First, a post by someone with more experience in all the aspects than me:
https://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/sometimes-writers-block-is-really-depression/
Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of, among other things, the Lady Astronaut of Mars series, the Glamourist Histories, and The Spare Man, which I just finished in audio book recently. Her post from November of 2015 talks about her encounter with “Writer’s Block” and her dissection of what writer’s block is. In her case, she was running up against depression that kept her from having the energy or motivation to write.
I agree with her assessment that Writer’s Block isn’t really a thing. The word and expression are an easy way to say “Well, looks like it’s just not happening today, guess I’ll move on.” And to accept that means to let the metaphorical giant concrete block sit on your metaphorical writing table until you are, technically, no longer a writer. Mary Robinette says, instead of just accepting that label and letting it stop you, look at what’s really stopping you. Is it in the book? Is it external? What exactly are you having difficulty with?
Sometimes the answer to that is there’s something in the story you don’t want to write. If yes, congratulations, you’ve identified it! And as we all know, knowing is half the battle. Sometimes it’s external. Again, though, once identified, it can be dealt with! For the most part for further dives into these aspects, I’m going to refer you to her linked post because she does a better job at explaining it than I will. Editor’s note: Also I’m trying to post this fast because, yet again, I didn’t cue one up for this week so I need to get this posted before life moves on and I miss a Monday.
She also found that sometimes, for her, what was stopping her was depression. I’ve had similar struggles in my writing history and, while I don’t really think depression is a big factor for me, anxiety and stress certainly are. When I feel like I’ve got too much on my plate, when I feel like I’m rowing frantically to keep from falling off a waterfall, writing can often feel like one thing too many. The fun part is, not writing can add to my stress because I feel like I’m neglecting it.
So why do I keep doing it? Well, being a career author is what I want. I’ve observed that there are a lot of different futures or careers I could have that I’d find interesting, but in all of my daydreams about them, I keep wanting to find time to write. Telling stories and building characters is something I love. So writing is something I need to do. Not to check off a list, but for me.
What does that mean when I’m not writing? Well, sometimes it means that yes, there is a lot on my plate and whether I put it there myself or life gave me an extra-large helping for the month, I need to accept the fact that there’s a temporary re-prioritization. But I also need to realize that, when the current crisis is over, I need to get myself back into the habit of making time to write again. For me, having a daily chart works well. It’s been an effective strategy for my kids as well.
That’s where we’re sitting right now, I think. I’ve had a hard time writing this summer and it took me a little while to realize that I was trying to push myself too far and therefore needed to give myself a little grace. But also acknowledge to myself that when the busy period comes to an end, I need to be ready to move forward. I’ve not been immobile- I had some fun researching into (or at least skimming the surface of) space science like solar winds and solar sails (which do not interact as far as I can tell), doing some illustrating, and so forth, but I’ve also been allowing relaxing time.
That being said, we’re coming up to the end so I’ll be ramping back up soon. I will also be doing a better job making sure I have posts queued up before Monday morning. Coming soon, I will actually be writing that alternate-magic world story and having a discussion on character development in Babylon 5.
Signing off until next time.
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