How to Cure Writer’s Block
Have you ever had that moment where you were trying to write…
But you couldn’t?
This may seem like a small problem to the person who doesn’t write too much.
But this is a BIG problem for someone who routinely writes.
A part of them feels stuck.
Sort of like when you get in the car, but your vehicle won’t start.
The scary part?
You are smack dab in the middle of the high way.
The thought of writer’s block scares a lot of writers more than writer’s block itself.
And the fear of stumbling into this roadblock causes the roadblock in the first place.
Today, I am going to give you a new paradigm.
I want you to know that you are scared of an ILLUSION.
Sort of like when a big brother scares his little brother by telling him that there is a monster under his bed.
But we are just a lil misguided.
All good. Time to flip our mindset & bulldoze thru this illusion.
Let’s learn how to cure writer’s block.
What are the Symptoms of Writers Block?
At the core level, writer’s block can happen anywhere.
It can happen when you are talking to a cute girl & don’t know what to text back.
Or say you got an email from your boss.
How do you write something back without coming off TOO confident?
What about your mom asks you when you’re coming to visit home.
Why are you getting writer’s block now??
You never know when you are going to get the mental blockage.
And it’s pretty annoying because writing is such a big part of your life nowadays.
Whether you’re texting, writing emails, responding back to DMs, etc.
Writing is thinking via a tangible format.
And that exactly is it.
Writing is thinking via a tangible format. Thinking….
How often do many of us truly think?
Not too much.
Our mind wanders, sure.
But it isn’t natural thinking.
Thinking is when you are able to formulate logical thoughts & move a point forward.
Most of what goes on in the average mind is going from thought to thought without any set pattern.
Therefore, a lot of the symptoms boil down to …
‘Uh.. what do I say?’
This lack of knowing what to say leads to strong physical sensations in the head.
And the sensations in the head leads to irritation.
The reason why many people don’t meditate is due to the sensations in their heads.
When you feel those strong feelings, that means you may be struggling with writer’s block.
You just stare blankly at the medium hoping that it writes itself out.
What Causes Writer’s block?
Earlier, I said that writing is thinking via words.
And the reason many people struggle with writer’s block is that they don’t fully know how to think.
But the other problem is that they don’t know how to STOP thinking.
When you are talking to a boss, for example, you want to say the right thing.
Therefore, you put a lot of emphasis on your words.
You desperately don’t want to come off as condescending.
Same with a cute girl that you are talking too.
You want to talk in a way where she responds back.
I would say a big part of writer’s block is not knowing how to think & not knowing when to stop thinking.
The latter makes up a majority of the cases.
Yep, in today’s hyper attention economy, the mind races quicker than ever.
Hopping from thought to thought AKA: monkey mind.
Why?
Because of stimulus to stimulus.
Too many distractions in the external world
This is conditioning you to overthink MORE if you don’t break yourself out of it.
‘How do I break myself out of it??’
By putting less attention on you & more attention on the other person.
Overcoming writer’s block is realizing that you are simply battling an illusion.
‘Why do you keep calling it an illusion bro? It feels so real!’
Many fake problems do.
But let me explain why…
Why Writer’s Block is An Illusion
Imagine that you were stuck in a desert.
It’s 115 degrees, dry ass weather with the sun glaring at your face.
You haven’t drank water in days & are on the verge of dying from dehydration.
However, you keep looking forward at the hot desert sand.
A part of you feels like you’re about to take your last breath.
However, RIGHT behind you, there is a river of water flowing seamlessly.
But your back is faced to it.
What would you do in this case?
‘Uh… turn around?’
Exactly. Once you turn around and redirect your focus, you’ll be good to go.
Same with writer’s block.
Your brain has roughly 30,000+ thoughts per day.
When you think you are running out of thoughts, you’re like the guy in the desert.
Your back is just facing the water champ.
The goal is to turn around.
Drink the water.
Stay hydrated.
At a core level, you are creativity. Once you start accepting this, you feel a level of ease.
A large part of creativity is winning your mind over.
Just understand that you are an abundance of ideas.
All you need to do is reshift your focus.
Now that you have the mental part down, let’s go off to some practical tips.
5 Strategies On How to Cure Writer’s Block
There are different ways to overcome writer’s block for different situations.
Luckily, you are not really learning anything.
You are just burning the deadwood off so you can flow.
Do you notice yourself when you are talking to your BEST friend?
