4 Ways to DESTROY Writer’s Block – Every Time
Give your ears some momentum! Listen now: (00:16:08)
Writer’s block can plague writers, keeping them from writing their books or building their freelance careers. In this episode, Chris and Gena talk about writer’s block and how to DESTROY it like the wimpy villain it is.
Ideas include getting a due date, finding accountability, using the Pomodoro technique and more.
What works for you?
Links:
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Episode 2 transcript
[00:00:13].910] - Gena Welcome. Excellent. Writers, this is the Writing Momentum podcast. My name is Gena Maselli. I'm here with my husband, Christopher Maselli. [00:00:21].840] - Chris Hey, Gena. How's it going today? [00:00:23].500] - Gena It's going good. How are you? [00:00:25].020] - Chris I'm doing awesome. You know why? To the recording podcast. [00:00:28].440] - Gena That's true. That's really good. You know why I'm also doing awesome. [00:00:31].830] - Chris Why? [00:00:32].420] - Gena Because I finished an article today that really has been tough. Yeah, I did. It was a tough one for me. And so that seems like a perfect topic for our podcast today is writer's block. [00:00:48].960] - Chris Yeah. You're writing an article for magazine. You had to do an interview, and you kind of knew the whole direction of it and everything, but it was still a little hard to get out. [00:00:56].620] - Gena Well, and honestly, I've had two now back to back. I had two articles, and they were both just really hard. It was just like trying to get blood from a turnip or something. Is that the expression? [00:01:10].370] - Chris Let's start off with a definition so we're all on the same page as writers. [00:01:18].840] - Gena We're going to define the term. [00:01:20].390] - Chris What is writer's block? Okay. Why don't you define it? Because you just went through it. [00:01:23].790] - Gena Okay. So for me, writer's block is really just feeling very stuck about what to write or how to get it produced. You know, you've got to do something, but you're just stuck. How are you going to get this thing done? [00:01:39].360] - Chris It's just like the feeling where you sit down at the computer and, you've done this maybe 1000 times before, and yet you can't seem to get your fingers to move. It's like you're just sitting there staring at a blank screen. I've had that happen a lot of times. I've been writing for 30 years. I've had that happen a lot of times. [00:01:57].120] - Gena Yeah, I don't have writer's blocked that often. And we'll talk about why. I honestly think that part of my reason for writer's block this time was because we have so much going on. We have teenagers in the house. We have three children, two teenagers. One of them was in a theater production. So we were racing to rehearsals every night. The other one was in sports, and he was racing to practice every afternoon. And so we were just racing a lot. And I think that the byproduct of that for me was that I was stretched too thin to actually sit down and produce something. I think it really came out as writer's block for me. [00:02:45].240] - Chris Totally. If you've ever had to sit down and have a conversation with someone or you've ever wanted to even just sit down and read or something, but you're really stressed because you've been so busy, it can be hard to concentrate. Your mind is just going. Sometimes that's all writer's block is, like you can't concentrate on the thing because your mind is it's going in 50 different directions. I've kind of approached this a couple of ways over the years. Sometimes I felt like writer's block isn't even really a thing. [00:03:18].880] - Chris And as you'll see, there's a reason I say that because there are easy ways to bust up writer's block. To destroy it. There are very easy ways. And so in that sense, it's not really a thing. And yet it is because I've experienced it. I've had times where I'm sitting in front of my computer, just staring into space, unable to get anything to come out of my fingers when I'm writing. So it's got to be a thing. But it doesn't really have to be something that you have to live with or has to keep you frozen or paralyzed. [00:03:54].430] - Gena It doesn't have to paralyze you. So we've come up with some of the ways that we tackle writer's block. Go ahead. [00:04:06].460] - Chris The first one, this one is probably the one that we live by the most. Okay. If you have writer's block, this is the number one way to destroy it, and that is get a deadline. Okay. Get your editor who you're writing that piece for, or you're writing that book for, or get a friend. If you're not writing it for someone in particular, then get them to give you a deadline you cannot miss. [00:04:37].600] - Gena It can't be someone who is just going to pat you on the back and tell you that's alright. That's okay. Not a problem, honey. No, that's not what this person is. This is that friend who is going to hold you accountable. So it may not be best for it to be a significant other or a spouse. It may need to be someone outside of someone. It's a friend who's just really