Who you gonna call?

Block Busters!!!

Writer’s block can feel endless. Painful. Scary.

Or like somebody else’s problem. We don’t all “believe” in writer’s block. And more to the point, we don’t think we have it, even if we can’t figure something out, and we’re not writing.

Writer’s block is typically described as “the blank page syndrome,” but what about the rest of us?

• Is it writer’s block when we get swamped and can’t see what’s good about what we’ve written?
• Is it writer’s block when we have too many ideas? And don’t start (or finish) any of them?
• Is it writer’s block when we’ve written, polished, perfected a story and can’t show it to anyone?
• Is it writer’s block when we keep perfecting a part of the book, instead of writing another part?
• Is it writer’s block when we pretend we don’t have time to write, bec it’s too scary to try and write?

Writer’s block takes many forms – and generally it’s been considered like the common cold, uncurable. You have only yourself to blame, and only you can pull yourself up, out of that ditch.

Writer’s block can therefore bring with it shame, regret, fear, compulsions, and even drama. If you’re repressing writer’s block, you could use any number of things to drown out the desire to write – shopping, speeding, drinking, eating, or even compulsive cleaning. Or fighting with, controlling, manipulating people around you.

Who you gonna call?

I’m a creativity coach for writers. It’s what I do. It’s all I do.

Have you ever heard the phrase: Your mess is your message?

My mess was painful, I was blocked for years, without calling it block. I called it “too many ideas.” So, I considered it a lack of self-discipline that kept me from finishing and publishing books. In a way that’s true – but it was a specific discipline that I needed. I needed the science of creativity, called Deliberate Creativity.

I got my coaching certificate with Martha Beck. I trained with Eric Maisel for creativity coaching. I consulted only the best – and learned an enormous amount from each course. But what flipped the switch for me was getting my Masters in Science in Creativity. (Thank you Buffalo State College!)

And, now, I’m on a mission with a message – we can get writers writing again – no matter what type of block they have.

The way you personally get blocked is directly linked to your creative thinking preference.

There are four distinct phases of thinking in any creative process. Your brain runs through these phases as predictably as your washing machine runs through its cycles (Wash/Empty/Rinse/Spin.)

Now, what if your washing machine had an attitude about one of its cycles? What if it just hated to Rinse or loved Spinning? Clothes wouldn’t get clean, right?

Well, our thought cycles rotate in our brains, with or without our knowledge, like a well-regulated machine. But unlike machines, we have attitude, and aptitude. We enjoy parts of the cycle and might dislike, even disrupt other parts. We are good at some parts and struggle with others.

This can leave you feeling “broken.”

Our egos get involved. We hope no one notices our “ineptitude.” We scold ourselves to shape up. We force ourselves to sit at our desks and “Just DO IT.”

Anger, judgement and reproach do not encourage creativity. You cannot will your way through block, or punish yourself into brilliance.

So, I help my writers understand their strengths and struggles within the Deliberate Creativity cycle. And when they’re stuck, I suggest a tool. These are power tools, researched, observed, and tested on thousands of subjects. They help spur better creativity. These tools help you skate where you aren’t so great.

The other big and very important thing we do is write together, regularly.

My clients are Mighty Writers. They write. We write. Together on Zoom, we get together as much as 5 times a week, and we write for an hour. The regular-ness of this practice means it gets done. There is progress.

Doing is believing.

And when there isn’t progress, I’m like the Maytag man. I come find the problem, and use the right tool. I said my mess in my message. I felt there was something inherently wrong with me, bec other people were creative in very different ways from me. And I couldn’t be creative in that way. And the way that I am creative – I’m a very strong ideator – seemed almost like a weakness to me. (Too many ideas can be a problem!)

Understanding Deliberate Creativity and my own strengths and struggles within it changed my life. I’ve got four books published (including the recent bestseller, Write Without the Fight, Master your Creative Process to Write with Ease and Satisfaction and my Masters thesis: Sex, Lies and Creativity, Gender Differences in Creative Thinking) I’m writing a novel in the company of serious writers – my clients!! – several days a week.

Are You In? Get over your writer’s block and get writing. Here’s what some of my clients have said:

If you’re stuck and don’t know where to start – who you gonna call? You can start by starting small. Let a little Stuck Duck help you out! Get the FREE e-book, Why Am I Stuck? Powerful Help for Stuck Writers. You’ll be on my mailing list, hearing from me about once a week, and pretty soon, your small start could feel like BIG PROGRESS! I hope so. The world needs our voices. We are the interesting insightful ones!