Cracking jokes, telling stories & catching up?
There was no writer’s block then.
Everything is seamless.
Let’s get you to that state in all parts of your writing life.
Here are a few tips which will get you on the right track.
1. Stay Hydrated
You’ll be surprised how much hydration plays a role in your creativity.
It’s tough as fuck to feel in the flow when you’re brain is hurting too much.
And when you’re dehydrated, you feel like you’re driving a car without any gasoline.
This is a quick fix that you can pick up at any time.
We often get so busy in our day to day lives that we forget to drink water.
Heck, we often forget to eat as well!
But stay on top of this.
Simply staying hydrated will melt away a lot of your creative problems.
2. Time Yourself & Make it Challenging
A few days ago on Twitter, I issued a challenge where I told my audience to write an email in HALF the time it normally takes them.
So if it takes you 20 minutes to write an email to your audience, do it in 10 minutes.
At first, some people thought, no way I can do that.
But eventually, I received a few comments and DMs saying:
‘Whoa, bro! I can’t believe it…but it worked. And my email is way better than it normally is.’
Creativity often arises when you put some restrictions on yourself.
The timer allows you to create a mild schedule.
Rather than your mind floating to other tasks, it is ZONED in on the task at hand. Pure focus.
You are PRESENT.
Presence puts you in the right mindset when learning how to cure writer’s block.
Giving yourself a reduction in time prevents you from planning too much & dive just in.
The less planning you do, the more creative you become.
That’s when you surprise yourself.
3. Focus on the Other Person
A lot of times, you get writer’s block when answering a text or email back is because you focus too much on yourself.
Wondering how what you say will make YOU look.
Instead, just focus on the person you are talking too.
The ‘Spotlight Effect‘ is when we think there is an imaginary spotlight on us.
But this is an illusion produced by your ego.
The best way to resolve this problem is to just put the spotlight on the other person.
‘Its that simple??’
Yep.
Focus on the other person & you’re Gucci.
4. Listen to Music & Walk Out Doors
This is a deadly combo.
Even though I keep clowning writer’s block as being an illusion, I get the pains at times.
Our back is facing the water in the desert.
And it’s hard to turn around.
Well, try the music to walking combo.
Music which inspires you gets you to stop thinking and start imagining.
You’re no longer being too logical.
GOOD.
Great creativity doesn’t come from logic alone.
It’s born in the creative brain.
The music allows you to feel free internally & unleash yourself.
‘What about walking?’
Walking is powerful because it gets you active.
Study any artists, engineers, scientists, and you’ll see that they set aside time to walk.
Just like there is a field of information known as the internet that your laptops can grasp.
I believe there is a field of information out there that humans can grasp.
Walking allows us to turn into a radio and TUNE into those frequencies.
A very powerful force.
5. Create with Emotions And Edit with logic
One of the biggest reasons for writer’s block is that you try to create and edit at the same time.
You are focusing on creating the content AND making sure your word selection, grammar & syntax are correct.
Tsk tsk. Poor strategy.
This is like trying to drive a car with the accelerator and the brake pressed at the same time.
A recipe for disaster.
Instead, create first.
Just write freely about your topic.
Don’t focus on grammar, word choice, or anything like that.
Imagine it’s just you on the universe alone.
Once done, take a little break.
Go chill if you need it.
Then come back and take care of the edit portion.
Fix your spelling, grammar, and all of that now.
But do it one at a time.
When I say write with your emotions, let your body lead the charge.
Follow your feelings.
When I say edit with logic, let your brain lead the charge.
Be analytical.
Simple formula.
Melting Writer’s Block Away
Some of the best times to create is when you don’t feel like it.
Yep, I said it.
When you don’t feel like it, you CHALLENGE yourself.
This is a mental workout.
Imagine if you went to the gym and only lift the weights that you are comfortable with.
Then you would never grow.
The same is the case for content creation.
You need to push yourself if you want to learn how to cure writer’s block.
The days where you are feeling stuck, bulldoze through it.
Write anyways.
You’ll see the friction constantly melting away.
It’s the friction that is preventing you from seeing your creative genius.
Once the friction consistently melts, you’ll see what I meant when I said that writer’s block was an illusion all along.
All good, it’s an illusion that you tamed like a beast.
For more practical communication insights, subscribe to my free daily newsletter.
– ArmaniTalks 🎙️🔥