honest with you or even that parent, not that mothering person that says, "Honey, that's okay." [00:05:10].690] - Gena If you've got that parent who is kind of the drill-sergeant parent, or who's the coach, the sports coach, then maybe that person would be a really good one. [00:05:20].200] - Chris I've actually told editors before. I've had some editors who will say, "Just whenever you can get it and that's good." And I said, "No, can you give me a deadline that I need to hit?" Because I know that having that deadline motivates me. I can't tell you how many times over the years I have had a complete block when it comes to writing something, and suddenly that deadline encroaches. And I can't help but sit down and write the thing. I get it out because that deadline keeps me accountable. [00:05:53].030] - Gena Absolutely. [00:05:54].510] - Chris Speaking of accountability. [00:05:55].960] - Gena Okay, that's the next one that we would say is accountability. That is writers' groups, a partner, a writing partner, Focusmate. On Twitter, there's a 5:00 a.m. Writing... What's that called? [00:06:10].820] - Chris 5:00 a.m. Writers Club. [00:06:12].140] - Gena 5:00 a.m. Writers Club where you kind of get to know other people. This is really valuable for those people who are writing alone. You are writing. You have a dream. You have a desire to grow in your writing, or you have a book that you're trying to get out. Maybe the people around you don't understand it. Maybe your immediate family does not understand what you're doing, or maybe they're proud of you, but again, they just really don't understand what it takes to get it out. [00:06:40].310] - Gena There are even some Facebook groups you can join that can help give that accountability, build those relationships and Focusmate. Chris, talk about Focusmate. What is that? [00:06:52].460] - Chris Yeah. So Focusmate is a service. It's free. They do have A-5-a-month premium plan. It gives you unlimited connections, but the basic plan is good enough to try it out. Go to Focusmate.com. What they do is they have a calendar on there, and you can click on a date and time on the calendar. It might be in the next five minutes, and they will connect you online with someone else from around the world who also wants to connect and be accountable to someone. [00:07:23].980] - Chris You'll connect up. They'll show up in a little window on your computer, and you'll show up in a little window on their computer. You spend the first minute or so just saying, "Hey, here's what I'm working on. I'm working on an article," and they might say, "Well, I'm working on my spreadsheets" or whatever. They might be working on an article, too. Then you both say, "Okay, good luck." For the next 45 minutes, you'll work together, streaming online, keeping each other accountable for what you're working on. [00:07:50].570] - Chris At the end of 45 minutes, the timer goes off. They tell you and you tell them how you did. Then you say goodbye and sign off. It's a nice, safe way to keep each other accountable. I found it incredibly motivating just to connect with a stranger online. I've worked with people from South Africa, from England, from Germany, from LA, from all over the world. It's kind of a fascinating way to connect with one another. It sounds really weird, I know. [00:08:23].690] - Chris It is a little uncomfortable the first time you do it, but then it's kind of a really great way to connect. In fact, I like it so much that I reached out to the people who do Focusmate, and I created a Focusmate group just for writers. So if you sign up for Focusmate at Focusmate.com, then go to WritingMomentum.com/focusmate and join our writers group where you can connect with other writers. I don't think there's anything quite as good as having that accountability. [00:08:53].140] - Chris That's one way. The other thing we do is we both are part of an online writers' group where we have friends who are writers and authors that we're accountable to on a weekly basis. I also have joined another mastermind that I'm a part of on a weekly basis that I get together with, and we help keep each other accountable for what we do with our writing and our businesses. Gena, you're also connected with an author that you very much enjoy having as a mentor. [00:09:21].290] - Chris She keeps you accountable for your writing every other week or so. And so these are always we've forced accountability into our lives and keep in mind. We've been doing this for 30 years. We force accountability into our lives, don't we? [00:09:34].720] - Gena Absolutely. You've got to not only do that, but this is kind of a bunny trail here, but when you get in with these writing groups or when you connect with other writers, you really do feel like you've found your tribe. You feel like you have found these people who speak your language. They understand what you're going through. They understand the frustrations you're going through, whether you write fiction or nonfiction or devotions or blog articles or just whatever, they understand. There's nothing like being a part of that tribe to help encourage