By: Mickail Thomas
Any writer will experience a really poor, door-stopper halting the creativity of one’s mind that has been named writer’s block. Everyone has written at one point, whether for a school essay, or for one’s own enjoyment, writing is universal. As writing is universal, so is its main stopper.
One commonly used method to overcome a writer’s block is simply steamrolling through it. Whether the work is utter garbage, or wonderful work, writing regardless eventually breaks through the barrier that writer’s block forms. This method causes a writer to push their brain, causing it to eventually, no matter how long it takes, succeed in making something of quality.
The second main method is to stop thinking that you have writer’s block. Some do, certainly, but sometimes it isn’t writer’s block, it’s a simple lack in inspiration. Sometimes, people just need to step back and breathe, before diving back into an intimidating story. Many writers will take their chance as soon as possible to blame a halt in progress on writer’s block far before blaming their own fear. Sometimes, you have to take off running instead of starting by walking.
A thing forgotten, is that one must take in what their putting out. Artists look at others’ art, writers should read others’ work as well. Simply reading something that gets your brain moving can be the difference in not writing for a year, or not writing for 60 minutes.
I, as a journalist and a personal writer who’s writing a book, completely understand the struggles of writer’s block. Being on a wonderful roll, and suddenly being halted is a horrible experience. Any author no matter how big or small can relate to the pain.
The universal way to cure a bad case of writer’s block is to take a break from writing. Sometimes the best way to stop something, is to simply stop doing something else. Sometimes there’s a domino effect of positives or negatives, and by stopping something that may seem small, for example, writing for a day can ultimately stop a much bigger and harder problem to solve, having writer’s block for a year.
Writers will experience writer’s block in life, it’s just how things turn out. As writers, they must learn how to overcome this problem, and when they do, they will become even better writers than before.
Mickail Thomas
Mickail, '23
Tags: column, journalism, Mickail Thomas, rangers, Redwood, rhs, writersblock, writing
