It happens to everyone, writers and non-writers. We need to write something, but can’t produce content — at least, nothing of good quality. A couple of people I know (one is a writer and the other isn’t) ran into this problem as a result of personal challenges. One weathering a dangerous storm and the other a family crisis.
It happens to me when I don’t get enough sleep, don’t feel well or get frustrated with something. When my kids had the day off from school, I struggled to write one sentence in what felt like an hour. Of course, I’m available to them — in this case, my son interrupted me every few minutes and then his shadow (little brother) would do the same. After all that and yesterday’s loud noises from the carpet install and the alarm going off eight times before I disconnected it, I slipped into a writing rut.
I didn’t give up and go off to do mindless stuff. Instead, I switched to tasks that require less creativity. Editing (the content is already there), research, reviewing web sites, updating status reports and so on. I never run out mindless work to do before I find my groove again. This works well as I finish other work needing completing without wasting my day. How do you deal with writing when your mind isn’t focused on the task?
3 thoughts on “Work around Writing Roadblocks”
Comments are closed.
If I allowed myself to do other stuff I’d never get back to the writing, I just plough on with it even if what I’m writing is crap – eventually I find my groove again and am reminded that it’s always worth persevering.
Good point, Julia. Sometimes I do that especially if I set a specific deadline for myself.
I think your idea of doing the mindless stuff is a good one. When I get block (usually because of some crisis) I just don’t write, or do much at all to with blogging.
Shall try and remember your tip.