Writer’s Block During a Lockdown

Summary

The author, Denise Larkin, discusses overcoming writer's block during a lockdown by engaging in activities such as reading, listening to music, and watching television, which ultimately rekindled her creative process and inspired her to write again.

Abstract

Denise Larkin, a writer and editor, shares her personal struggle with writer's block during the COVID-19 lockdown. With her usual routine disrupted, she found herself unable to write, possibly due to the stress and anxiety caused by excessive news consumption and her medical conditions. Taking advice from a friend, she immersed herself in reading, music, exercise, and television, which helped her to regain her inspiration and writing ability. Larkin emphasizes the importance of stepping back from writing to engage in other creative activities, suggesting that this can lead to a renewed sense of creativity and clarity. She credits reading Tana French's "The Wych Elm" and other books for reigniting her passion for writing, leading to the creation of this article. Larkin also provides a list of books that aided in her recovery from writer's block and encourages others facing similar challenges to explore these resources.

Opinions

The author believes that the lockdown negatively impacted her writing routine due to a lack of external

How to get your creative process back again during the lockdown

Photo by Heidi Fin on Unsplash

I haven’t been writing much during the lockdown. I don’t know why but I felt I had lost something. Before I was going out and doing things like meeting people and seeing my sons and grandchildren, visiting shops, and so on, but now I am stuck at home all the time except for getting fresh air daily by going outside into the garden. My husband is a keyworker for the Fire Service so he is still going to work and getting our shopping and medications from the chemist because I have medical conditions that require me to stay home. So, I guess I have been a bit lost where writing is concerned.

I told a friend about it and she said just stop writing for a while but keep reading, listening to music, exercise and watch interesting things on tv that you love. So, I took her advice.

I started reading books like you wouldn’t believe. I am on my fifth book now titled The Wych Elm by Tana French. So far, the reading has captured something inside of me and has inspired me to write again, hence, I am now writing this article.

I don’t know what happened with my writing but I think it’s because I watched too much news about COVID-19 and it got to me somehow. Also, I believe I panicked and somehow it stressed me in a way that I couldn’t think what to write anymore. Plus, I was on edge, and having Diabetes can make stress much worse because stress can make your glucose levels go up. I took things more seriously than usual. For instance, someone said something to me about the lockdown situation and I took it to heart making it a thousand times more making me crack mentally. I was angry but lost at the same time.

So, if you are having a mental situation from being stuck indoors, then read as much as you can. Get a good book and sink yourself into it and soon your writing skills will be back and you will start thinking clearly again. It will be worth it to get your creative juices working again but you have to let go for a while like I did in order for you to get creative again.

I read the following books to get my mind working again:

Writing Short Stories: A Routledge Writer’s Guide by Ailsa Cox

The Ghost Tree by Barbara Erskine

Stone Mattress: Nine Wicked Tales by Margaret Attwood

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

The Wych Elm by Tana French

I hope this helps for anyone out there having problems writing during this lockdown situation.

Check out some more of my articles below:

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