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I’ve got a lot of stuff on my writing plate these days, and as such I deal with my fair share of that dreaded — but not usually fatal — affliction: writer’s block. I’m certainly not alone. Some of our greatest writers have battled the block, but every one of them had their own quirky way of dealing with it. Here are some of my favorites.
When Victor Hugo wasn’t writing Les Miserables, he was miserables — from writer’s block. His cure? He instructed his servant to take away all his clothes for several hours, during which time he would only have access to a pen and paper. That way, he reasoned, there was nothing else he could do but write.
Graham Greene wrote exactly 500 words per day, even stopping mid-sentence if necessary.
Novelist and journalist Alan Furst had an unusual set of conditions he imposed upon himself early in his career, writing “with one eye closed, my feet tied together, left-handed, with a dull pencil.”
Playwright Maxwell Anderson claimed he could only write while it was raining, and to make sure he was productive even when the weather was clear, he had a sprinkler system installed on the roof of his studio.
Film legends The Coen Brothers found themselves struggling with writer’s block halfway through the script for Miller’s Crossing, and rather than press on, they decided to work on a different script: Barton Fink. Three weeks later, it was nearly finished, and Fink — I think it’s their best work — became a movie about a screenwriter struggling with writer’s block.
Sherwood Anderson quit his job as the manager of a paint factory and left his family in 1906 to devote himself full-time to writing. Assuming he was a good investment, his publishers sent him checks each week until he asked them to stop, explaining “It’s no use; I find it impossible to work with security staring me in the face.”
Perhaps the most tragic of all writer’s block stories is Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s. By most accounts, he produced his best work in his mid-twenties. By age 32, he had begun to despair of his own diminishing abilities, writing in his journal “So completely has a whole year passed, with scarcely the fruits of a month! O sorrow and shame … I have done nothing!” Coleridge wasn’t the only one who felt he was wasting his life: his friends implored him to write again, but he insisted that the very idea filled him with “an indefinite indescribable terror.” “You bid me rouse myself,” he said to an incredulous friend. “Go, bid a man paralytic in both arms rub them briskly together, and that will cure him!” If Coleridge looked into any cures for writer’s block besides smoking opium, none of them worked.
As for me, I have a number of strategies I employ to beat writer’s block, though none are sure-fire cures: a brisk walk can be helpful; endless soloing on the guitar I keep near my desk; cat-petting; compulsive email-checking and/or web surfing (this definitely doesn’t help); listening to music with no lyrics. How do you beat writer’s block?
Comments (27)
Comment
A shower always helps me, cliche though it may be. Regardless of how “stuck” I feel I am, ideas always surface when I’m standing under the water.
posted by bryn on 10-17-2007 at 7:19 am
I usually undertake in some mundane tasks such as organizing my desk or doing laundry. Unfortunately, my eureka moments usually happen when I’m driving and I’m scrounging around my car for a pen and a receipt to write on!
posted by Kate on 10-17-2007 at 7:40 am
I can sometimes go for long periods without writing a word. I find that I must have something to say, or express some strong feeling, before I can put pen to paper. Otherwise, since I have no deadlines to meet and no publishers to please, I don’t worry if I don’t feel inspiration.
If I want to write, I usually have to wait until I have time, or solitude. I also sometimes feel the urge at inopportune moments (in the car, almost asleep in bed, etc).
posted by Terry on 10-17-2007 at 7:53 am
i’ve actually been dealing with writer’s block since early december…it’s been kind of a living hell for me, since writing is the only thing that keeps me sane and makes me truly truly happy.
i started writing again last week, and i think the thing that helped most for me was going to the theatre. i’ve seen three plays live and (i’ll admit it) watched legally blonde the musical on MTV. i’m going to another show this weekend and, two weeks from now, i’m going to new york for a marathon of theatre-going. i’m going to be SO poor by the end of all this, but I’ve written 50 pages of my own play–a play i’ve been working on for a year now–and i actually feel like i can think clearly again.
posted by kay on 10-17-2007 at 7:57 am
I write using white font so I can’t see what I’m writing. What usually stops me is rereading what I’ve written and fixing it. I never seemed satisfied. The only way I know of stopping it is to not see it so I make sure my font color is white.
posted by Meg on 10-17-2007 at 8:19 am
Um. A light toke always gets my gears movin’.
posted by TMo on 10-17-2007 at 8:32 am
step 1. lyric-less music (sigur ros, for example).
step 2. kill all lights.
step 3. plug in multicolor xmas lights.
step 4. lay on floor/carpet.
step 5. wait for it.
posted by jdau on 10-17-2007 at 8:40 am
I usually cry like a baby, stomp my feet, then write a bunch of swear words on toilet paper. For some reason the combination works like magic for me.
posted by Nate on 10-17-2007 at 8:54 am
Funny you should ask. I wrote a post that outlines 9 different ways to beat writer’s block for folks who run personal blogs.
I hope it helps.
posted by Jon on 10-17-2007 at 8:57 am
Usually boring classes and professors help me come up with something. Of course, it doesn’t help on tests. :P
posted by Abby on 10-17-2007 at 9:00 am
I’ll sit down and write one good thing that happened to me during the day, and one bad thing that happened.
