Writer´s block Survival plan

As a writer I can testify in the existence of writer´s block. No, it is not a myth it actually haunts many people all over the world that try to create. and it is a struggle to survive, sometimes it just hits you like a wall of bricks and there is no way to run.

I am here to tell you that you need to just let it hit you. and I am aware that a brick wall hitting you in the face is a painful thing. But as a writer and creator pain is a part of my arsenal. Do not run from it.

I wanted to share my story with the world when it comes to this topic because while I was literally drowning in my own doubts and fears and purely paralysed I had no-one to talk to. and I do believe that this was one of the things that made me be in writer´s block for a such a long time.

As I mentioned in another post I am a weird hybrid between a newbie and a seasoned writer.

I used to focus on it a lot when I was a child but I had somewhat of a peculiar childhood and as a result there are a lot of lost memories. I spent a lot of years ignoring that I loved to create and focusing some other stuff.

I really thought for a long time that being a marine biologist was my calling which is just mad because I hate the beach and am terrified of deep water.

I only regained my senses two years ago when I realise that writing is my thing and that I will most definitely write books for a living. But even with my recent time on the business I am a fast learner and a very stubborn over-burned person, and I am sure that I have learned not only by courses, youtube videos and blog articles a lot about this whole gig of writing books.

But I never dealt with writer´s block until last year.

Nanowrimo 2018 was the first time I forced myself to write like my life depended on it. and it was the greatest mistake of my life.

Don´t get me wrong, it was amazing at the time. I was participating on an amazing challenge for the first time and I finished it. But in the process I burned my creativity to the ground.

I honestly thought that I couldn't run out of creativity. But I did. For a whole year. And in the process I thought that I should just give up on being a writer.

The most difficult thing for me was understanding that I really couldn't write and that even if I forced myself I just wasn't able to. and most information available told me that I just had to push through. Well I was crippled. Fucked. Not moving.

No matter how many hours I sat in front of a blank page or a computer or just a sheet for a brainstorming I had nothing.

For the first time I felt empty. I was my imagination and it was gone.

So what did I do?

I waited and I accepted and it was the most crucial moment of my life. Because I learned so much. I learned patience and about myself and about how to just let go.

To add to this whole problem I had to abandoned my story. I am a storyteller and I can say from experience that nothing is more painful in this craft than to just give up on your story because you let it slip. I took too long and when I tried to reach it it was gone.

This was one of the parts of the process that almost made me give up on being a writer all together. It was lonely and because I was out of creativity I was scared that by letting my story go that I would never get another.

Thankfully I am can say that I survived and lived to tell the tale.

And I crave to just create this space where other people can come and see that it is real. It is not in your head. and that crawling feeling of failure will go away. You just need to wait.

But I know that " just waiting" is unthinkable on this situations so I crafted a survival plan tailored for you. Follow it or not but you will survive anyway.

Because creators don´t create out of want, they create out of need. And even if it takes longer that need is a part of you.

Survival plan:

1. Spend a day thinking about your pain. About how you are feeling and what you want to do. Shout to the wind that scream that I know is inside. Just cry and feel like a failure if you must. It is fine to be hit by the brick wall. Accept it but don´t let it linger for more that one day.

2. Analyse your current story. Do you have an outline? Do you need one? Outlining is one of the most effective ways to beat writer´s block. If you don´t know how to outline I will be doing an article about my process and other examples shortly after Christmas.

3. Compile a playlist for you story. and a pinterest board. even a mood board for every character. Every place. Every scene. Every relationship. Just have fun collating quotes and pictures and songs.

4. Spend a day writing. Crap. Shit. Blurs of nothing into the page. Just do it because you own yourself that. It will give you a better perspective of your writer´s block. It is just for this story or are you blocked out of your creative well? Can you write slow or do you want to write fast? Do you need emotions? Can you write for how many hours? Can you write some scenes? Or some POV´s? or is just a big splash on nope?

5.USE THIS EXERCISE AND WRITE:

• Go to your writing space/define your writing space.

• Get cozy with tea or coffee.

• Try this at night/Try this in the morning and see what works.

• Open a blank page and fill half of it with the first word that come to mind.

• Consider this: Your favourite food was discontinued from the world. But there is an invisible portal to a planet that has your favourite food and you want to get there to eat it and then return. WRITE ONE SENTENCE that uses the previous word that you choose and fits in this scenario. And then write another. Write five sentences after that and see if you feel the need to continue.

• Then select your writing and make it white. Now you can´t see it. Continue the story another day with the white words. You will not see what you are writing. But that is the purpose.

6. WAIT. Creativity takes a while to refill.

7. Go out of your familiar places or comfort zone. Take a walk in the mountains. Do that hobby that you always wanted to try. Write another story. Spend the day watching Netflix and IMPORTANT: do not let your mind run free and think that you are wasting time for not being writing.

8. If need be: let go of your story. For more help on this step read the book Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.

9. Wait some more.

10. Very slowly start thinking about writing. If it makes you exited than you are in the right path.

11. I am sorry but I can´t tell you the end yet. I am still trying to figure it out myself. When I know I will let you know. I am currently in step 10.

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