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Un-Block My Song: How To Cope With Writer's Block

© Janie Ross Coulter

(Song)writer’s Block can run the gamut in terms of time and intensity. Depending on whom you're talking to, it can mean anything from the inability to focus, on a particular day, to the inability to write at all, for what may seem like interminably long stretches of time. The best way to get past it depends on why you are experiencing it to begin with and how it is manifesting itself. If there is an underlying reason that you can pinpoint, it pays to address it for reasons that obviously go way beyond the block itself. It may have to do with it issues as deep as life crises or self-esteem, but it may also stem from sources that are easier to remedy, such as time management or too much or too little self-discipline.

That said, here are some suggestions you might try when you are facing the dreaded Writer’s Block (or when you simply need a little extra motivational kick):

Certainly, if there are clear reasons in your life for your lack of creativity, like grief or illness, allow for them. Give yourself time to heal, and at the very least, don’t give yourself a hard time.

Like not being able to sleep, the more anxious you are about it, the more likely it will be to continue, so try to stop worrying about it so much. Just like you will sleep again, you will write again; but if anxiety is exacerbating it, you must learn to relax first.

Lose the "shoulds." "I should be writing more." "I should be writing better." "I should have gotten a deal by now." You SHOULD stop saying those things.

Realize the power of your words. You know, if you write lyrics, how effective they can be. So just think about how effective your words can be inside your head. I'm talking about both the positive and negative voices you've got going on up there. How many times do you think you have to say "I just can't write anymore" before you believe it, and before it's true? Maybe you've got to give yourself a good deal before anyone else will.

In a similar vein, when you are actually writing, don't be your own critic. Writing and editing are two different processes. Write first, rewrite later.

When the writing just won't come out of you the way it usually does, try letting it come out in an unusual way. Writing stream of consciousness, playing nonsensical gibberish, or even writing "I don't know what to write" are ways you might get unstuck, or at least unload your mind somehow.

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