The Secret to Breaking Through Writer's Block

Think about writer’s block for a moment. It’s frozen creativity. A river that has been stopped up. Writer’s block is that uncomfortable tightness around your throat. Like a low-grade headache, it’s an uncomfortable pressure that never seems to go away. It feels like we have no control over it, but we do.

The key to understanding writer’s block is this: like a strait jacket, the more you struggle against it, the worse it gets. If you sit at your desk and think, “Okay. I’m going to get creative here. I’ve got to break through this”, your mind seizes up, goes blank, wanders off to the mall, refuses to answer your phone calls.

So here’s the secret. Get into the creative flow in some other area of your life. Do something else that inspires you. Your writing will soon begin to flow too.

What are some creative flow activities? Here are my latest:

Knitting. With a repetitive, meditative handiwork, my mind wanders into a glorious daydream. Very often when I knit, I feel like a kid again, imagining things. I have no objectives, no plan, no strategy. I simply let go, and my mind steps into the field of deep imagination. It’s amazing.

Exercise. Moving my body is the quickest and easiest way to release stress and open myself to new possiblity. I run in a gym, I walk outside, I stretch at night while watching television. But however I choose to exercise, I feel that when I get my body moving in a new way, my mind opens in a new way.

Cooking. Cooking, in my opinion, is too often delegated to the annoying household task category. But cooking, when approached with a bit of adventure opens me to greater creative flow. Know why? It uses every one of my senses. Think about it. Smell, taste, touch, sight, and sound-all aspects of your sensory experience-are enlivened and enriched by cooking.

Whether you choose to do these particular activities or embark upon your own, no matter. Follow whatever inspires you. You’ll find that when you do, you will break through any writer’s block in a hurry. Positive changes in your life affect all aspects of your life in a positive way. And when you are in your creative flow, your writing-and your readers-will thank you.