Hours of staring, gazing, scribbling, drawing; just to write one paragraph or even a sentence at times. It sounds exhausting, doesn’t it? Well, that is what we call a “writer’s block”. Well, we like to call it the “writer’s block”. Writer’s block is described by writers as a phenomenon of the overwhelming feeling of being stuck in the writing process without the ability to move forward and write anything new.
A writer’s block can hit someone at any point during their work. One can be writing the most important part of their book, which is all set and thought of, and suddenly could not find the right words to fit it in the book. Or one may simply run out of ideas for their next article, blog, poem. It can manifest differently for different writers.
Although, few of the most commonly seen symptoms may include the inability to focus, feeling mentally foggy, a lack of inspiration, and feeling stressed and frustrated. Through various studies, researches and articles a few of the reasons that can be mentioned are:
- Expectations from a previous work
Having published a successful book (or article) makes you feel like there is an immense responsibility on your shoulders to deliver an even brighter next piece and if not so, at least one as good as the previous one.
That anxiety is a writer’s block behind the door.
- Burn-out
Writing non-stop, excluding social and recreation activities of life, weaken resilience and, even, has a negative impact on the immunity system. Body and mind naturally need to alternate periods of activity with periods of rest and recovery.
- Distractions
Quite a lot of times there are things which cannot be kept at hold and have to be dealt with immediately. This can act as distractions for the writer and chasing those activities can become a cause of the writer’s block. When those distractions mount, it’s often easier and more productive to just stop writing and go and do whatever it is that is causing any reduction in pressure, stress.
- Self-Criticism
Excessive self-criticism is often what holds writers back from actually writing. Most writers compare their work with that of other, more successful writers or even to their own earlier work. Undoubtedly, we are our greatest critics although, it is important to be cautious about how overwhelming it can become.
- Fear of failure
Fear of failure or the fear of rejection can settle down deep in a writer when they have been worrying a lot about their work. In the world of blogging, this fear is very predominantly present, each article we publish has always the questions “what if no one likes it?”, “what if people think what I write useless information?”. Fear of rejection is part of the writing process which sometimes may lead to the block.
While overcoming writer’s block is usually a different process depending on the individual, most writers will experience writer’s block from time to time. This is a temporary condition. With a desire to persevere as writers that make them get back on track with their creative work in due course.
Read my article about overcoming these blocks.
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Show comments Hide comments[…] that frustration and dissatisfaction at least once in their course of writing. (Read my article on why writer’s block happens). However, this does not signify that the writer will never be able to resume his work or will lose […]