The Real Reasons Writers Find Themselves Not Writing

And how to return to the craft when it feels like we never will

Multiple manuscripts wait for my attention. All are stuck in a stage of the process. A couple of them have a solid start — nearly a third of the work done already. A couple need total rewrites from the bad first drafts I managed to complete before deciding I wanted to move in a different direction. Another is simply an idea, not yet fully formed. I’m not just a writer. I’m a novelist. So, why am I not working on my novels?

Why Writers Won’t Write

There are many reasons writers find themselves not writing. The reasons are as individual as the writers themselves, and yet, they share some commonalities. Here are some of my reasons as well as the reasons of writers I know.

Life Overwhelm

We’ve survived a global pandemic. We’re the lucky ones. But we also have to process the experience of a global health crisis, a financial freefall as many of us lost income and contended with rising prices, and the long road to recovery to find a new sense of normal. In short, we’re overwhelmed. Life’s stressors make it truly hard to be creative.

I was plugging away at my manuscript when the schools shut down. Suddenly, with two children home all day every day, I had to put my creative work aside to focus on other things. I kept telling myself that I would return to it as soon as the world went back online, in a manner of speaking, but it didn’t for a long time. By then, my flow was interrupted, and the stress in my life had multiplied. Sometimes, we don’t write so that we can attend to our mental health.

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” ~Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

A Sense of Pressure

Another reason writers sometimes find themselves not writing is a sense of pressure to do so. Let’s be honest: Most of the pressure is internal. We put it on ourselves. We want our words to live up to our ideas, and it’s an incredibly vulnerable thing to share them knowing we might just miss the mark. If we’ve had work published, we want the next work to be as good if not better. It creates a mounting sense of responsibility that makes it difficult to be a creative writer.

I finished a series, and it’s hard to decide what direction I want to take next. With so many stories in progress, I wait for the one that demands my attention and won’t shut up until I write it. It worked for me before. Only, it’s hard to hear the stories when the world outside is only getting louder.

“I thought you could beat, pummel, and thrash an idea into existence. Under such treatment, of course, any decent idea folds up its paws, turns on its back, fixes its eyes on eternity, and dies.” ~Ray Bradbury

Imposter Syndrome

Many writers I know suffer from imposter syndrome. While this isn’t one of my barriers to writing, it’s certainly real. For many creatives, there’s this idea that their work doesn’t measure up. They spend so much time feeling like a fraud in their chosen art form that it’s difficult to actually engage in it. It’s another way we place internal pressure on ourselves, only it feels like external pressure at the same time.

“Try looking at your mind as a wayward puppy that you are trying to paper train. You don’t drop-kick a puppy into the neighbor’s yard every time it piddles on the floor. You just keep bringing it back to the newspaper.” ~Anne Lamott

Comparison Kills Creativity

We suffer when we compare ourselves to others, which becomes a block to our work. There are many writers I admire that I simply cannot emulate. Their style is wonderful — but not my own. I gave up trying and started to lean into what I do well. Do I wish I could craft a story like my literary heroes? We all do. But I decided to be content with honing my own gifts and enjoying theirs without a sense of competition.

“Look closely at the present you are constructing: it should look like the future you are dreaming.” ~Alice Walker

Increased Book Consumption

There are other times in our lives when we’re not writing because we’re too busy consuming the work of other writers. Make no mistake: This is a valuable part of the creative process. Every good writer is a reader. It’s impossible to be any good at the art of writing if we don’t spend time reading. It’s how we learn and build our craft. It’s also a great way to be inspired. When I see what someone else can do with an outlandish plot, an idea of mine suddenly seems possible.

There are times in our lives when we do more reading than writing, and it’s not a bad thing. We can guilt ourselves about picking up yet another novel while we still have one of our own to finish, but the reality is that reading is as essential to writers as breathing. We need more of it, and when our own ideas take hold, we’ll feel satisfied enough to divert our attention once again.

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.” ~Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Honing the Craft

Sometimes, we stop writing because we need time to hone our craft. Our words should be improving with time and experience. There are so many things I would have changed in my first book to improve upon it, but I was young and inexperienced. A few years older, wiser, and more experienced, I can see the small ways that would have improved the narrative. I’m still proud of that first novel, but I also can admit that it’s not perfect.

First, novels help us learn and grow into better writers. Pausing to improve our craft is a worthwhile endeavor. It might not feel like writing when words aren’t making it onto the page, but learning about writing and listening to constructive feedback can help us improve our skills.

“I took notes on the people around me, in my town, in my family, in my memory. I took notes on my own state of mind, my grandiosity, the low self-esteem. I wrote down the funny stuff I overheard. I learned to be like a ship’s rat, veined ears trembling, and I learned to scribble it all down.” ~Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

Sales Discouragement

One of the most powerful blocks to writing is discouragement about book sales. There’s not a writer I know who hasn’t faced this obstacle. It’s exciting to write a book and see it published. Even our most modest expectations can seem ridiculous when faced with the reality of publishing. It can be disheartening to hear people complain about book costs when authors receive such little compensation for every book sold. Facing tiny royalty checks after achieving a big dream can be discouraging and hamper our motivation to complete our next work.

“Talent renders the whole idea of rehearsal meaningless; when you find something at which you are talented, you do it (whatever it is) until your fingers bleed or your eyes are ready to fall out of your head. Even when no one is listening (or reading or watching), every outing is a bravura performance, because you as the creator are happy. Perhaps even ecstatic.” ~Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

A Lack of Inspiration

Sometimes, the hard truth is that we simply lack inspiration. Some call it writer’s block, but it happens to most of us at one time or another. We are uninspired and unable to translate our thoughts into the appropriate form. We feel listless when faced with a writing task. Inspiration hasn’t struck, or perhaps the muse is on vacation. Either way, we’re not getting any work done.

“We never sit anything out. We are cups, quietly and constantly being filled. The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” ~Ray Bradbury

On Writing Again

I could offer the usual advice. Writers should just write. Put words, any words, down on paper. Type them. Handwrite them. Do whatever it takes to make words come. Do it every day and do it at the same time of day. Make it a habit.

It’s good advice. But when we’re overwhelmed about life and discouraged about writing, it’s not always the best advice for that moment. Sometimes, instead of being encouraged to work, we need to be encouraged to rest. To read more. To daydream. To seek out beauty, novelty, and adventure. To people watch. To collect sunrises and sunsets. To fall in love. To go to sleep. To live beautiful lives and trust the process.

I know that the ideas haven’t left me. Every now and then, I stumble upon characters in conversation or a plot idea that asks that I jot it down for later. The world I once created sometimes chatters in the background on an ordinary day. I will build worlds again and live in them, falling in love with the characters who make my stories come to life.

But today … today, I will rest, and I won’t feel any guilt about it. I’ll read a book in my leisure time and know it’s only going to make me a better writer. I’ll keep trying even when I fail, and when I’m not trying, I won’t treat my rest as if it’s giving up. Writers have to write. It’s what makes us who we are, but it’s good to remember that it’s not all that we are either.