Years ago, based on my own experience and my work with students and clients, I realized that when you think you have writer’s block, you are almost always in the wrong part of the process.
Not that you are doing anything wrong.
So-called writer’s block almost always kicks in after a long period of successful writing.
Maybe you’ve been pouring your story out in your notebook.
The words have been flowing and flowing.
Or maybe you’ve been shaping a story or a chapter, and for the last few days, no matter how many times you shift the paragraphs around (or the commas), you can’t get it right.
If you’re like me, you keep working it until your head hurts.
When your head hurts, it’s to step away and do something else for a while.
It’s time to clear your head
Go for a walk or work in your garden.
Extend your meditation period and write freely for a while, without direction.
Sometimes, you get stuck in your writing, because something else in your life needs attention.
Sometimes someone else needs you–a child or a parent or a sick friends.
Sometimes you need to take care of yourself.
Often, you simply need enough distance from your writing to know that it’s time to do something else — transcribe your notebook or put that chapter away and let it breathe for a while.
I understand that it can be hard to step away from your work, especially it was going well and now it’s not and you desperately want it to go well again.
If that’s the case, consider whether there is a should statement underlying your doggedness. *I should be able to keep writing. I should be able to sort this chapter out.*
When you let the mind rest, give yourself a little space, the next step on the path will appear.
You can trust yourself to let go.
The words and insights always return, if you let them.