Also I’ve found the calm, meditative atmosphere of my church to be very inspiring - I guess it’s something about the profound silences and focusing that does it. Or maybe divine inspiration?
posted by Katherine on 10-17-2007 at 9:13 am
I can’t think of anythng to write…
posted by Georgio on 10-17-2007 at 9:16 am
For me, writer’s block is not just running out of ideas; it’s the anguish and anxiety of incompletion. In order to work thorugh it, I assign myself a task that I know I can finish and feel a sense of completion. With that anxiety pacified, I can get back to work.
For reasons of productivity, I usually choose housework tasks– doing the dishes, a load of laundry, etc.
posted by Natalie on 10-17-2007 at 9:33 am
The key for me is to do things that exert the body but not the mind. Going to the gym helps me, but it’s hard to write on a stairclimber. Walking the dog is much easier, and doesn’t require a payment plan. Just grab a notebook and a couple of poop baggies and you’re good to go.
My problem is that I’ve been so lazy lately, I’m out of shape. My hand cramps up before my brain does. I have to do some exercise writing and build up those finger callouses again!
posted by Maggie on 10-17-2007 at 9:40 am
It usually helps me to switch writing projects; if I get stuck on one, I turn to one of my others. My current Sisyphean task of turning my MA thesis into a salable manuscript actually fits nicely into this; it’s history, so I know how it’s going to end, and I can feel free to jump around from chapter to chapter. I suppose I’m an advocate of the divide-and-conquer school of writer’s block.
Also, passing word of advice to Kate, Terry, and anyone else struck by brilliant thoughts while in the car - I keep a microcassette recorder in my console. It’s easy to reach for, and moderately safer than trying to hold a piece of paper and write on it. ;-) It’s usually just a matter of minutes to transcribe whatever’s on the tape when I get home, so I’ve just been rewinding and reusing the same tape since I bought the thing. That may be more of a commentary on the quality and quantity of my thoughts, though.
posted by Roger on 10-17-2007 at 9:48 am
I have always found that taking a notebook and pen and writing while sitting in the tub helps tremendously. Something about relaxing in that setting allows me to gain focus and I write like mad. Side effect - I get very prunish….oh the sacrifices we artists make!
posted by Matt on 10-17-2007 at 10:18 am
J’écris en francais… Writing in another language can often help, since you think differently.
posted by Theresa on 10-17-2007 at 10:44 am
Showering/bathing/driving/walking/swimming/cleaning/meditation (with steady chimming or Oms) - the rhythmic brainlessness of these tasks primes the brain for ideas!
“Morning pages” writing 3 pages every morning of whatever, no editing or re-reading (one of the techniques from the book ‘The Artist’s Way’) - clears away clutter from the brain, but also seeds ideas sometimes.
“Input, Input!” Like Short Circuit’s robot, you need to feed your eyes and brain with stuff you find wonderful and fun - dancing, travel, new people, new situations, concerts, movies, etc.
No using drugs or alcohol - those are just a crutch and eventually stop working!
posted by tona b. on 10-17-2007 at 10:57 am
My job requires basically involves writing the equivalent of research papers - one after the other. Nothing else. Other than surfing the web (which I agree, doesn’t really help), my main solution to write’s block is to crank up obnoxious punk or rock music really loudly. I actually work better with lyrics. I don’t know if I should admit this, but in high school, it used to be soundtracks to musicals that would get me unstuck. Scary.
posted by Karen on 10-17-2007 at 11:26 am
I talk to my 7 y/o son; he almost always helps with my writer’s block. His mind is like a sponge, he always has a crazy thought or idea, that in turn gives me an idea / thought, but definitely something to write about.
posted by Katrina on 10-17-2007 at 11:54 am
While I was writing one of my novels a couple of years ago, I found a way to beat my writer’s block. I just opened up a blank Word document and started typing to myself. I know, crazy, but it works! I just talk about what I’ve written so far, what my problem is (why I’m stuck) and possible solutions. Within minutes, I always come up with something and continue writing! :D
posted by Lindsay on 10-17-2007 at 2:36 pm
As a lazy writer, block does not bother me. I lost my muses when I got a new shift at work. I was a night custodian in a school library and used to leave poems for the librarians. I know work in the gym, no real insperation there. Perhaps being surrounded by the written word had something to do with it. As a foot note I was written up for spending too much time reading and not enough time cleaning.
posted by gus on 10-17-2007 at 3:03 pm
Pish. I don’t believe in writer’s block, muses, or any of that. A writer writes, period. If you can’t write it just means you aren’t writing what you want — not that there’s something divine that’s missing or a disease you’ve caught.
posted by M.Christian on 10-17-2007 at 3:26 pm
Folks–just have a running list of projects and then limit yourself to working on 3-4 per month. That way, you always have something you can be working on.
posted by Me on 10-17-2007 at 7:22 pm
I let irritation and/or jealousy take hold. For instance, if I see that Paris Hilton (or some other vacuous celebrity) has “penned” another book, it drives me to write. If nothing like that is immediately available, I will seek something out, even if it’s old news. While it’s irritating, it certainly lights a fire under me!
posted by Jim C on 10-18-2007 at 7:29 am
I just try to remind myself that if I’m going to be my own boss, I have to listen to me when I say that it’s time to get to work. Generally, that does it.
If not, writing something stupid (even if it’s answers to a MySpace survey or something along those lines) can get my brain rolling.
If all else fails, Belgian chocolate tends to work.
posted by Megan on 10-18-2007 at 9:35 am
Just keep writing, even if it’s the worst stuff you’ve ever written. It’s easier to correct then it is to create.
posted by Charlie on 10-19-2007 at 3:32 pm