Field’s End: A Writers’ Community

October 26, 2009

Writer’s Block – 10 Stumbling Blocks to Writing

Have you ever had writer’s block? There are 10 basic stumbling blocks to writing. Writer’s block has happened to any writer regardless of the genre, the age, or the experience of the writer.

  • Lack of confidence
  • Lack of skills and tools
  • Lack of motivation
  • Limited vocabulary and/or ideas
  • Perfectionism and self-criticism
  • Laziness
  • Procrastination
  • Worry about criticism from readers, reviewers, etc
  • Inability to fine tune dialogue
  • Character development
  • Recognizing where you are on the list helps you at least say, “Hey, I’m stuck!” How do you deal with each factor is a highly individual thing.  Thomas Mann once wrote, ” a writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.”

    So what can you do about the dreaded Writer’s Block? Some people take a walk, go to the gym, or garden. Others take a refreshing nap and come back with a new perspective or renewed energy and motivation. Whatever the root cause of your writing block you will get through it…just like every other author…just don’t give up!

    Think of writer’s block as a pause in preparation for the writing to come.  Get over it, push through it. Don’t get Velcro Butt! Take a break and come back. Your plot, your characters, your outline, they will be waiting! Perhaps Nathaniel Hawthorne said it best, ” Easy reading is damn hard writing!”


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