Avoiding Writer's Block (by Chris Siena)

We write when we are happy. We write when we are sad. But most often, we write when we just feel like writing. The “call” doesn’t follow a schedule. And, more often than not, when we have just started heeding the call of writing, we end up having a mental block hitting a stone wall not knowing how to finish the words or the sentences we’ve just started. I know that we can all relate to it. It’s normal and, yes, it’s also annoying! That’s why I decided to write my thoughts on how we can avoid writer’s block.

I am not a professional writer nor consider myself as someone gifted with words, but my lack thereof is compensated with my ability to observe and understand patterns of mental processes. In my observation, our inability to find the right words is caused by the impulse of “finding the write words immediately,” thinking that we cannot edit your work later when we reach our last sentences.

Think about it. We often act as policemen censoring our words and thus censoring our creative juices. This is expected because we don’t want to use vague words to describe our complex thoughts or feelings (we are not giving justice to it that way) nor do we want our sentences to be overwhelmed with incorrect grammar and punctuations. Moreover, we might write something that is although true may yet be politically incorrect.

Even so, these thoughts of immediately censoring our words are unfounded. For one thing, when we write we have the liberty of time. We can cut, paste and edit our work in the end. We don’t need perfection in our first few sentences. We can think of that later. Stopping our thoughts may seem wrong but it also stops our creative thought processes which in turn develop in to a mental block.

Once we stop “stopping our thought processes” should be able to think freely and thus creatively. In psychology (if I’m not mistaken), creative thought is brought about by the “flow of consciousness.” It is when we think consciously and at the same time unravel our unconscious thoughts making it conscious and thus transmissible in writing.

Only when we free our minds and stop censoring ourselves will be able to avoid mental block. We don’t have to make it perfect in our first few sentences. Only when we’ve accomplished our thoughts and conclusion should we edit and censor ourselves. And here is the rest of it.