I want to write, but can’t write…

You have a brilliant idea. You have all the information needed to flesh out the idea. You have the laptop sitting on a desk in a cosy corner of your bedroom with no distractions. You have completed all the household chores.? You have rested well. Now, you are ready to start writing, but the words simply don’t come forth. You search for them frantically. You keep staring at the blank screen in front of you. But the words continue to elude you…

Does this scene appear familiar to you?

Relax!!! You are not alone…

Many of us are in the same boat, but does that alleviate your problem, in any way? Not really.

So, here are five powerful techniques I have learned and practised over time to deal with this emptiness, commonly known as writer’s block. But before you proceed, it is important to acknowledge that writer’s block is not the inability to write but the inability to cope with the fear of not writing well enough.

On a personal note, my daily writing schedule was disturbed over the last few months due to some family exigency. Having run out of my daily writing habit, I started doubting myself. Thankfully, however, recently I have started restoring my habit. And these are the tools that are helping me to regain my lost rhythm.

Here’s what you can do…

·?????? Do your homework: Often you may struggle to write for lack of content to build on your idea. You can easily avoid this drought by doing thorough research on your topic and having the outline drawn in the form of flash cards. Let each card have one subtopic or one chapter written on one side. List the bullet points expanding on the subtopic on the reverse side of the card. Next, arrange the cards in a sequence that helps you build the flow of your narrative. Once the cards are ready, pick up the first one and start writing on the bullet points. With the next card waiting in the wings, your mind is at ease and your words flow smoothly, so you never run the risk of hitting writer’s block.

·?????? Create a routine: Noted American author William Faulkner once said, “I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately, I am inspired at 9 o’clock every morning.”. Does that mean every day at 9.00 am he had the creative juices flowing at his peak? Maybe or maybe not. What’s important is that he treated writing like a job. In other words, if you write only when you are motivated, you end up being no more than an amateurish writer. Professional authors make it a habit to write every day at the same time at the same place. Building a daily writing habit and schedule is the most potent weapon to tackle writer’s block.

·?????? Use your peak energy levels: Being a budding author you may be pursuing a full-time job. It is likely, therefore, that your professional and personal responsibilities leave little or no time and energy for you to write even if you want to. The life stories of successful authors reveal this as a common challenge in their early days of struggle before they started earning handsomely and could quit their jobs. So, how did they manage to write regularly? The secret lies in being a morning person. Most of them, barring a few exceptions, were early risers and completed their daily writing job before starting with the household chores. Importantly, early mornings are when your energy levels, physical and mental, are at their peak. Your mind is fresh as the dew and the brain performs at its finest. However, despite your best attempts at redesigning your schedule, if you are unable to find a morning slot for writing, do it at a time that suits you. Let that not be an excuse – keep writing daily, nonetheless.

·?????? Eliminate distractions: You are most productive as a writer when you have a peaceful work environment. This is important to steer away from distractions that can impede your flow of thoughts. Note that there are successful authors who have authored an endless number of novels sitting in a busy coffee shop, but it is surely not recommended for beginners. So, find a location that allows you to think and write with minimal disturbance. Turn off email and any app notifications. Take your family into confidence that you are not to be disturbed during your writing hour unless there is an emergency. Overall, cut off yourself from the rest of the world and watch your brain perform at its peak.

·?????? Create your reader persona:? Do you ever ask yourself, ‘Whom am I writing this for? Who is going to read?’ If yes, here’s a smart tip to get an answer to your questions, Build the persona of your target reader in terms of age, preferences, profession, challenges in life, dreams and fears. This helps you picture your reader, and you can then curate your content to suit his/her requirements.

For example, while writing this blog, I imagined my reader to be a young lady in her thirties, a full-time professional who loves to read and write and wants to author a novel. But when she finally gets down to write, she goes blank after a few pages. She can then proceed no further. So, she abandons the project. A few weeks later she tries another idea, only to hit the wall. Therefore, she is frustrated and feels writing is not her forte and is on the verge of giving up writing. Imagining her plight, I write this blog and firmly believe that the techniques discussed here will work for her, just as they have worked for authors across ages and borders.

In conclusion, let’s accept that you stop writing not when you hit writer's block. You hit writer’s block when you stop writing. And the trick lies in not succumbing to the challenge. Instead, leverage the information given above and break the shackle that’s pinning you down. Grab the bull by its horns and tame it down as you keep writing, writing, and writing until writing becomes a part of your being, without which you cannot survive…

#writer'sblock #readerpersona #writing