you and keep you motivated. [00:10:12].850] - Chris Yeah, that's good. [00:10:15].550] - Gena Then our next one, our next point that we have, is to get an outline. I did this just this past week. I was telling you I was having so much trouble with this article that I was doing because I was looking at this interview that I had done. It was a great interview. I'm looking at all these other extra information that I have, extra articles that I had, extra resource material that I had, and there was just so much that I was trying to write this article from all of this. [00:10:45].500] - Gena I had to just sit down, and I started outlining it. I put together a page outline so that then when I start writing, I just go from the outline to the page. As we've said, when you write, just write. Chris and I say this, and Chris tells me this. He reminds me of this all the time. It doesn't matter if you write junk, it's easier to edit the junk than to stare at a blank page. [00:11:11].030] - Chris This has been to write from scratch and to create something from nothing. This is what you have to do when you first start writing. [00:11:15].970] - Gena Yeah. So looking at that outline really helped me get started. Then I was able to go back and add extra information. I was able to smooth out some of the rough areas, but there was nothing like that outline just to help get all my thoughts on the paper and then to help me organize my thoughts. I was working on an article, but I strongly encourage people to do that if they're trying to do a book. [00:11:42].780] - Chris Yeah. And finally, if you want to break writer's block, just get writing. Sit down and start writing. Even if it's horrible, even if it's not what you're supposed to be writing, just start writing. Remember, the difference between someone who's published and someone who's not published is often that one has actually written a book, right? The person who's published has actually written their book. So just sit down and start writing, even if it doesn't feel like it will flow. Start writing about something. Write about today. Write a journal entry. Get a writer's prompt online. Whatever you need to do. [00:12:19].530] - Gena If you're working on something like a book or an article or something, just start writing about what it is that you're doing. You can organize it later. Start with just thinking, "I'm going to write this article about this, and I really want to make sure that I cover this and I really want to do this and these are some topics that I need to cover." Start doing that because you can always take that and either expand it or even just set it aside. Maybe it helps you organize your thoughts, especially if you're not an outliner. [00:12:46].830] - Gena If you're someone who outlining kind of makes you nervous and you just want to write, maybe you need to do just some free association. You're just writing freely about the topic that you're going to cover and just start there. [00:13:04].720] - Chris Good stuff. All right. So let me just recap this just real briefly. So first of all, what is writer's block? Your writing is blocked. You can't think of what to write next. You're staring at a blank screen. It absolutely can be real. So don't feel bad about it. Just know that there are ways to break through it. And so the four ways that we advise most are to get yourself a deadline. We always get ourselves a deadline, make ourselves accountable to an editor or to just getting a piece of work done. [00:13:35].280] - Chris Speaking of accountability, we've joined writer groups. There are online writer groups. There are online masterminds you can join. You can get a partner online that will help you. Or you can use a service like Focusmate at Focusmate.com and then go WritingMomentum.com/focusmate to join our writers' group. We'd love to have you. Then next, we love putting together an outline. If you don't know what to write. Sometimes just having that outline will help you get over the hump, and then finally, just get writing. You want to write. If you want to write, just start doing it. It sounds silly, but just start doing it. [00:14:15].700] - Gena It may never see the light of day, and that's okay. Just get yourself going. Because writing is a muscle like any muscle that needs to be exercised to get stronger. We hope that this has been helpful to you. And if you have ways that you have broken writer's block, we hope you'll let us know about that. So make sure you go WritingMomentum.com and just send us an email. Let us know what you're thinking and what you appreciate and what you learned or even ways that maybe you disagree with us. [00:14:47].960] - Gena We'd love to hear that too. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast. Also rate and review it. That would be helpful for us. We want to get this out to other people who would benefit from us, people that we want to encourage. Other writers. [00:15:03].600] - Chris That's one of the best ways to get it out there is just by doing that. [00:15:06].230] - Gena Absolutely. So we hope you have an amazing day and that your writing has momentum.