Writer's Block, Meet Writer's Sledgehammer.
- Tara Summerville
- Sep 21, 2023
- 3 min read
Writer's block is the worst thing to happen to a writer. It's even worse than book failure. Sure, I'm sad when what I felt was a stroke of genius fell flat, but there's always hope in a new day. Or a new project.
Writer's block aims to end all that. It's where hope and potential come to die. When I wrote Jiro, it was unlike anything I've created before. I was feverish, I was passionate, and I oozed every ounce of my life force into it's creation. Even if no one decides to read it (and they have, in fact, made that decision), I can always look back fondly at the time when I wrote it.
I feel like the cure to self-published disappointment is to just keep plugging away. Create more art. Tell more stories. Somewhere along the line in a mass of completed projects will be something that strikes a chord. And they'll want to read more of your novels. I just have to keep at it.
But right now, I can't. There's nothing up there in my brain. It's a cancerous-like mass of self-doubt, insecurities, and anxiety. It's a fog so dense that I can't see through it. And every day, I take a sledgehammer to this mental block.
And if you know anything about sledgehammers, they don't serve any purpose other than destruction and catharsis. Finding inspiration is like trying to get a baby bird to feed from your hand. Here I am, with a human-sized sledgehammer, begging this baby bird to come visit.
The trick to overcoming writer's block is to sit and wait. You can't force it away. Like the advice I give anyone going through a hard time- "the only way forward is through". I just have to make it to the other side of this. I need to find tools to clear the fog in my brain to allow real, constructive ideas to penetrate. Here are a few ways I push through writer's block.
CONSUME. I think this is one of the best tools to overcome writer's block. One of my favorite characters from Escaping the Ruins (I think he's one of my favorite characters I've ever written), was inspired by a game called Dandanrompa. He was a character unlike any of the cookie-cutter character builds. I was so fascinated with his motivations, and I needed to give him a backstory.
GAIN A NEW PERSPECTIVE. I remember reading a quote from a writer that said they would have never written X if they never left their hometown. Traveling and seeing the world is one way to expand your mind. But right now, I don't have the time, tools, or means to even get away for a long weekend. So, what can you do when you're literally stuck? Treat your city like a tourist attraction. Go to the local museum (you probably haven't been there since your 7th grade field trip). Go to the zoo. Go to a movie. Walk in an unfamiliar park. Look at your town like you are a tourist. It's not the same as actually seeing the world, but it works well enough.
LISTEN TO MUSIC. Music is my muse. When I wrote the last chapter of Rubber City Ruins, I listened to Right Where It Belongs by Nine Inch Nails on repeat. Seriously- I listened to it for hours. It just fit the theme of that chapter so well, that I imagined the song playing if it was ever turned into a movie. When I'm feeling stuck, I have a special writing playlist on Spotify I bust out. It's like a "break glass in case of emergency" type of playlist.
BE KIND TO YOURSELF. This is the type of advice that's easy to say, but hard to do. I'm still trying to figure out this step. I know I need to, but it's a challenge. With such crushing failures and colossal disappointments, it's hard not to cast blame. When we see our lives not shaping up the way we want, the easy avenue is to blame ourselves. If only I tried harder. If only I worked harder. If only I was more talented. It's a destructive cycle that will make you sick. And I know the sickness all too well.
Given enough time, it'll come back. The trees may look dead in the winter, but they come back every spring. The trick is to weather out the cold, harsh winter, waiting for that first warm day of spring.
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