Articles about What is Writer Block

• Types of Writer Block

Then there are a number of types of writer's block... the most common conception of writer's block is the staring at the blank sheet of paper, with a blank mind and waiting for inspiration to strike -- like mega lightning. The truth is that few writers are afflicted in this way.

There's the kind that comes from anxiety - "Will this be good enough? Will people like what I write? This will never be good enough..."

This leads a number of potential blocks:
- endless research
- endless rewrites
- holding off on turning it in or submitting to a publisher

I've struggled with this one myself. I flunked out of college at eighteen directly due to writer's block. I couldn't bring myself to hand in any assignments. They were never going to be good enough. Later, I struggled desperately with submitting completed work to editors. I could easily go through every sentence in a piece and find a better way to say it. And that impossibly high standard led to my being uncomfortable with ever submitting for review or criticism.

There's the kind of writer block where you are unable to progress beyond a certain point in the writing process. That stuck point may be after the outline or the opening paragraph, the first draft, the 5th rewrite or in submitting the finished piece. It's interesting that it could be caused by a limited process that worked say in high school but no longer works in university or for a book; or by the internally perceived increase in standard that comes from moving from college paper to PhD thesis... or from online article to published book.

One of the causes of this is a sky high standard that is either inappropriate for the stage in the writing process or a standard that is far too high, even unreachable. Often these too high standards come from a lack of self esteem. Or they can come from a lack of understanding of the market or audience the piece is aimed at.

This unreachable standard can be institutionalized, where Colleges and Universities feel that writer's block should only hit freshman: The preconception is that once you've learned the "proper" mechanics of writing, you do not get writer's block. Or experienced writer's who have not encountered writer's block, feel that it can only afflict beginner's. Many, many writers wish that were true!

Here are some questions to clarify what your block might be...

• What's the specific type of writing that you are doing?

• What is the writing process or steps you follow to get this done?

• At what specific part of the process, do you get stuck and advance no more?

• What did you do and write previous to reaching that point?

• When you reach the stuck point, what do you do? Why?

These questions can bring understanding to what you are doing when you get stuck. Understanding how it happens is a great help in deciding your next step to take in order to bust your writer block. I and many others have found it very powerful to ImageStream on the answers gotten from these questions.