🍹Poolside Chat🍹: Busting through Creative Blocks

You bring the question. We’ll bring some thoughts, and those cute little drink umbrellas.

I’m excited for today’s 🍹Poolside Chat🍹 because [drum roll]……our curious question-bearer has invited the *Community* to weigh in on their dilemma!

We are slowly but surely building connection and camaraderie here at The Diving Board, and 🍹Poolside Chat🍹 is the perfect time to join the conversation.

Let’s get talking.

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Welcome to the second edition of 🍹Poolside Chat🍹, where we dip our feet in the water, sip on something tropical, and talk about a thing that matters to you.

How it works:

• I'll choose one or more reader questions for each month's edition of 🍹Poolside Chat🍹

• For “Ask Claire” questions - I will publish the question and respond in the newsletter.

• For "Ask the Community" questions, I'll post the question and invite fellow readers to respond in the Comments.

• Ground Rules for all 🍹Poolside Chat🍹 Comments: (1) Love wins (2) Honor each others' stories and perspectives (3) Offer your perspective as one possibility of many (4) I'll delete disrespectful comments (5) Love wins.

Today, we’re pondering an “Ask the Community” question from an anonymous reader of The Diving Board.

TODAY’S QUESTION

For both Claire and the community - I have always aspired to write/be a writer but find myself perpetually held back by what I’ve concluded to be writer’s block. I have so many great ideas that I feel unable to produce and can’t quite identify why/what is stopping me. What tips/tricks/insights would you recommend to this novice writer?

Dear Writer (because you are one!),

I FEEL YOU. Since you said you’re open to hearing from me as well as the community, I’ll weigh in with a few thoughts before opening it up to the other smarties that hang out at this pool.

First, a note to all readers: if you think a post about writer’s block won’t apply to you – keep reading. We all get blocked from our own potential at times, held back from making our boldest contributions. Much of what’s true about writer’s block applies in plenty of other endeavors.

Back to you, O Brave Bringer of the Question. I can relate to your wondering so deeply. Thanks for trusting me and this community with your dilemma.

Let’s get on the same page with what we’re talking about here.

Alexa, what is “writer’s block”?

Writer’s block is a non-medical condition [well, that’s a relief], primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown.¹

While writer’s block is obvs about writing, the overarching theme here is “you feel compelled to create something but can’t seem to take it from conception to reality”. And haven’t we all been there?

It’s worth expanding our understanding of what qualifies as “creative”. The creative impulse is fundamentally human and encompasses any generative impact or result you want to create in the world - not just artistic output. So while some of us may feel blocked from artsy endeavors like writing or making crocheted toilet seat covers, others of us have stalled out on an intriguing business venture or an innovative idea we’d like to bring to life at work.

When our creativity is blocked, the first question is the obvious one: “What’s blocking it?”

I can imagine several possible categories of answers here (and you might be blocked in more than one of them):

😶‍🌫️ Psychological block: A thought pattern or belief – conscious or unconscious – that makes it hard to take action. (Ex: I’m not worthy. I don’t know enough. I’ll probably fail. Everyone will think I’m nuts. Are my ideas even any good?)

⚖️ Decisional block: You have so many possible courses of action and aren’t sure where to start.

💜 Emotional block: A feeling state that paralyzes you. (Ex: Fear, shame, overwhelm)

🕺🏾 Somatic (body-based) block: A physical or neurological condition (ex: ADHD, fatigue) or a physical sensation (ex: fight, flight or freeze response in the nervous system) that challenges your focus and stamina. It’s worth noting that neurodiversity can also be a creative superpower!

📙 Informational block: You need more knowledge to take meaningful action. (Ex: You want to start a business, but don’t know what’s required to legally establish your entity.)

🧰 Skills-related block: You have good ideas but need to develop skills to bring them to life. (Ex: you have a great idea for a story but aren’t sure how to structure it into a novel.)

⏰ Structural block: You need more supportive structures to get your action flowing. (Ex: dedicated time, rhythms, rituals, clear plans)

Did I miss anything? Feel free to add your ideas for additional blocks in the comments.

