CRAFT: Break the Blocks, Find the Brilliance and Get Back to Writing by Karen Carnabucci

The blank page?

When your writing is stalled, stale or simply not inspired, the task is to break through the writing block. Every writer, no matter how skilled, comes face to face with some kind of block at some point.

And far too often, our inner critical voice rouses up, blaming ourselves for our lack of productivity. Writing is a whole person activity, and there are as many reasons for feeling blocked in your writer role as there are words on this screen. A more helpful task is to rouse your curiosity to understand what is happening when you have arrived at this place.

First, we have relationships with our writerly tools — our computer, our desk, our chair, our manuscript and the story we want to tell. These are typically relationships that we like, that define us as writers. We don’t like the “block” so much — and just want to get it out of the way.

But what if we didn’t try to vanish the block, but rather sought to learn more about it?

Which brings me to a truism of life: The better you know yourself, the better you will be able to pick a route that works for you and meet your goal, whether that is completing your manuscript or any other life task.

Here are some ideas to use your imagination and intuition to make your way past that block on the writerly road. Some ways work better for you than others at times, and some may suit you to work with privately and others may be helpful when joined with a writer friend or colleague or in a writers’ group. Experiment with each and notice what’s most helpful at a given time. You can do this by yourself, or with a colleague or friend — or in your writers’ group or class.

Here are several of my favorite activities to jump start your inner writer, including imaginative play, oracle cards, improvisational imagery and more — to refresh yourself and rediscover your energy and inner brilliance.

Imagery

Find a quiet place where you are physically and emotionally comfortable and you will not be interrupted. You may wish to play some pleasant instrumental music or keep the space quiet. Gently stretch if you wish.

Close your eyes, breathe and give permission to visualize your “block.” Let whatever wants to show up arise within you naturally. You may experience your block visually, as a memory, as a word or a phrase, as a sensation in your body or in some other way.

Be with the experience as long as you like, allowing further information or visuals to unfold. Open your eyes, and journal or share aloud if you wish.

Imaginative play

In imaginative play, we give permission for ourselves to improvise and experiment. Can you pretend to “be” the block? Could you move your body in the shape that the block might be — huge, big and square, like a literal block? More like a blob? Or another shape? Or something surprisingly tiny, or slippery, or…?

You may wish to hold the position for a while, really feeling what it’s like to embody your block. Notice if the block has thoughts or words that it wants to say. Perhaps those blocks have needs or requests for you. Say the words silently to yourself, or aloud, or both. As you give yourself permission to explore your inner self, remember to allow yourself to be surprised. There are always tedious phases when we are writing.

Anthony, for instance, had really loved researching and writing his book on leadership and spirituality which had been accepted for publication. But his enthusiasm and excitement faded when he came to the indexing tasks to insert at the end of the manuscript. He reported that he felt unmotivated, frustrated — and blocked.

In this case, I asked Anthony during our session to imagine the future moment when his published book was stacked for sale on his local bookstore shelves. His gaze traveled some distance across the room, landing on a bright red pillow sitting on the sofa. Anthony agreed to move to the sofa and, standing there, he felt the excitement returning to his body. He stood at that place for a while, feeling a return of his original excitement and reported that he felt re-invigorated now that he could “see” the end in sight.

Oracle or Tarot cards

Oracle or Tarot cards — or even interesting pictures clipped from magazines — can evoke new ideas or stimulate the imagination. Beginning with a question such as, “What is the block?” is a good start. When encountering the block, other questions also can be helpful. What am I missing? What do I need to keep focused? What is the block that I don’t want to recognize? What is underneath the block?

Contemplate the card or image and notice what shows up as you allow thoughts, feelings, memories and other events to surface within you.

Concretization

If you are the kind of person who has interesting knickknacks and other little objects around the house, take a walk around your space and see what catches your eye. Think of your question and assign yourself to select the object that feels “right” for you, even if the object does not immediately make rational sense to you. This is an exercise in trusting yourself. Vary your question according to what you already know about yourself and your habits: What is the block? How do I work through this block? What do I need to know about why this block is showing up right now? And so on.

My experience

I have lots of ideas about books that I’d like to write and have more than a few projects that are relaxing on my computer’s hard drive. Juggling other roles — I am also a psychotherapist who trains other psychotherapists in action methods and experiential and alternative psychotherapies — means that I am more likely to attend to what’s in front of me, such as the next appointment, the progress notes that I need to keep or the schedule for my next training and “forget” about my writing project.

Knowing this block of forgetting, I have learned that I must have a place in my world for the manuscript, even when other tasks are interrupting and demanding my time. With my latest manuscript — I’m writing a book about how psychotherapists can use the Tarot in psychotherapy — I’ve started to listen to Tarot podcasts when I’m washing dishes, making the bed and generally picking up around the house. The podcast conversation keeps my writing project on the top level of my brain and makes it easier to make notes to myself as ideas show up and keep on writing. I’m keeping myself in the mood, so to speak.

Keep in mind, however, that the way that I solved this recent block isn’t necessarily your solution. It’s better to keep being willing to be surprised by what information shows up — that is your muse speaking.