The Happiness of Breaking Through Writer’s Block

I think, when it comes to writer’s block, there are generally two camps of people. The first believe in writer’s block and will try anything to break through it. The second does not believe in its existence. I know there have been articles written on this, but I’m not here to talk about those today.

I’m writing this post for two reasons. The first is to say that I am definitely set in that first camp. I’ve been dealing with writer’s block for months — years even. I do acknowledge, however, that there are certain factors that can make it worse, bad mental health being one of them. I’m sure it’s one of the biggest factors for me, but I’ve been regularly working on addressing that.

The second reason I’m writing is to say that I’ve finally broken through my most recent bout of writer’s block. I had been trying to write chapter sixteen of my novel for nearly a year and a half now. At most, when I sat down to write, I’d get a sentence or two out — and it wasn’t even good writing. Not even base-level good. 

Lately, I’ve been working through some writing prompts, character interviews, and a few other exercises. I don’t normally do much of that, but this time, I needed to see if it would help. Know what? It DID help!

This morning, I was able to sit down and crank out 1,387 words on that chapter that’s been plaguing me for so long. It felt so good, I nearly cried. Now, I don’t know if the writing is good or not, but it felt good while I was writing it. I feel like I’m in a good spot in the story now, and I think I can get moving at a better pace now. Or so I hope.

But the point here is that I’m writing again. More specifically, I’m writing on my novel again, and that’s a pretty grand accomplishment!