A good first step is to identify which blocks are true for you, explore what you can learn about them, then create small experiments to see if you can unclog that area. (Lots of toilet references today, apparently…should I just go all out and call the strategies ahead “Creativity Plungers”? No, I don’t think I will.)

For example, maybe you identify with the Emotional block of “fear” and the Structural block of “I need dedicated time”. So, you design two experiments:

1. Experiment A | Excavate your Fear: This might be a journal entry, a conversation with a friend, a contemplative walk, or a prayer. Get really curious about what you fear, what that fear feels like, where it comes from, and what it might be like if it weren’t so strong. Get to know your fear, take care of it like you would a frightened child, but notice that it’s not you – it’s just a part of you. What impact does this experiment have on your fear and your blockage?

2. Experiment B | Make an Appointment with Yourself: Hold a chunk of time (or several) on your calendar in the next week to devote to writing. Make a plan in advance for how you will spend that time. This an experiment – the only way to do it wrong is to not do it at all. See what happens when you sit down. What does this experiment teach you, and how does that inform your next experiment?

Next up, a buffet of further ideas for you, my comrade in longing to “be a writer”:

• Immerse yourself in the world you want to join: A big block for me was Informational. I had no idea what writing might look like as a piece of my career puzzle. I started listening to podcasts about writing and creativity and following thought leaders in this space. Within a few months, I felt way more looped in and ready to begin. A few plugs to get you started:

  • Hungry Authors podcast & Map Your Book class. Co-host

    Ariel Curry
    ’s newsletter.

  • Jeff Goins
    podcast Hey Creator

  • Emma Gannon
    ’s new podcast Creative Coffee (requires subscription)

• Read a kick-ass book on the creative process:

  • The War of Art: Break through the Blocks and Win Your Creative Battles (Steven Pressfield) – an absolute masterpiece, head to the bookstore today for this one. Just learned Pressfield now offers a free mini-course on getting unblocked!

  • Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear (Elizabeth Gilbert) – I adore this book and still cannot get over the supernatural story involving Elizabeth Gilbert and novelist Ann Patchett…you will have to read it to believe it.

  • The Artist’s Way (Julia Cameron) – a classic for a reason

  • Hungry Authors – THE BOOK! Releases on August 6^th – get your pre-order bonuses here. I have no doubt this book will be game-changing for any aspiring writer!

• Turn to a professional:

  • The pivot point for me was my work with writing coach

    Joy Reichart
    of Soul Writing. Joy’s coaching and virtual workshops are pure magic and unleashed the writer within. Once I practiced her process (daily writing for 10 minutes, with a prompt) and got into a rhythm of regular writing, the floodgates opened.

  • Another great practitioner I’ve heard of is Meredith Hite Estevez at Artists for Joy.

  • Take a class – either in person or online. (I had a great - and affordable! - experience through Minnesota’s Community Education program.) In a group with other budding writers, you’ll be expected to share your work, and that might be just the right amount of heat to make writer’s block stand down.

• Just do something. The pressure to produce something outstanding can squelch creativity’s flow in an instant. If all else fails, set a timer for 10 minutes and tell yourself you’ll throw away whatever you write. Write to practice, not to produce.

Fellow Divers, we have a friend in need. Do your thing in the Comments! What would you say to our comrade who’s creatively blocked?

Comments can include wisdom/advice/guidance, relevant personal experiences, "me too" and "you got this" sentiments,  and resources.  Tips specific to writer’s block or general thoughts on on getting unstuck and chasing the proverbial dream are welcome!

Thanks for reading The Diving Board! Got a friend or colleague who’s stalled in making their creative dream a reality? You can make their day (and mine) by forwarding this post along.

Next Week: it’s time for my Q2 Book Report, where I’ll dish on my adventures in reading from April through June. 🤓 📚 ☕️

👉🏻 📆 Last chance to register for my first live event through The Diving Board: Can We Talk (about the Enneagram)? on Tuesday, July 30th from 12-1 CT. Learn more and register here.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writer%27s_block