Break the chains

The Hard Approach to overcoming writer’s block says writer’s block isn’t real. Just write. The image I see when I think of this approach is a man tied to chains. With every step he struggles to pull heavy boulders behind him.

The Soft Approach focuses on the emotional pain that leads to a writer’s struggle. For this approach I see a kind person who helps by stuffing cotton in around the shackles. Now it won’t hurt as much when the boulders resist the chains.

In this image I can easily see a solution to this man’s problems. I call this the Insightful Approach. It’s based on a simple question: Is there a good reason why I can’t write? I’m amazed how rarely people ever seem to ask this question.

The Hard and Soft Approaches can work. The act of writing might loosen the shackles or shake the boulders free. But there are better ways to fix the problem. Break the chains.

Seeing the chains

There are three types of chains that hold the writer back: Process, Capabilities, and Skills.

In my last few logs I wrote about fixing process. Now I’m going to turn to one of my favorite topics, mental imagery. When I described the shackled man above, were you able to see him? Did he look like an epic Greek god or a carnival strongman? Did you see nothing at all?

Mental imagery is a basic mental capability that some people lack. Others have vivid and spontaneous mental imagery. Some writers hear characters talking, or see scenes as vividly as real life. That’s a tremendous advantage to have while writing fiction, but not entirely necessary. For those of us – and I am one – who experience weak mental imagery or none at all, writing can seem impossibly hard.

Over the next few days I’ll be focusing on how to improve or mitigate poor mental imagery. It can be improved, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be fixed.

After all, once the words are written, the author’s mental imagery is no longer a concern, and a vividly detailed description can actually interfere with the reader’s experience. For a reader with poor imagery, it can stress them, and for a reader with detailed imagery the author’s descriptions can start to contradict the image that already formed in their head.