How to Start Writing When You Don’t Feel Like it: Part 1

Sometimes I don't feel like writing. Truthfully, I don't feel like writing a lot of the time, even after all these years. Sometimes, even though I have a list of ideas, confusion still stops me. I know that many of you feel the same way.

This is the first post in a series addressing how to write when you don't feel like it and get back in the flow. This is Part I: Dissolving Writer's Block.

The Wall

When I don't feel like writing, I feel heavy, dull, and resistant. Writer's block feels like a big, dark, shiny lead wall. The kind of wall that keeps radiation out. The kind of wall that blocks energy that carries the flow of ideas.

What's Behind the Wall

Behind the feelings are negative thoughts and feelings. Here are some simple examples.

• I don't know if anyone is really interested.
• Is anyone listening?
• Will anyone care if I write this?
• Will anyone want my help?
• No one cares.
• What do I have to say that can help others?
• I don't want to do this.

Even though I know these thoughts are nonsense, they still hold me hostage. I can't just break through. The only way to get beyond the wall is to dissolve it by clearing the negative energy.

Dissolving the Wall

Here's what I do:

• I freely write down what I feel and think. All the doubts, fears, anger, resentment, guilt, and shame. Whatever comes up, the deeper the better.

• I just keep free writing through it all. Some advise changing the negative thoughts to positive ones. Despite the popularity of this advice, I find it counterproductive and frustrating. It's fighting by opposing, which just strengthens the negativity. Instead, I simply keep freewriting and feeling with a kind of observation and lightness, as if I'm listening to a child.

• Sometimes, besides freewriting, I also write questions that come to me intuitively, such as:

a. What does this mean for my goal?
b. What are the long term consequences of feeling this way?
c. How can I use this state of mind to help others, to help my clients?

Such questions can help me shift quickly. Those of you who are coaches or who've worked with coaches know the power of questions.

Whichever way I go, as I keep writing, the negative energy moves on, and ideas pop out. Blog topics. Content. Processes. Good questions. To do lists.

Now I'm back in the flow! How marvelous!

What's Going On Here

What I want you to understand is that the negative energy and thoughts that we try to suppress want to be heard. They want to protect us. When we listen neutrally by writing freely and simultaneously feel our feelings without judgement, they feel heard and let go.

It turns out that the resistance comes from holding back the negative thoughts and feelings. When we hold them back, all the good stuff is held back, too. We stop flowing. We set up a wall.

When we let go of the negative by witnessing ourselves in freewriting, the wall dissolves. And we are back in the flow. The good stuff comes.

For me, sometimes it takes 20 minutes, as with Julia Cameron's famous Morning Page from The Artist's Way. Sometimes it takes two hours when I'm stressed and in a major transition. Still, most of the time, this works.

Questions for Reflection and Application

What gets you writing or working on another project when you don't feel like it?

Try this technique and let me know how it goes for you.

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You may wish to read the second post in this series, Tiny Steps. It's not what you think.