How To Kill Writers Block Once And For All

Nobody likes that white screen staring at you. Especially if you are on a deadline. The clock keeps creeping forward while your desperation increases. The longer you wait, the worse it gets. Finally you come up with an opening. But what sounded so good in your brain looks terrible on the page. Nobody would read it. In fact, if you tried to publish that, you’d be laughed out of the business.
So you erase it, and start over, only to experience the same thing again. Is there no end to this self perpetuating cycle of grief and inevitable doom? Is there any escape from this cycle of mental destruction? Luckily, there is. And it starts with some action, followed by a quick mental reframe, then some bushwhacking. Huh? Keep reading.
The first and foremost thing you’ve got to do is write. Write anything. Write the alphabet. Write down what you had for breakfast. Just keep the topic somewhere in your mind, and something useful will eventually come out. Obviously, it’s not coming out while you start at that blank page, so you’ve got to prime the pump, so to speak.
Next comes the mental flip. It doesn’t have to be perfect the first time. Nobody’s going to see it unless you are ready to publish. It’s not like you’re typing on a typewriter and have to make a minimum of errors. It’s easy enough to erase and rearrange stuff. If you need a thousand words of usable text, then barf out two or three thousand. They’ll be some good stuff in there somewhere.
Now comes the bushwhacking part. The best writers know that the real work comes in the editing, not in the writing. If you’re just starting out, you might be clinging to the idea of the perfect novel or sales letter coming straight to the page from your brain. In reality, this is wishful thinking and perhaps some marketing hogwash.
In reality, the great work comes the third or fourth time you read what you’ve already written. After you take the hatchet to your first draft and hack out all those unneeded parts, it’s time to really get to work.
Instead of thinking of yourself as a writer, who somehow miraculously gets it right the first time, think of yourself as a sculptor. You take three thousand words of rambling nonsense and hack it and shape it into something beautiful. Start with the chainsaw, then the chisel, then the sandpaper. Finally, you’ll be left with a work of art you can sell for a fine price.