Overcoming Roadblocks

How often do you forget someone's name, rack your brain for a word that's on the tip of your tongue, struggle to remember the title of a book you loved so much you thought you'd never forget it? Welcome to the club! Given the frenzied pace of our technological world, who's not affected by information-overload? And whether we admit it or not, age-related forgetfulness happens to the best of us. Then there's the simple, garden-variety forgetfulness that stymies everyone--regardless of age--from time to time.

Forgetfulness is one thing. A roadblock--the kind that causes writers to get stuck in their tracks, unable to move forward--is another. (Notice I'm not calling it "writer's block," a convenient, overused term that's sometimes used to justify giving up.) No matter what you call the phenomenon, everyone--whether you're writing the Great American Novel or a job application letter--struggles to find words at some juncture.

We sometimes think that professional writers are blessed with such a wellspring of creativity that writing is effortless. It just ain't so. As my clients have heard me say over and over, regardless of your writing ability, writing is hard work--some of the hardest work you'll ever do. In a George Plimpton interview with Ernest Hemingway in 1958, Hemingway confessed that he had rewritten the last chapter to A Farewell to Arms 39 times before he was satisfied! When Plimpton asked him, "What was it that had you stumped?" Hemingway replied, "getting the words right." If Ernest Hemingway agonized about "getting the words right," is it any wonder that mere mortals struggle?

Another misconception about professional writers is that every time they put their fingers to the keyboard, they're inspired. Trust me, the Muse--a goddess from Greek mythology who inspires the creative process--visits professional writers no more often than the rest of us. And frankly, if we wait around for the Muse to find us, we'll wait forever.

Montana novelist and National Book Award finalist, Sandra Scofield, formerly of Ashland and Jacksonville, has said of the writing process, "Nothing comes fast or easy. Everything is about discovery. You have to think of writing as day labor; you show up." Some days, the words will fly off your fingers, other days, you'll struggle to string together a few good paragraphs. The only solution is to roll up your sleeves and dig in.

But what if one bad day is followed by another and then another? What if the roadblock is bigger than your will to move through it? What if you just can't conjure up that word on the tip of your tongue no matter how much you rack your brain? That's the time to step back and let go.

Rejuvenate yourself. Go for a walk, meditate, do yoga, soak in the hot tub, call an old friend or watch a movie. Get as far away from the writing process as possible. For me, the breakthrough may not happen the same day, but if I'm patient, the right word, the missing argument or the next plot turn will come when I least expect it, usually as hot water washes over my head in the shower. It's like losing your keys. You can look and look and look and never find them until you give up and walk away; then magically, they jump out at you.

Give yourself enough time and space to gain perspective on your writing and before long, that roadblock will come tumbling down.