Writer’s Block Doesn’t Exist

Seriously, it’s not a thing.

Every so often, I sit down at the computer to write and feel like something is stopping me. It’s as if there is a wall built up between my brain and my hands, and as hard as I try, my brain will not make my fingers work.

Whether I’m working on a blog post or current fiction work in progress, I hit a block from time to time.

Maybe you’ve felt this too. Most writers have.

Where you sit down at your desk and don’t have anything you feel you can write. Or that you want to write.

So you get up, you walk away from your desk. You go and read or do chores or watch Netflix, and tell yourself that you can’t write today because you have writer’s block.

Writing is one of the few professions where it is acceptable not to show up and do your job.

Well, maybe I shouldn’t say acceptable, but it is widely understood that writers can get writer’s block that can keep them from producing words. I have never understood the concept of writer’s block in the context of it being a job.

Do you think a plumber can call in and be like “Sorry, I’m not coming to work today, I have plumbers block?” Their boss is probably going to call them crazy and tell them to get their butt to work.

So why is it acceptable as a writer to say you’re not going to show up and do your job?

Treating writing like a creative endeavor instead of a job is part of the problem.

Yumoyori is a self-published author who I have been friends with on social media for a while. She writes under the name Avery Song and a few other pennames.

I remember the first time I saw her post in one of the write groups, and I was instantly in awe.

At the time, Yumo had only been a writer for a little over a year and had more than twenty plus books to her name. Now, a year and a half later, she has more than ninety.

The secret to her success isn’t some far off thing that no one else could ever obtain. It isn’t something that any other writer couldn’t do.

Yumo puts in the work. Time and time again, she will share her wordcounts and hours on social media. I have never seen a writer work so hard. She will put in fourteen-hour days, writing almost ten thousand words or more each day. After six months of as a writer, it became Yumo’s fulltime job, allowing her to leave nursing work that she didn’t seem to enjoy.

Writing became Yumo’s fulltime job because she treated it like it was her job.

Do you think she would have achieved such success if she let herself get in her head and worried about having writer’s block?

Nope.

Treating writing like a hobby is often the first step to feeling like you have some sort of writer’s block. If you set a schedule of work hours for your writing like you would have at any other job, show up, sit your butt in your chair, and do the work.

There a few reasons why you might still feel like you have writer’s block.

So maybe you are a full-time writer already, or you feel like you do treat your writing as if it were a job and not a hobby, but you still feel like you have writer’s block. There could be a few different reasons why you are still having trouble when you sit down to write.

You are writing in the wrong genre.

When I first started writing, I was sure I was going to be a contemporary fiction writer. I struggled to write more than a few pages of a single work because this was not the genre for me. Even though I loved to read it, that didn’t mean it was the genre I should be writing in. When I started outlining my first YA book, the process was smooth and much more enjoyable.

I had found the right genre for me. Moving forward in my writing career, I’m now a blogger. Writing blog posts is probably the most comfortable form of writing I have found for myself. Not because it’s easier than writing a book or poem, but because it is the format and style of writing that I feel fits me the best, and this helps me never to have writer’s block.

You are unprepared to tackle your current project.

When writing a novel or blog post, I always have a plan. When blogging, I create a post outline to help guide me through the writing process.

When writing a novel, I create a world bible. Some world bibles are big, if it is a fantasy or science fiction book in another world or realm, or it can be smaller if the story takes place in our current world and time.

My world bible includes character profiles, backstories, location settings, and my outline. Creating a world bible and outline helps me not get stuck on my project. I have a sense of who my characters are and where they are going before I even sit down to write the story.

If you are not prepared for your project, it’s easy to stop in the name of research or check details that you wrote about characters in a previous chapter. If I write in chapter four that my character has blues eyes, I don’t have to go back and check to make sure I’m consistent. Because in my world bible is a picture of what my character looks like, all I have to do is quickly refer to the image and then continue writing, thus not losing my flow.

You are waiting for inspiration to strike.

This goes back to the difference between treating writing like a job versus a creative endeavor. If you are waiting to write until inspiration strikes, you could be waiting forever.

It is much better to sit down and write about whatever comes to mind versus not writing at all. Sit down and write out the next scene in your novel even though you know it will need revisions. Pushing past, always needing to feel inspired, is when the work gets done.

You will find more inspiration while writing more often than not than avoiding writing and waiting.

You won’t write unless everything is perfect.

In a perfect world, I would be sitting at a desk that faced a wall of windows. Outside would be nothing but trees surrounding us on all sides. I would have Bon Iver playing softly, and there would be candles lit, making the room smell of sandalwood. I would be writing in a room free of children and their toys, away from the hustle, bustle, and noise of being a mother.

I’m currently sitting on the floor, my back leaned against my bed, with my laptop sitting on my legs. My daughter runs around drooling because she has a fondness for Flamin’ Hot Funyuns, but her mouth can’t always handle the heat. My son runs from room to room, dancing, and jumping around while watching YouTube videos at full volume. The babysitter is watching a comedy show while keeping the kids out of my hair to work.

Is this my ideal situation to write? Obviously not, but if I waited until conditions were perfect, I would never get any writing done at all.

As much as I would love to be writing in an office all alone and undistracted, I have to write where I’m at if I’m going to write. Right now, we are in a one-bedroom apartment, with just enough space for the kids to run around and create chaos.

You must learn to write when you and not wait for everything to come together and be exactly as you want it because that day may never come, especially if you are a parent.

I don’t believe writer’s block is real, but there are plenty of things that could be holding you back from getting your writing done.

The biggest one being you. At the center of all of the issues I find that writers commonly attribute to being “blocked,” they themselves are at the center of everyone.

Take a step back and examine why you think you have writer’s block. I believe that you find that it isn’t a real mental block that keeps you from getting words on the page, but rather a bump in the road that you can easily get over with a little bit of effort.

The only real way to get past the writer’s block you think you have and never have it plague you again is to keep writing. Push past your fears and doubt, get organized, and then get back to writing. Treat it as if it is the job you have always wanted and show up for it each day. After all, odds are that it is the job you have always wanted. Don’t let anything get in your way, especially something that doesn’t even exist.

Here is a simple checklist to help you plan your blog posts.

Ashley Shannon is a queer single mom of two kids, one with autism. She writes about relationships, mental health issues, being a single parent, and sexuality. She is currently looking for the perfect school bus to turn into a traveling tiny home and can be found on twitter @as_publishing.