a Pro would finish the job that he started, even if it might not be "worth doing". Unless you're literally risking your life or something improbable like that, it's worth finishing what you start.
mgalka 11y ago
I have problems with writer's block, but my problem seems quite different from what's described here. Usually, I'm fine with the creative aspects -- I know what ideas I want to communicate. What troubles me is finding the words to say it. And the more time I spend thinking about it, the more difficult it becomes. Sometimes, I can spend an hour working at a paragraph, and still can't get comfortable with the wording. Does anyone else have this problem?
- visakanv 11y ago
  Certainly! I experience this periodically, usually (perhaps always) when I'm approaching new topics or ideas that I'm not familiar with. I wouldn't say it's writer's block altogether, I think it's just the "stretch" of trying to communicate something you haven't effectively communicated before. The analogy I would use here is– it's like a standup comedian trying out new jokes. He knows that it's funny, but the audience isn't laughing– because there's something about the delivery that he isn't getting right. My advice for people struggling with these things is to do multiple drafts. Try to write it down, then start over altogether from scratch. Explain it to other people. After a while, you'll start "catching" the right turns of phrases and sentence structure and so on.
  - wcaleb 11y ago
    Yes, and I think lowering the "stakes" of the paragraph is important. Sometimes switching to longhand on a legal pad helps me, because then I know that I'm not working on the final, final version, and I can allow the paragraph to be, temporarily at least, imperfect.
    - visakanv 11y ago
      > then I know that I'm not working on the final, final version, and I can allow the paragraph to be, temporarily at least, imperfect. Absolutely. This is so important. The writing and editing process should be decoupled– trying to do both at once typically leads to frustrating contortions.

mayhabib 11y ago

i love the gem analogy. it is friggin hard. i find it productive to think about resistance as an enemy. the visualization that maria writes about doesn't work as well for me. i like thinking about hard thinking work in physical labor terms. whether it's a ppt or a new mock up or a piece of writing. this super short read by stephen pressfield is totally underrated and a great contribution to the topic: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NK0MJBK/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NK0MJBK/ref=dp-kindle-re...

visakanv 11y ago
Yes, big fan of Pressfield's work too! Wish I encountered him soner. I think one of his best points is that you can practically "navigate BY resistance" – acknowledging, addressing and leaning into it.
- mayhabib 11y ago
  yes! re your point re what if the "job itself not worth doing" -- when blocked that can be a tempting cop out. for pressfield's framework for this is simple and brilliant: when you try to look beyond the resistance, is there love there?
  - visakanv 11y ago
    > when blocked that can be a tempting cop out. Oh yeah, good point. As Pressfield would put it, the important thing is to go Pro. And a Pro would finish the job that he started, even if it might not be "worth doing". Unless you're literally risking your life or something improbable like that, it's worth finishing what you start.

mgalka 11y ago

I have problems with writer's block, but my problem seems quite different from what's described here. Usually, I'm fine with the creative aspects -- I know what ideas I want to communicate. What troubles me is finding the words to say it. And the more time I spend thinking about it, the more difficult it becomes. Sometimes, I can spend an hour working at a paragraph, and still can't get comfortable with the wording. Does anyone else have this problem?

visakanv 11y ago
Certainly! I experience this periodically, usually (perhaps always) when I'm approaching new topics or ideas that I'm not familiar with. I wouldn't say it's writer's block altogether, I think it's just the "stretch" of trying to communicate something you haven't effectively communicated before. The analogy I would use here is– it's like a standup comedian trying out new jokes. He knows that it's funny, but the audience isn't laughing– because there's something about the delivery that he isn't getting right. My advice for people struggling with these things is to do multiple drafts. Try to write it down, then start over altogether from scratch. Explain it to other people. After a while, you'll start "catching" the right turns of phrases and sentence structure and so on.
- wcaleb 11y ago
  Yes, and I think lowering the "stakes" of the paragraph is important. Sometimes switching to longhand on a legal pad helps me, because then I know that I'm not working on the final, final version, and I can allow the paragraph to be, temporarily at least, imperfect.
  - visakanv 11y ago
    > then I know that I'm not working on the final, final version, and I can allow the paragraph to be, temporarily at least, imperfect. Absolutely. This is so important. The writing and editing process should be decoupled– trying to do both at once typically leads to frustrating contortions.