Bobby Hoffman
This is a great question and one that is easy for me to answer. As someone who has published dozens of articles and three books on motivation and the science of human performance, I know that many of us operate under false impressions about ourselves and how the world works. One of the erroneous beliefs writers embrace is that you won’t get writers block. Of course, you will!! Expect it!! Like every other task in the history of the world you will have moments when you excel and other times when you will have motivational lulls (the idea is to plan in advance how you will address the inevitable lulls---just keep reading).
Writer's block can occur due to lack of knowledge or information, but ultimately any roadblock to performance usually has a STRONG motivational component. However, here's the problem--we are trained to believe that we should power through obstacles. We are told "never give up," "stay the course," and "winners never quit, quitters never win." Unfortunately, all of these conventional truisms are wrong!
Motivation is like a muscle. When you go to the gym and work a muscle it gets exhausted and you need recovery time. When you write and reach a mental roadblock you need to take a break and return to writing when you are motivationally read. Getting ready means evaluating your goals, doing more topic research, getting feedback, or sometimes just taking a break. I call this the "Rest Stop Hack" and you can watch a video about it here:
https://youtu.be/MzsiCx4oexQ
Second, we should keep in mind the “Reality Hack,” which contends we don’t live in a perfect world and things will go wrong. Believing you will never get writer’s block is a fallacy. We also have what’s called “myside bias,” which is a belief that we will perform better, faster, and more efficiently than we do. We often miscalculate and learn after the fact that a task took longer or was more challenging than expected. Don’t worry these are natural inclinations that affect everyone.
Also, one obstacle to writing (and most other tasks) is an objective assessment of how much you want to reach the goal. I can’t tell you how many times I looked at my computer screen not knowing where the next idea was coming from or what I would write next. I do know that whenever I write I want to reach the end goal. There is no room for abandonment.
When the inevitable block occurs I verbalize to myself “you want to reach the end goal!” I may take a break, I may regroup, I may whine and complain to anyone who will listen, but I never stop writing for longer than a few days. Completion is an outcome I value more than anything else. Embrace a vigilant focus and remember, if writing was that easy everyone would have a bestseller!
Dr. Bobby
Writer's block can occur due to lack of knowledge or information, but ultimately any roadblock to performance usually has a STRONG motivational component. However, here's the problem--we are trained to believe that we should power through obstacles. We are told "never give up," "stay the course," and "winners never quit, quitters never win." Unfortunately, all of these conventional truisms are wrong!
Motivation is like a muscle. When you go to the gym and work a muscle it gets exhausted and you need recovery time. When you write and reach a mental roadblock you need to take a break and return to writing when you are motivationally read. Getting ready means evaluating your goals, doing more topic research, getting feedback, or sometimes just taking a break. I call this the "Rest Stop Hack" and you can watch a video about it here:
https://youtu.be/MzsiCx4oexQ
Second, we should keep in mind the “Reality Hack,” which contends we don’t live in a perfect world and things will go wrong. Believing you will never get writer’s block is a fallacy. We also have what’s called “myside bias,” which is a belief that we will perform better, faster, and more efficiently than we do. We often miscalculate and learn after the fact that a task took longer or was more challenging than expected. Don’t worry these are natural inclinations that affect everyone.
Also, one obstacle to writing (and most other tasks) is an objective assessment of how much you want to reach the goal. I can’t tell you how many times I looked at my computer screen not knowing where the next idea was coming from or what I would write next. I do know that whenever I write I want to reach the end goal. There is no room for abandonment.
When the inevitable block occurs I verbalize to myself “you want to reach the end goal!” I may take a break, I may regroup, I may whine and complain to anyone who will listen, but I never stop writing for longer than a few days. Completion is an outcome I value more than anything else. Embrace a vigilant focus and remember, if writing was that easy everyone would have a bestseller!
Dr. Bobby
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