Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Writer’s Block by Paul Doucette



https://bookswelove.com/doucette-h-paul/


Hi again.

Writer’s block. The bane and nemesis of all writers. It comes at the worst of times in

the writing process, causing varying degrees of anxiety and frustration. That is the

downside and, yes, I am suggesting there is also an upside.

It might be easier to see this if you remember the ‘old saw’, “can’t see the forest for

the trees.’. This particular adage could have been coined with writers in mind. After all,

what is writer’s block? Simply put, an abrupt stop; a brick wall that suddenly appears in our

mind. For myself, and I suspect many other writers, it comes at when we reach an

impasse in our story telling when we no longer see what comes, what happens next, and

so on.

We try to break free by re-reading the story so far in the hope that it will remove the

‘block’ and reveal the next step. In my case, this does not work very often, and usually

ends up with me re-writing parts which just messes up the work and adds more work and

frustration.

I have found a solution that works for me: step away; get a cup of tea; pick up a

book by one of my favourite authors and find a quiet park bench. Put my story out of mind,

relegating it to my subconscious and let it ‘stew’ for a while. Sometimes this process may

take a few days or even a few weeks, but when it is ready to return it usually does so with

a clearer vision of what I want to tell.

If you are finding yourself struggling with a story, I recommend you find your own

escape from the ‘writer’s block’ trap. Take walks with friends or alone; read; go for drives

on the back roads of your town, anything, but remember to leave the story at home. I think

you will be surprised by what your mind will be like when your story decides it’s ready to

come back.

I hope this makes some sense to you and is helpful. At the very least, you have

enjoyed a short hiatus and an airing of your thoughts.

Good luck and good writing.

Until next time,

Paul



4 comments:

  1. Writer's block not for me. I have writer's delay and that means doing other things ratherthan writing. Then with a sudden moment writing begins again.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Writers' block takes many forms. For me, it used to cause a strong desire to procrastinate, so I immersed myself in a mind-numbing task, like watering the plants outside, or cleaning the house. It allowed my mind to take a vacation and relax. Now that I have a small apartment, and cleaning is a quick job, I immerse myself in someone else's book, or I watch and dissect one of my favorite movies. Studying story telling from the masters always gives me inspiration. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So interesting to hear what 'writer's block' means to different authors. Block or delay... or a combination of both?

    ReplyDelete

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