Overcome Writer's Block Now - Three Mental Strategies To Banish Writer's Block.    All writers get their creative juices blocked sometimes. Writer's block can seem like an insurmountable mountain to climb, but it doesn't need to be that way. The trick is to have a toolkit of writing peak performance approaches that work for you. This article discusses three mental strategies and tells secrets of famous writers for combating writer's block.    840 words.

Overcome Writer's Block Now

Three Mental Strategies To Banish Writer's Block

Bill Cole, MS, MA
Founder and CEO
William B. Cole Consultants
Silicon Valley, California

I'm a writer. You're a writer. We all get our creative juices blocked sometimes. Writer's block can seem like an insurmountable mountain to climb, but it doesn't need to be that way. There is a way through it, under it, over it, or around it. The trick is to have a toolkit of writing peak performance approaches that work for you. You also need to know the many myths about writer's block, but we'll address those in another article. Today I just want you to make a few realizations about this mental malady. Here they are.

Realize That Writer's Block Can Happen To Everyone At Some Time: There is not a writer who ever lived who did not experience writer's block. You might say that writer's block is our occupational hazard, and we must get past it to do our work.

You Can Have Writer's Block And Still Write: You can still write, even if you don't "feel the passion", right? You can do at least average-quality writing work while you wait for the passion to show up, right? The trick is not to let writer's block slam your writing door completely shut. Do SOME work in the meantime.

Writer's Block Does Not Mean There Is Something Wrong With You As A Person: Since many of the most successful writers have writer's block, and plow past it to put out great work, it stands to reason that this mental affliction is not a game-stopper. You can at least "tolerate writer's block" and still be productive, as many famous authors do. Now I want you to read what some pretty well known writers have to say about writer's block. Heed their wisdom and use their inspiration to ignite your writing passions.

Famous Writers Tell Their Secrets About Combating Writer's Block

"If you wait for inspiration to write; you're not a writer, you're a waiter." - Dan Poynter

When asked the secret to finishing his 500-page masterpiece The Power of One, author Bryce Courtenay growled, "Bum glue!"

"If my doctor told me I had only 6 months to live, I'd type a little faster." - Isaac Asimov

"Inspiration usually comes during work, not before it." - Madeleine L'Engle

"I write when I'm inspired, and I see to it that I'm inspired at 9 am every morning." - Peter DeVries

"I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper." - Steve Martin

"I made a startling discovery. Time spent writing = output of work. Amazing." - Ann Pachett

"Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see to the end of your headlights; but you can make the whole trip that way." - E. L. Doctorow

"Ever tried and failed? No matter. Try again and fail better." - Samuel Beckett

"It's never too late - in fiction or in life - to revise." - Nancy Thayer

"The way to resume is to resume. It is the only way. To resume." - Gertrude Stein

"Best advice on writing I've ever received. Finish." - Peter Mayle

"When I am writing, I am doing the thing I was meant to do." - Anne Sexton

"You can sit there, tense and worried, freezing the creative energies, or you can start writing something. It doesn't matter what. In five or ten minutes, the imagination will heat, the tightness will fade, and a certain spirit and rhythm will take over." - Leonard Bernstein

"I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged. I had pieces that were re-written so many times I suspect it was just a way of avoiding sending them out." - Erica Jong

"A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage." - Sydney Smith

"The faster I write, the better my output. If I'm going slow, I'm in trouble. It means I'm pushing the words instead of being pulled by them." - Raymond Chandler

"When you speak, your words echo across the room. When you write, your words echo across the ages." - Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul author Bud Gardner

"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you." - Carl Sandburg

"I don't wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work." - Pearl S. Buck

"If you want to write, you can. Fear stops most people from writing, not lack of talent. Who am I? What right have I to speak? Who will listen to me? You are a human being with a unique story to tell. You have every right." - Richard Rhodes

You're a writer. Writing is what writers do. Writers are passionate about their craft. I want you to be passionate, energized, excited and in action mode so you can write up a storm, and not allow writer's block to have any place in your consciousness any more. Good luck!

Copyright © Bill Cole, MS, MA. All rights reserved.

Bill Cole, MS, MA, a leading authority on peak performance, mental toughness and coaching, is founder and CEO of William B. Cole Consultants, a consulting firm that helps organizations and professionals achieve more success in business, life and sports. He is also the Founder and President of the International Mental Game Coaching Association (www.mentalgamecoaching.com), an organization dedicated to advancing the research, development, professionalism and growth of mental game coaching worldwide. He is a multiple Hall-Of-Fame honoree as an athlete, coach and school alumnus, an award-winning scholar-athlete, published book author and articles author, and has coached at the highest levels of major-league pro sports, big-time college athletics and corporate America. For a free, extensive article archive, or for questions and comments visit him at www.MentalGameCoach.com.

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