adpapa Editor
20 August 2020
Yesterday, a massive headache struck me just when I sat down to write several articles that needed shipping right away. I needed a quick break from writing, I’ll explain.
Before moving on with the post, at the outset, I want you to know that this is the story of how I defeated writer’s block in just 10 minutes.
When I got stuck writing which eventually led to a headache, my heart went thump thump thump… and my mind went, “deadlines, tsk, tsk tsk… brain, come on, work!”
The question I’m about to tell you floated in my brain: How can I finish the work that I’ve set myself to do, today, when I can’t even produce a single comprehensible sentence?
I need to write and finish articles today because I have to beat deadlines!”
Looming deadlines always give me the kind of stress that somehow feels devastating and many times destructive, yet, at the end, they always turn out to be good.
(How can stress be any good? The answer lies ahead. Read through the end and you’ll see it.)
In contrast to the negative effects and the generally negative view of them, they are actually a great motivation; they help me to write and finish articles.
In turn, enabling me to bring food to the table.
Turning a disaster into a blessing
A big tip is up for grabs today; I’ll share you how I worked around this problem of a migraine, and how I turned it into a writing muse that guided me to finish articles.
Heck, they are expected to be sent today that’s why I’m pressured to do everything I can to complete them.
In the long run, the solution I ran into made me smile because it gave me an effective and repeatable solution to writer’s block. As you are well aware it’s a consistent malady for every writer.
Especially those who make a living writing and therefore writes every single day.
It’s actually a wonderful discovery.
Yes, I have learned from credible writers that changing one’s location when you’re stuck is an effective way to wrestle writer’s block away.
But reading about it is one thing, directly experiencing it is completely different.
Allow me to tell you my lot.
This morning, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t complete one decent paragraph.
My creativity went missing.
Stressed… my brain, instead of being motivated positively by the pressure of a nearing deadline, halted running.
My clients are waiting for my articles and at the rate I’m going, I see no light at the end of the tunnel.
I can’t visualise a positive result. No shadow of an article is visible even from a distance…
The articles are actually delayed (my first time to experience this) and so I need to move fast, rush, and complete these articles.
I can’t allow my clients to think that I’m unreliable. But… sadly, the words won’t come.
The pressure is paralysing me!
Although, this might be true, I have turned the tragedy into a blessing.
I know—it’s a tall order—but I did it! And this is the main reason I’m publishing this post; to share you how I did it.
The tactic I applied in my predicament is described in the following sections.
Why surrendering works
Since I am incapacitated in my home office stressing over an undone piece, I raised my hands and shouted, “okay, I surrender!”
Add to that, I uttered to myself, “fighting the blank page at this time is no use.”
Consequently, I felt pain in my head, so I stood up, put a presentable shirt on, slipped on shoes, and went out.
I needed to be out and be anywhere else except my desk.
So I took a quick break from writing, and went for a walk. After a while I passed by my fave cafe and impulsively I ordered dark brew.
As I sat down, I felt my engines revved down and I became calm.
Perhaps this is one of the cases when surrendering makes sense; when giving up is the best move.
It worked!
After surrendering, in a few minutes I was able to continue writing the article I’m supposed to submit right away.
When I threw in the towel and stopped fighting the page, my brain stopped resisting.
If pushing yourself doesn’t work, be still and let your inner self guide you.
My brain stopped working however it also started resting.
This cerebrum ceased spinning and consequently after sometime, it naturally began working again, and much better than before.
I pushed out writer’s block within only 10 minutes.
What brought about immediate help
In retrospect, what helped my situation right away was—I decided to stop writing.
I got my backpack that carries my laptop and went walking.
The moment I decided to do this, my mind stopped complaining and started to be tranquil.
Almost automatically, it went into relaxed mode. When I reached my destination and glided into my fave corner, one powerful thing took over…
Stillness.
As I sat down in my little corner, I calmed down.
I sipped my coffee and started reading a book.
As easy as a Sunday morning, thoughts started coming by in the smoothest way. Like bubbles coming up when boiling water—they appeared out of nowhere like magic.
Maaaan… this is the very thing I was waiting for.
So I found myself grabbing a pen and started scribbling my thoughts.
I resumed writing my articles.
Realisations
While I was in my little corner, I filled up a page without much effort.
This is a revelation.
A big one.
This means, the next time I will have a writer’s block, all I have to do is take a quick break from writing, by walking to a comfy place and relaxing.
That’s all!
This will help me a lot because the more I write, the more income I could get.
This revelation means I’m not tired writing at all.
I’m only worn out tackling assignments. Simply put, I’m exhausted working.
But this doesn’t necessarily mean I’m burned out writing.
I have found a way, based on direct experience, how to kick writer’s block in the butt and throw it away!
And in only ten minutes….
I went out for a walk, put myself in a more comfortable environment, and at once, my writing mojo came back. That’s how to take a quick break from writing.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
