I Have Started Writing But Hit A Mental Block

You have settled on an idea and confirmed its viability but as soon as you start writing; the creativity dissipates. Doubts creep in. You start procrastinating on whether or not people will like your writing. It gets so bad that you simply shutdown and keep postponing writing.

This is not unique to you. Aspiring and accomplished writers have met a writer’s block while working on a major piece. Sometimes the loss of a loved one, a job, a pet, a relationship amongst others can affect your ability to write. In some cases it can contribute to the “tone of your writing.”? Artists worldwide have been known to express their feelings and experiences through their creative works.

In spite of the challenges, how do you ensure you deliver a full manuscript on time instead of working on the same year after year with zero launch? Here are some tips that may work for you:

• Set a writing target and design a schedule of what you want to accomplish each day or month – Whether writing as a hobby or for a commercial entity, writing is an investment. Treat it like a strategic project and commit to writing X chapters a week.
• Have a story or book structure – this will help you overcome the doubts of “how to start a story or a book”; "how to develop and unpack the story or theme" and “how to end the story or book”. A structure helps an author think fast, write multiple chapters at a time and build on the chronological flow of events, develop characters etc
• Use a whiteboard and sticky notes – this can stay permanently in your writing room till you finish your first book draft. They serve as great overall snapshot of what you are trying to accomplish. If you want to play with the flow of the story or book, you can shift the sticky notes around and or replace them
• Embracing creative sparks - regardless of schedule, write down an idea when it pops up as you may risk losing the train of thought. Events or experiences can trigger creative ideas in between your writing that can improve your work.
• Don’t focus on perfection at an initial stage – there is a tendency to want to perfect paragraphs and spell check as you write. This can drag you down. Write say three chapters, close your device; and then after a day or two revisit the spell check and the structure of the sentences. If you get stuck on perfection as you write, you may never finish and will likely lose your train of thought
• Participate in an activity that triggers your creativity – could be swimming, hiking, running etc
• Read a lot – to be a writer, you need to appreciate the work of others. At a bare minimum it will help validate your style and at the same time you can draw strength from writers who inspire you. Reading also helps in shaping what you want our audience to know and finding “your own voice.”
• Find a person to work with – it could be your partner, an editor, a family member, a literary agent etc who is ready to review every few chapters as you work on them and giving you honest feedback. Knowing someone is working with you helps set the pace for writing.
• Avoid distractions – if in a noisy house or place, you can consider a writing vacation; and or locking yourself in a room till you finish a target.
• Address the psycho-socio aspects – social shocks such as loss of a loved one or loss of a job may impact your schedule. Its ok to step back and mourn your loss before focusing on your writing again. Writing about your personal loss may just give you the healing lifeline that you need. And when you get in touch with your emotions (love, joy, sadness); it gives life to your writing and can create empathy with your target audience. People relate well with the daily emotions and challenges they undergo and a writing that connects to their situation.
• Watch a movie – whether scientific, documentary etc; it helps inspire on how a writing can transform into something exceptional?

Writing two to three chapters every week or fortnight will ensure you complete your book. Once you have the full story or book written in raw format, you can go back and correct spelling mistakes, the sentence structure etc. This can be iterative. Some people use tools such as Grammarly and other A.I tools but remember that if you are trying to use street language such as sheng or pidgin, A.I may alter your conversations. Bottom line is if applying A.I tools, reconfirm the content still relays the intended purpose.