How to Write Non-Fiction: Writer’s block
“Nobody cares much whether you write or not. You just have to do it.”
—Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones
Most writers have struggled with getting words on the page at some point. But writer’s block is not a monolithic disease with one cause and one cure. The term is often used as a catch-all for a number of issues which have different causes and solutions.
Some blocks are caused by fears, anxieties, and mindset issues, as covered in chapter 1.11, but here are some more examples of when you might find your writing grinding to a halt.
You don’t know how to write a book
“I had assembled enough material to fill a silo, and now I had no idea what to do with it … If I was blocked by fear, I was also stymied by inexperience.”
—John McPhee, Draft No. 4
If you don’t know how to write a book, you can end up flailing around and wasting time, frustrated because you’re not getting anywhere.
Hopefully, this book will help you.
If you’re still struggling, go back to the first principles: schedule timed writing sessions, get your butt in the chair, and figure it out along the way.
You’re trying to write the wrong kind of book
You might have a block around the kind of book you intend to write. Perhaps you think you need to write a Pulitzer Prize–winning tome that will take years to complete, but the thought of something so massive also paralyses you.
Don’t worry.
You don’t need to write an ‘important’ book that becomes a classic and stands the test of time.
Pick something simple, shorter, and less ambitious to start with. You can always work up to that magnum opus later.
Malcolm Gladwell expanded on this in an interview, saying,
I deal with writer’s block by lowering my expectations. I think the trouble starts when you sit down to write and imagine that you will achieve something magical and magnificent — and when you don’t, panic sets in.
The solution is never to sit down and imagine that you will achieve something magical and magnificent. I write a little bit, almost every day, and if it results in two or three or (on a good day) four good paragraphs, I consider myself a lucky man.
Another reason you might encounter writer’s block is that you think your book is too short and you’re wondering how to pad it out.
But this is an old way of looking at non-fiction books, and more to do with traditional publishers requiring a contractual word count. Your book might be perfect at a shorter length.
The reverse might also be true: the book might already be too long and unwieldy. Perhaps you need to break it into several shorter books so you can finish something and make more income over time.
You haven’t filled the creative well
“The word block suggests that you are constipated or stuck, when the truth is that you’re empty.”
—Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
You cannot create from an empty mind. You have to fill it somehow.
Think of your brain as a pipe. You have to put things in the top for ideas to come out the bottom, transformed by your personal experience and worldview.
Research, read, watch, travel, talk to people, do whatever you need to, but fill your mind with the raw material you need to write your book.
I need external input in order to create. My self-help non-fiction books like this one are based on my experience of writing, but I also read many other books on the topic to inform and enhance my craft.
My memoir, Pilgrimage, was based on the experience of solo walking three ancient routes, which formed the backbone of the book, but I also read a lot of memoir and travel books during the writing process to help me figure out what I was writing.
You might find inspiration in different ways, but if you’re struggling, get away from the blank page and fill your creative well, whatever that means to you.
You’re trying to create in a way that is wrong for your personality or lifestyle
Sometimes you might feel blocked because you’re trying to force yourself to create in a way that just doesn’t fit with who you are.
If you’re trying to structure your book and it’s not working, try just writing around a topic and seeing what emerges, rather than trying to control and organise the text. You might be a discovery writer like me!
If you’re trying to write every day, stop for a week until the energy builds up and you need to binge write all the stuff in your brain onto the page.
If you’re trying to write early in the morning at your kitchen table and you’re distracted, try dictating on your phone while walking at lunchtime.
If you can’t carve out an hour because you have a busy family and work life, try writing in fifteen minute blocks instead.
If you feel guilty because you’re not writing — then consider why. Perhaps it’s just not the right time in your life.
I know writers who have young children, elderly parents, a busy job, and health issues, and they still feel guilty about not writing. But sometimes, life is just too much. You might not be blocked, you might just be overloaded. In this situation, maybe writing can wait.
You didn’t realise that writing would be this hard
Writing a book is a challenge. It’s much harder than you expect it to be when you start out, so at some point, you will face the difficulty of knuckling down and doing the work.
People who haven’t written a book before expect it to be a simple process of turning thoughts into words on a page. But thinking and writing is tiring, and it takes stamina that you need to build up over time.
Some days you feel you’re in flow and everything is amazing.
The next day, each sentence is a grind.
But that’s not a block — it’s the creative process.
Sometimes you just need a break.
If I’m stuck in the middle of a chapter, or just feeling over it, I go for a walk. If I’ve been working on something for an extended period of weeks or months, I might need a longer break. A few days or weeks away from the manuscript, and you’ll come back to the page renewed.
Of course, if you’re just procrastinating, stop what you’re doing, get your butt into the chair, and write!
“If you get stuck, get away from your desk. Take a walk, take a bath, go to sleep, make a pie, draw, listen to music, meditate, exercise; whatever you do, don’t just stick there scowling at the problem.”
—Hilary Mantel
How much do you want this?
If you’re feeling blocked, but you’re committed to writing this book, then you need to figure out the problem and deal with it.
There will always be challenges. Your job is to overcome them and finish what you’ve committed to.
I love being an author. I’m so proud of my creative body of work. I can hold my books in my hands and say, “I made these!”
Writing that first book changed my life, and I want that for you.
You will have brick walls along the way. Only you can smash through them.
“Brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.”
—Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
Questions:
• If you’re struggling with your writing, can you identify the reason behind the block?
• How can you deal with this and still achieve your goal of writing a book?
• What practical steps will you take to move your project forward and still look after yourself?
Resources:
• Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process — John McPhee
• Malcolm Gladwell quoted in “Getting Unstuck: Writers’ thoughts on writer’s block,” Rookie, 28 November 2012, accessed 28 October 2024 — www.rookiemag.com/2012/11/get-unstuck/
• Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life — Anne Lamott
• The Last Lecture: Lessons in Living — Randy Pausch
• “Hilary Mantel’s rules for writers,” The Guardian, 22 Feb 2010, accessed 29 October 2024 — www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/22/hilary-mantel-rules-for-writers
• The Successful Author Mindset: A Handbook for Surviving the Writer’s Journey — Joanna Penn
• Writing Down the Bones — Natalie Goldberg
