When You Hit Writer’s Block, Just Steal Kylie’s Hair

Trust me: you won’t get sued for this

For a writer, especially a beginner, writer’s block is real. It’s dreading. It doesn’t simply get over by getting down to write garbage. When you are out of mind, you can’t even write garbage. There’s no instant cure. It’s a must. It’s a gift.

While the most common reason for writer’s block is trying to be perfect in your writing, a lot of it has to do with trying to be your true self.

You want to be original. You want to be authentic. You want to be congruent. You want to deliver the same arc, same twist, same move as in your previous story. You want to replicate and repeat things. So that you turn out as one-of-a-kind.

That’s okay for you as a beginner. But that’s unrealistic — you can’t be the same forever and moreover, that is what is sucking out your creative flow.

I too was stuck at this phase for the last two weeks. I couldn’t write and worse, think anything new. I suddenly started to love mowing in the sun so that I don’t have to sit in my comfy chair in the air-conditioned room with free freshly brewed coffee (I still sit on my parent’s lap) and just write. I couldn’t even get over and fix my unpolished drafts.

But last Monday I got curious about the Kardashian family. Of course from the marketing perspective (don’t get me wrong.) When I stumbled upon Kylie Jenner, she slapped my belief.

Even Kylie Jenner keeps changing her hairstyle quicker than you change your girlfriend. For her, changing her hairstyle is the easiest (not probably cheapest) way to get out of her old self and “feel like a new person.”

For you, as a writer, the surefire way to feel like a better writer is to change the way you write and that could come from changing your hairstyle, like Kylie too. It’s simple science: the feelings about how you look affect how you behave and that behaviour could be anything: reading more, getting inspired, even more, consuming less TV and more knowledge — anything.

Now, the point is: you have to change the way you write. Don’t just write technically. Try practical. What about life lessons? Ohh, how about a legend’s biography + practical advice? And, you could even try erotica or humour in your story. Did you forget your experience of your first date? And why not the old cliche but works: listicles?

The reason you face writer’s block is that you don’t face it. Don’t just block yourself in the box. Try different angles, different patterns, different structures of stories. You can’t replicate the structure all the time. Pros worship this (one of my friend who is a pro writer even carved this on his wedding card: “You can’t replicate everything all the time.” His wife started loving him even more: she thought he was pointing at her.) That’s why they enjoy their craft. They are always trying new stuff and getting better, crafting better, sounding smarter and making you jealous of their success even more.

Looking closely, that’s what one-of-a-kind certainly is — it’s new, it’s one, it’s un (I mean one in French.) This is also why writer’s block is a gift: you get to try new things and be creative.

By the way, surefire and cheapest way to change your hairstyle without destroying your hair? Steal Kylie’s one. She won’t even know. Because she doesn’t wear the same hairstyle (wig) twice.