Writers, in general, live on creativity. Every so often, they experience a mental block, or a sudden drying up of creative juices resulting in a lack of ability to write. For some people, getting over such an occasion is easy, while some will say that they need to rediscover their “muse” to be able to write again.
Want to hear something funny? We actually cause our own mental block. How? We confine ourselves into boxes that aren’t even there.
Let me give you 9 common misconceptions that lead to writer’s mental block.
1. Conforming to the norm. There’s nothing wrong with agreeing with the norm, but sometimes it can be creatively liberating to look at what actually is, even if it does go against the norm.
2. Sticking too much to your niche. You may be very good at what you do, but sticking to writing about things that you’re good at confines you to certain topics. It wouldn’t hurt to write about things outside your specialization and help relate it to your niche.
3. Work and play are two different things. This is a common mistake, even for people outside the writing industry. There’s no better way to stimulate creativity than to approach it in a playful manner.
4. Rules rule. We’ve all learned that writing is guided by ethics that state which topics are okay to write about and which ones aren’t. But these rules often stifle the creativity of free-thinkers. Sometimes, it’s easier to let the mind roam free and write about subjects, even if they are against the rules.
5. We always have to be right. It’s human nature to think so. But are we always right? Do we always have the right answer to every question? I don’t believe so. Open your mind to the possibility that you can be wrong or that there are many possible right answers aside from the one you think of.
6. Logic should prevail. Most writers think this way because it is what critical thinking is based on. It is what we use to say whether or not an idea is a feasible subject or not. But again, too much logical thinking kills unique ideas.
7. Ambiguity is a no-no. A lot of writers, me included, try to avoid ambiguity for many reasons, one of which is to limit the choices to avoid confusion. But this is wrong. Life is, by nature, ambiguous, and the same goes with most things. Being a creative thinker means opening yourself to the truth of life’s ambiguity and accepting it.
8. A writer is never wrong. But it is in our nature to err. As a writer, you just have to make sure that you learn from that mistake and try to avoid it in the future. Mistakes provide you with an opportunity to grow.
9. I am not a creative person. Then how do you come up with what you write about? Your creativity is only limited because you set up your own creative perimeter. Knock down the walls you built yourself and you’ll find your creativity roaming free.
To make everything short, you are only as creative as you let yourself be. The more rules you make for yourself, the smaller your room for creative freedom becomes. Stop building walls to lock yourself in and you’ll find that you’ll able to think more creatively.
If there are tips you’d like to add, anything that can help aspiring writers to get rid of their notion of a writer’s block, do feel free to share. Let’s talk about it in the comments section.
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