Let’s Talk About…
Writer’s Block.
The dreaded enemy of any creator is here. He’s latched onto your mind and he won’t go away. He’s gripping tightly, he’s squeezed all the creative juices out of you, leaving you staring at a blank page in a silent rage because words just won’t come.
His name is writer’s block, and he ate all your words. He ate your creativity. He ate your ability to write and sadly, that’s all you’d like to do.
We’ve all suffered from writer’s block. Hell, I have it right now. I’ve had it for weeks. Because I’m a mood writer, and I have about 100 stories (that’s the real number, I promise) that I want to write, but I can’t seem to figure out which one to fixate on. So I dabble in all of them, hoping something will stick. But every time I sit to write, I type out a very stupid sentence, delete, repeat, then stare at a screen for hours hoping the inspiration will strike.
Writer’s Block is the devil, let’s all be honest here. (Maybe not this one, though)
In a perfect world, we’d all be able to push out the word count we want, writing whatever we want into our first drafts without worrying or tripping over ourselves because it is a first draft, after all, and first drafts can always be edited.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a perfect world. And when you have writer’s block, it doesn’t matter that you want to put the most imperfect nonsense down onto your first draft. Because that nonsense isn’t coming.
Now look, this blog post isn’t going to be about how to cure writer’s block. Because if I had a potion for that shit, you best believe I’d be drowning in it right now.
Dipping head first into a cauldron to come out with a full length novel already in hand.
Then, Aleera, why write this at all if you aren’t going to give advice?
Because, Susan. BECAUSE I WANT TO. And also because I want to vent about it.
I’m not sure if this happens to other authors, but I can feel writer’s block looming before it actually pounces. I think after so many years of publishing, I’ve learned to recognize the signs. Like being overly tired the whole week and putting off writing for the day saying, “I’ll get to it tomorrow.” Or when I do sit to write, I can push out a few words and then get easily distracted in ways that goes beyond what I believe to be an ADHD brain or typical author behavior. .
Nope, this is where I actually LOOK for excuses to stop writing on purpose, not out of laziness, but because the hundred or so words I did manage to write were like doggy excrement, and I can’t possibly keep doing that. It’s when I sit and WANT to write, but every word feels like pulling teeth.
I know when I start avoiding projects it usually means the writer’s block is threatening to hit. Usually when this happens to me, I slow down. I pause. I breathe. I take stock of my mindset and when I realize what’s going on, I decide to take a break from work, for however long I need it. This break usually consists of me doing housework, tarot readings, some form of self care, and ignoring work on purpose and enjoying being able to ignore it. It’s like a reset for me, deadlines be damned. It helps refresh my memory and once my mind is clear, the words can start flowing once again.
Only this time, I didn’t actually stop, pause, breathe, assess, whatever the fuck I just said.
This time I tried to bulldoze through.
See, I knew writer’s block was the culprit. I knew it was there. And still I have been forcing myself to sit at my desk for weeks, staring at the book I was writing, only to get frustrated with myself because the words just weren’t braining in my brain.
So then I opened several other projects, so many unfinished stories, rereading and scrolling through them, hoping it would spark something inside me. Hoping the creative juices would start flowing again.
Unfortunately, this did not happen.
No creative juices up in this noggin.
I know logically it’s because there are a ton of factors against me.
1, We just moved and I am still setting up house. Sure, things are MOSTLY done, but also MOSTLY they aren’t. There’s still a ton that needs done. My office isn’t ready at all, the walls aren’t painted, the fence isn’t up and stray dogs keep coming into our yard to dig through and take out all our trash. My bookshelf still isn’t here, the floating shelves haven’t been installed and there’s just… it’s just a lot, okay? And having to see and deal with this mess on a daily basis takes its toll.
2, This might sound repetitive but, MY OFFICE ISN’T SET UP YET. I was very excited to get to this new house and have an office to call my own. To be able to sit and work at a brand new desk, surrounded by my dream space, pumping out words left and right. Unfortunately, this bitch ain’t a rich bitch, and my dream space requires money. Cries while staring at my amazon office wish list So… it’s going to have to wait and I have to make do with other spaces as my office area.
