We all deal with it at some point in life.
Whether it is finishing that 3000 word essay in school, or crunching out our memoir in time for the publisher’s deadline, the words simply do not come.
The solution: switch gears.
Writer’s block is a crippling sensation. Whether or not we are in a time crunch, the feeling is frustrating. The words are in a knot that refuse to untangle; your mind feels like mush and it is nothing to do with all the alcohol you consumed last night. You see the bills piling and the deadline looming and all you want to do is to crawl under the sheets and scream.
Hang on, hang on, get off that ledge. This is fixable.
Writer’s block often comes at a time when the piece you are writing has hit a snag. It won’t flow normally. Don’t panic. There is a solution.
Switch projects. Keep writing, but on something else.
If you don’t have a new project, start one. At least you won’t lose the momentum. Later, return to the piece and see if it can be fixed. If not, repeat.
If after several tries, the piece won’t budge, pick up a book and read. Sometimes the secret to unravelling the knot lies in someone else’s literature. Sometimes you need to remove yourself from your own work and see it objectively.
That said, return, try, repeat.
However, if after many tries, the knot still won’t budge, you’ll have to cut it off. As painful as it is, occasionally a particular part of the piece is not working for the whole.
Rewrite that part. Trail back to as far as you can see the rope burns and try again.
If it doesn’t work, go back to the beginning of this article, read, try, repeat. Good luck.
Mephala is a strange and rather interesting human fascinated by 
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