Writer’s Block

What is Writer’s Block? You may think you know EXACTLY what you're going to write, but as soon as the white screen appears before you, your mind suddenly goes completely blank. Sweat is trickling down the back of your neck, anguish and panic and suffering kind of blank. The tighter the deadline, the worse the anguish of writer's block gets.

It doesn’t necessarily matter if you've done a decade of research and all you have to do is string sentences you can repeat in your sleep together into coherent paragraphs. Writer's block can strike anyone at any time. Based in fear, it raises our doubts about our own self-worth.

Causes of Writer’s Block

1.    Perfectionism: You must absolutely produce a masterpiece of literature straight off in the first draft.

2.    Editing instead of composing: Instead of composing what is in our mind, we go on editing the line we typed just now. This is due to fear.

3.    Can’t get started: It's always the first sentence that's the hardest. As writers, we all know how extremely important the first sentence is.

4.    Disturbed Concentration: We keep so much problems in our mind that the concentration is disturbed. Some people will have love problem. Some will have problem of plenty and can’t decide what to wear for next day’s party. Some others will have problems in marital life. Some, will have money problem and tend to think of the fees to pay for the next month. With all these tensions, keeping concentration on the subject is difficult.

5.    Procrastination or laziness: We think of to do something but defer it for the next hour, next day, next week and this becomes next month and next year and has the potential to become never. By postponing things, we will never be able to do anything.

Overcoming writer’s block

1.    Be prepared: The only thing to fear is fear itself. If you spend some time mulling over your project before you actually sit down to write, you may be able to circumvent the worst of the crippling panic.

2.    Forget Perfectionism: No one ever writes a masterpiece in the first draft. Don't put any expectations on your writing at all. In fact, tell yourself you're going to write absolute garbage, and prepare yourself to redo the whole thing.

3.    Compose instead of editing: Sit down at your computer or your desk. Take a deep breath and blow out all your thoughts. Let your finger hover over your keyboard or pick up your pen.

4.    Forget the first sentence: Go for the middle or even the end. Start wherever you can. Once you write a few paragraphs, the first sentence will automatically come.

5.    Concentrate: Create a space, perhaps even a physical one, where nothing exists except the single present moment. Put everything aside and tell yourself that writing is like a vacation.

6.    Stop postponing: Write an outline. Keep your research notes within sight. Use someone else's writing to get going. Do whatever you can to start off and beat the laziness. Tack up anything that could possibly help you to get going: notes, outlines etc.