Tales from Burkeland Tale 16
Spend any time among writers, and you’re bound to hear at least one conversation about writer’s block. Most of us agree that every author will go through it at least once in their career, likely multiple times.
In the thirteen years that I’ve been writing professionally—first in print journalism and now in fiction—I’ve had several periods where my creativity slows down or stalls completely. And it’s happened again. I’ve been in a block of varying severity since I changed day jobs in August. It’s led to months of asking the same question: Am I experiencing writer’s block, or am I just being lazy?
At the six-month mark, I’d had enough. When facing a problem I can’t solve, I research. First question: How long should it take to adjust to a job change?
The answer: Everyone and every job is different. It takes as long as it takes. But anywhere from three months to a year is expected. The articles I read also emphasized the stress of changing jobs and of creating new routines. Which answered my second question: Is what I’m experiencing writer’s block or laziness? Stress blocks my creativity, and I manage it through routines. Changing jobs was a double whammy to the systems I built to support my creativity.
At least now I could confirm that the last six months had been a block, not laziness, but I was still over it. Unfortunately, my usual tools for inducing creativity were not working. Onward to researching writer’s block in search of some new ideas. Around then, my mentor, Wulf Moon, published a Super Secrets article in DreamForge Magazine that is all about writer’s block. In it he talks about writer’s block versus writer’s procrastination. The difference is that writer’s procrastination is a choice, whereas writer’s block is a mental mechanism where your brain simply will not let you create as you normally do. I’d never heard of writer’s procrastination before, and it helped me reframe my situation and how I managed it.
I did have a writer’s block when I changed jobs. That’s OK. I expected it and planned to manage it by letting myself take a break to adjust to the life change rather than push through it. I know from experience that pushing myself while I’m blocked creates more stress and prolongs the block. Ordinarily, that would’ve worked. But in retrospect I see that while I gave myself the creative rest necessary to avoid burnout, I also unintentionally built a new routine that didn’t emphasize writing like my old one. As I settled into that routine, writer’s block became writer’s procrastination. I kept up with monthly newsletters and regular social media, but became more of a hobby writer. That does not build a career.
As the hobby writing dragged one, the fear of never getting unstuck built. That’s when I found Moon’s article and realized I wasn’t blocked. I was procrastinating, not just with my writing, but with my entire routine. Frankly, I’ll take procrastination over a block any day. I can bully my procrastination away. And that’s what I did. Last month, I forced myself to sit in the chair and grind out words. It’s slow going, but I’ve got the beginning of a new story.
There’s some fear that I won’t get back to the speed I wrote at before I changed jobs, and I know if I’m not careful that fear could grow into a new block. So could the guilt about letting myself slow down so much. But conversations with colleagues and time in the writing chair works wonders on both.
I’ve got three big takeaways from this. One, I’m not superhuman, and major life changes take me a while to adjust to, the same as anyone else. Two, I can—and should—be kind to myself through creative blocks and procrastination. And three, I’m still an author, even during the months that I’m creatively blocked. Even during the weeks I don’t write at all. Blocks, rest, and flow are all part of living a creative life.
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What you missed in this month’s newsletter:
From the Drafts: Work in Progress Quote
Quote of the Month.
Myths and Magic: There’s Magic in Flowers
From My Shelf: Between Gods and Dragons by M.A. Frick, book three of the Dragon’s Heart Trilogy