Overcoming Writer’s Block

Abstract

In this paper, I will be discussing about the strategies to tackle and overcome writer's block. Writer's block is a condition or the situation where there is a difficulty for a writer to write down the things he/she wants to share or express. If the cure is not found to tackle the writer’s block then there is a possibility of giving up as a writer and the story will never reach the mass like the writer had hoped for.

Not few, but many times a writer who may be an author, poet or novelist faces this challenge while writing about what they know, feel or want to share because of many reasons. It is somehow difficult to write what people have in mind. But like the saying, “nothing is impossible”, there is always a way to tackle the problem and achieve what we want in life.

This research paper demonstrates the step by step guide to overcoming writer’s block in the organization where I am going to prepare the process by listing several options, elaborating on the subject by taking examples to support my views.

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Journals and references are included where necessary. Keywords: Creativity, Writers Block, Distractions, Writing, Critical Thinking.

Writer’s block is a condition in which a writer with desire to write finds himself unable to write. Writer's block can happen for short span of time or it may last for years. It is an anxiety writer feel when they are unable to transfer ideas from their mind to the paper.

According to Charles Bukowski (1920-1994), “Writing about a writer’s block is better than not writing at all.” According to him, writer’s block happens to each and every writer and it is inevitable.

While not a concern for a novelist or a poet, it can be a different and difficult experience for a team of writers and analyst who do not have time to devote Writer’s block. These writers include Content writers and that employee who work in media houses or book publishing companies whose work is to deliver and show their work on regular basis and on given time. In a corporate world, deadlines are the main concern while writing and the employees should accomplish their work on given date and time. As a team leader, my writing staff would benefit from this step by step guide to overcome writer’s block which has been elaborated and explained as follows: Overcoming and conquering Fear: Many writer struggles with being afraid and then if they cannot conquer fear then the writers cannot succeed as being a writer. Fear is the main reason behind the failure of any writer.

Me as a team leader of writer, I would try and help them overcome their fear by helping them to tackle it. Take a time off if you have just finished a project: Idealness is the part of being creative and as a leader, I would grant my employees to take a break from the regular work and get a time to grab new experiences from life by reading more, travelling or other forms of art before starting again. With travel comes new sounds, smells, languages, tastes, sensations and sights and all these spark different synapses in your brain, helping in building new connections and rewiring your brain(Rohan, L, 2018).

Try Writing Exercises

According to Maya Angelou's "Just Write" strategy, writing is like any sport. It explains how practice makes perfect. As we have seen many authors argue that inspiration will only come to those who push themselves to keep and improve their work. Writer suggests not to overthink and keeps writing without knowing about the final result (Epel, N. 1994). This is one the step I would suggest my employees to practice more and more to achieve and finish the work on given time. Take a break and make a drink for the team: Writers are asked to make tea or coffee for the team. Research shows drinking coffee improves creativity and enhances the divergent thinking (Huang et al., 2018). An increase in divergent thinking helps one to come up with several possible ideas to solve a problem, proving essential to tackle creative obstacles in the writing.

Listen to the music

A new study suggests that listening to happy music promotes more divergent thinking—a key element of creativity. In today's world where there is so much stress-related work, music can help and assists us to escape the situation. A study showed that creativity was higher for people who listened to happy and upbeat music (classical genre was used in this case) while performing tasks that use divergent thinking (Ritter & Ferguson, 2017).

Remove Distractions

Distractions include the surrounding that affects the writer’s ability to write. Television, Mobile Phones, Food, People, the internet etc can be included as the distraction. When writers surround themselves with these things then they might get distracted. Moreover, distractions from a mobile phones by getting notification from Viber, Facebook, and other media of social media blocks the writer able to write. So it is better to remove distraction and get the job done by being the perfect writer. Apart from these steps to overcome writer’s block, I personally feel with my experience that the “Just Write” by Maya Angelou perfectly matches the working corporate environment.

According to Maya Angelou (1969), “Writing is like any art or sport. Practice makes perfect. Inspiration will only come if you push yourself to keep putting pen to paper.” She believed that when you are suffering from writer’s block, you should force yourself to continue writing every day, no matter if you’re pleased with the final product or not. She explained, “What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat.’ And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, ‘Okay. Okay. I’ll come.”

Conclusion

In a corporate world where it is crucial to meet the deadline, the steps I discussed in the paper will help to minimize Writer’s Block. And like Maya Angelou explained in the book, I personally feel the same as the writer. The only way to overcome writer's block is by not overthinking and by eliminating fear. We should write without knowing about the result and keep on pushing ourselves to the level where we will overcome fear and conquer what we want to achieve in life as a writer. Every writer faces this problem many times in their life and with the above-mentioned solutions, they can achieve what they want. Writing is a part of the critical thinking process and such thinking is effectively implemented by this guide to overcome writer’s block.