3, I am currently sick. As I type this, I’m sniffling, with watery eyes, a sore body, and the desperate need to just lay in bed and sleep this cold off. If you know about my life, I have little kids at home and the little kids and my husband got me sick, and now I’m just suffering, unable to read, write, or do anything remotely creative because I’m just too tired.
4, and this is probably most important, but I was put on bed rest (snort) and it messed with my mojo completely. Being sick with a cold and bed rest on top of that for other health reasons has me wanting to force myself to work and be productive, but I can’t. I just can’t.
5, the kids. These damn gremlins. These little mini me’s. I can’t stand them. Do I love them? Yes. But that doesn’t mean I’m not bothered by how much they distract me and demand from me. I’m allowed to be annoyed with them, and I’m allowed to want quiet time. They’re a distraction and it isn’t just so easy to dump them off on someone else.
It’s important for people to know that authors are humans too. They have personal lives and so much going on behind the scenes. And it can be so easy to demand more from authors, to want and crave their words and books with a passion. Trust me, we LOVE IT. But sometimes there’s a pressure of wanting to not look bad, of wanting to succeed, of wanting to please everyone else that we just… we break ourselves until this happens.
This year only just started, and I had been stressing about 2024 ever since 2023 was coming to an end. I was stressing about income, because it seems like nobody is talking about my books anymore, and I need money to continue making books. I was stressing about how many words I was going to write and how many books I was going to publish, how much money I was going to earn, and everything I was going to get done this year.
I think I came into 2024 motivated, but mostly stressed because the list I put for myself was long. Very, very long. And I know it just started, but there’s a part of me that feels like I’ve accomplished nothing, and that I won’t accomplish anything, either.
Yeah, yeah, I shouldn’t think like this, because manifestation is real. I know that. However, sometimes it feels nice to just wallow in pity a bit. So this is me… wallowing. This is me, talking about what I’m going to do to “cure” this writer’s block.
Now, I’m not sure if it will work, but I’ve just been focusing on my social media instead of writing. Does it make me feel guilty? Yes. Yes it does. But I have a huge backlist. I know people want newer things from me sometimes. They want Fae Elementals 4 and Sugar & the Shipwreckers, and Riptide 2, and they want it now. But I do have a backlist you can wade through while you wait. I have complete series’, standalones, hardbacks, audiobooks, and even a second penname. I have so much available right now, it feels unnecessary to hurt myself and my mental health trying to force words out of different books in different genres, no matter how hard I’m trying.
So what I’m going to do, and what I’ve been doing, is diving into social media and trying to find trending sounds, trending videos, funny videos, things I like to see, that I can maybe replicate for my own socials. Maybe it’ll help revive my social media. That will in turn revive my books, my page reads and sales might go up, and if they do then I’ll be inspired to write again. Because sometimes it’s hard writing and writing until it feels like your wrists are gonna fall off, and have nothing to really show for it.
I also tried plotting a different novella, hoping that something that’s NOT on my official schedule will help me. Maybe by playing around with something that doesn’t feel like work, I can find a love for writing once again.
It just sucks that this happened because I was doing so well writing Sugar & the Shipwreckers. The book is so close to the halfway point, but it’s been hard to break to that point at all, because I’ve been hating every single word I type. I know though for a fact it’s because there are so many new characters to explore and new mindsets to dive into and themes like depression and PTSD in the book that make it difficult to write.
I have been thinking about what to do to motivate me more for the book, for any book, and I have a few ideas. Ideas which I won’t share just yet, because I want to organize my thoughts before I share or announce anything with anyone.
But I think I got a bit off topic here. At this point, I think this blog is just a diary for me to get things off my chest and sort through my messy thoughts. And whoever reads it is my sounding board LOL. You are the chosen one.
But yeah, there’s not really a cure for Writer’s Block. The best advice I can give and take is to just take it day by day. Which is what I’ve been doing. I’m not pushing myself about work, no matter how badly I’d like to get stuff done. I’ve been putting it off, because I have the privilege to do so at this time. I’ve been trying to do things I enjoy, and focusing on my house. If the inspiration comes, it’ll come. If it doesn’t, then I’ll just sit and cry. No biggie.
Until next time,
Aleera