When A Writer Can’t Write

There are many reasons why a writer can’t write. If you are a writer where characters, plots and settings surge through your mind like an electrical current and you can’t wait to get to a pen and paper or a keyboard, then you will understand what it means to you when you can’t write. In my writing career, I’ve come across 3 different ways that I can’t write.

The first…. was writer’s block. Writer’s block can be somewhat intimidating. You are heavily into a project and go to sit down and write, and bam… it’s like someone deflated your mind. No thoughts come easily, and you sit and stare at the page for the longest time before giving up and going to do something else. Eventually, you are able to gather your thoughts through any number of exercises and begin to write again after breathing a heavy sigh of relief.

The second… was the loss of passion for writing. This was a very dark time for me and only lasted a short few weeks, but I felt like I had lost a part of myself. I had been attending many critiquing sessions with several different published authors with the same piece of work. I figured it couldn’t hurt to get a few perspectives, but I ended up with a flattened ego, lack of confidence in my writing ability, and the will to give up writing forever. Writing had been part of my life ever since I can remember. I have always written. To suddenly loose the will to write was like loosing my best friend. After a few weeks of serious self talk I decided to forget all that I had been through and just start writing from the heart. I was happy again and my best friend was back.

The third… and most highly unusual, is if you can’t physically write. After a serious accident to my writing arm (and subsequent use of my right hand) several weeks ago, I am finally able to write and type (with some degree of success) again. So in this case, there I was able to write, willing to write, but simply couldn’t. It was a strange feeling. It was like I still had my best friend, but with no help. My writing pal was just looking in, unable to participate.

When a writer can’t write, I think that writer looses part of their identity. In my case, writing is part of my life. I may not write everyday, but the writing process is always with me, similar to a doctor who may not always be practicing, but they are still a doctor.

There may be other reasons why you can’t write, and if it’s a part of you, you will soon find ways around the reasons and try your hardest to get back to your characters, plots and settings. We are what we are, and I am so happy to be back writing and blogging once more.

Tags: writer's block, Writing