Well hello there, Reader!
Right before we kicked off our bi-monthly D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) game this past Saturday, our friend asked me for some storytelling advice.
“You’ve had writer’s block before, right? So how did you handle it?”
She looked beyond frustrated and a bit defeated. But she’s far from alone in that regard.
Because if you type “writer’s block” into Google you’ll get about 18,500,000 results. No joke. So clearly a huge amount of storytellers— both newbies and pros—suffer from the dreaded Blank Page Syndrome.
So why is that?
Because what might seem like the exact same problem for every unfortunate soul who’s struck by it, is actually one of 3 distinct possibilities.
What’s Causing Your Creative Block?
1) Burn Out
Your brain is overwhelmed and burned out and it’s forcing you to take a break, because you haven’t allowed it to.
Trust me, I get it. In this capitalist hellscape, we’ve all been conditioned to believe that if we’re not being creative every waking moment, then we’re wasting precious time we will NEVER get back.
It’s a toxic lie, Reader, and we need to give ourselves a break.
2) Possibility Paralysis
It’s a statistical fact that when presented with too many options, our brains get overwhelmed and opt for choosing no selection. Which means if you’re staring down a blank page feeling like your Well of Creativity has run dry, your best option is to start small and start writing.
Wait…what?
Just stick with me for a moment. In this situation, your best option is to pick a random writing prompt and write 250-500 words. And then pick another. I’ve found this to be the best cure for what-to-write-itis.
The writing doesn’t even have to be good. And no one other than you ever has to see it.
The important thing is to get you out of your funk. To ignite your creative brain, and get it ready and warmed up for everything you want to accomplish.
3) Project Pitfall
The last reason for a creative block is running into a snag or pitfall on a current project. Instead of giving your brain time to come up with a solution, you sit there beating your head against a figurative brick wall trying to force a solution out.
The best option—if your schedule allows—is to just shelve the project until the solution presents itself.
This is exactly what I did for a project I started in late December/early January called Seventh Swan based on The Wild Swans and The Six Swans fairytales. (Or the Aarne-Thompson type 451 stories “The Brothers Who Were Turned into Birds”).
Back in January I couldn’t quite figure out how I wanted the story to end. So I decided to shelve it and work on a few other projects, (mainly This Fair City).
5 months later…
Then yesterday the perfect ending just came to me while I was dumping a load of clothes into the laundry.
Sometimes abandoning a project for a while is the right call. Especially when your creative block is caused by a Project Pitfall.
Let’s face it, Reader, we all want to be that writer speedily banging out words like they’re possessed by a muse. But sometimes we’re like, “Words. Words would be nice.” The important thing is to understand why those words aren’t coming so we can get unstuck.
Well until next time, Reader, this is your friendly neighborhood storytelling Kat wishing you a wonderfully creative week.
Your cohort in storytelling,
Kat Vancil
🐱
PS 👉 Do you suffer from Creative Blocks? How do you get out of them? Hit reply and let me know.
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First off, they have good taste.
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Jeff Fajans, PhD - Creative Performance & Leadership Coach | The Psychology of Creative Work
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