Is it really writer's block?

Figuring out what's wrong

I’ve never had long-term ‘writer’s block’. I don’t know whether it exists as its own concept. Surely it’s about something else? When my mother died I couldn’t write but that was grief, not writer’s block. In any other job I would have taken leave and rested, and I wouldn’t have called it ‘surgeon’s block’ or ‘bus driver’s block.’

A friend of mine really struggled with her second book. She had an intense year where she froze up and couldn’t seem to make any words work for her. That sounds like writer’s block but maybe it was anxiety or depression? It’s so hard to compartmentalise these things when our work is our life. This post isn’t about full on blocks - for that, there’s some good advice on Writing Excuses here.

This post is about mini-blocks (which I have quite often) - times when I find myself procrastinating or avoiding writing completely. It helps to identify WHY I feel stuck. For me, mini-blocks can come from:

A project not working

Some days nothing is working with my book and I feel stuck. Usually, it’s happened because there’s something not quite right with the start of my book. So, if the middle of my story is saggy and dull, it’s probably because I haven’t set up enough threads of conflict, or because my main characters aren’t interacting in interesting ways, or because I haven’t added enough interior voice. It could be a plot problem or a voice problem or a character problem. If I have a run of days where I can’t connect with my work, I go back to the start of the story and look at what’s missing, and try to spot the bits I haven’t set up well enough.

Too many rejections in a row

Not everything I write is taken by my agent, and not everything my agents likes is snapped up by a publisher. I know this, and my business model is structured around the expectation of an imperfect hit rate. YET if I have a lot of bad news in a row, it can be hard to stop myself feeling low. A narrative spirals in my head that looks like ‘What is the point of writing a new book if nobody wants my other book? Why am I bothering. I’ll just stay under the covers all day and eat cheese.’

That feels like writer’s block, but it isn’t. It’s heartbreak, disappointment. It can take time for my energy to come back and for my heart to recover enough to fall in love with a new project; something that makes me feel like it’s worth trying again.

Exhaustion

Last September and October I did a long run of promo touring. I zipped about on trains to bookshops, schools, lit fests, libraries and shop signings. By the end I was totally burned out from it. There was no way I could write. All I could do was lie on the sofa under a blanket and read.

Habit

If I haven’t written in a while, I kind of forget how. In fact, every time I start writing a new book I can’t quite remember how I did the last book. Maybe that’s a good thing. It’s probably healthy that I forget how much I tear my hair out or I’d never write another book.

But if I have a run of not writing – maybe a promo tour plus a holiday – it takes me a good week or two to get into the habit of going to my desk and working.

Can’t be arsed-ness

Sometimes I just cba. When I’ve handed a book in, my ‘writing well’ is totally empty and I just CANNOT BE ARSED to write.

So, what do I do in a mini-block?

Once I’ve worked out WHY I’m blocked, then I’m halfway to fixing it.

If I WANT to write but I can’t, I like to trick myself into working by plot-dreaming. If I’m on a train, I stare out the window and think about stuff. There’s something about scenery flicking by that activates my subconsciousness. If I’m home – and this is a trick I learned in Covid-times, when I couldn’t travel – I put on sport. I find that having sport on in the background works on my brain in the same way as train windows. It makes me dream. Or I might draw a character spidergram, or a map for my books. Anything that is going to motivate/tempt me into writing it.

But if I DON’T want to write, I listen to my body. I rest. I go to museums or galleries or movies. I draw. I people-watch. I read. Or I just lie around and watch tv.

And, during all this, I keep the faith that I will not forget HOW to write and that, when I feel ready to start again, it WILL all come pouring out.