If you've been blessed (or cursed, depending on who you ask) with the gift of writing, you know how much fun it is to be able to start writing and just flow through words as you fill in a blank page. To me, writing feels a lot like running where, once I start, there is no stopping me until I exhaust myself with whatever I'm pursuing. Words feel like steps, typed down with the same thud of my feet hitting the floor, sentences flow like the wind that hits my face, and every new paragraph is a mile completed. The more I write, the more I run, and with that comes speed, making the entire process of it just feel as natural to me as breathing. Whether you're typing it down or writing it by hand, once you start there's no going back. However, it doesn't always happen this way, writing isn't always the easiest thing to do sometimes, and then you end up stuck with the infamous writer's block.
Dreaded by anyone who weaves their art with the meticulous use of words, writer's block happens to everyone, at one point or another. Perhaps it was my own writer's block that incentivized me to write this, but perhaps it is because I couldn't decide what to write about - either way, here we are. The thing that gets me the most about writer's block is not the fact that it's such a powerful force that literally feels like a brick wall that impedes your brain from getting the gears going, but the fact that most of us just won't accept it and try to force writing, but will keep hitting the wall over and over. Yet, that is not necessarily the best way to solve the problem of a creative blockage, wherein there are different types of creative slowdown that should be addressed differently. Rather than sit there, frustrated and terrified of writer's block, its easier to dissect the problem and come up with a creative solution to it, and leave the overwhelming feeling of not being able to write aside until you can get back to it.
The most common and most feared form of artistic blockage comes from not having an idea at all, a common and very fair distress. Inevitably, one finds themselves disgruntled with not even being able to start, all you can do is stare at a blank screen and call it quits before you even give it a try. The good thing about that kind of blockage, however, is that there are endless possibilites of topics to write about, so taking some time from your own writing, you can read and read until your mind begins to build an outline before you even know it. You can also try writing exercises, such as setting random prompts and force yourself to follow a set question, which then enables your brain to start writing and, as you follow along with research on the topic, you'll eventually gain traction and your writing will begin to flow.
Personally, the kind of creative block I usually get is not from a lack of an idea, not for fault of brainstorming, but rather due to a fear that none of my topics will actually thrive into a well-written piece. The issue then becomes that you come up with too many ideas that eventually you want to focus on all of them, but end up not actually focusing on one long enough to finish writing about it. You become your worst critic, nothing is good enough and demotivates you from actually following through with a specific topic. My best advice, as this happens more frequently than I'd like to admit, is to write down all your ideas into separate documents, get as much writing done on each as possible, and then put them away except for the one you've filled with the most content. As it turns out, when you get back to the rest of your ideas, your subconscious has been working on them long enough so you can develop them days later.
But what happens when you're halfway through a piece - be it an article, a book, short story, prose or even just your outline - and, despite doing great up until this point, you feel that brick wall stagnating your creative juices from flowing? You managed to get some work done the day before and everything was flowing great, but the next day, when you attempt to pick up where you left off, you're stuck. The first step is not to panic or wreak havoc, for anger will only slow you down even more. Instead, read over what you've written, look at your notes and perhaps even do some more research. If that doesn't help, maybe you need some time away from writing, get out of house and rest your mind; again, chances are than your subconscious will still be working on your idea, and when you least expect it, a bright little bulb shines above your head.
Solving writer's block is relatively simple, but for the most part, it just takes time. Quite frequently, forcing something just for the sake of getting it over with ends up making a mess that will only frustrate you and take you off track from your writing. It feels like treason at times, that the words which once came to you with such ease and have always been your escape outlet, are now at fault and impeding you from getting any work done. The key is not to struggle, but rather to accept the creative blockage and try to work around it, to understand that, alike any other kind of art, writing takes time and dedication, it takes heart and soul to put something great together. So, if you can't seem to get past an idea, don't panic - remember that it took Mark Twain months before he could continue writing Huckleberry Finn after stopping halfway. it was only after a long time of having writers block that he came up with the idea of Huck and Jim taking a wrong turn at the river and getting lost.
