Writer’s Block? We need balance to write… here’s how to get yours back

Thomas Merton wrote, Happiness is not a matter of intensity, but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.  Flaubert said and here I paraphrase, Keep order in your life. Put drama into your work.

It is so easy in our lives to have too much going on. We are used to overloading ourselves and most of us think we can gain peace of mind by handling MORE, rather than less. The odd truth is that more of anything becomes demanding of more of your attention… and there goes serenity.  Here are seven ways to bring balance back into your life so you have time to think about what you want to write, time to actually write, and time to enjoy the process.

1. Make a night for YOU once a week, if possible. No plans. No doing for someone else. Free time. It will be like elixir and lead you to yourself and your creativity.  While I am a big believer in giving to others and being there for others, I also know we need to replenish, feed ourselves, and consider ourselves as important as others. Make an artistic date with only YOU, even if it is curling up with a book, or seeing a film that YOU want to, or going to music or a bookstore (remember those? Some still exist!) A night just for you.

2. Build your writing time into your schedule. Start off slow. Half hour the first day. Hour the next. Maybe hour and a half the next. Whatever works for you. Or do it in blocks of pages. One page the first day, two pages the second and so on, up to five or seven a day, whatever your psyche can handle. Build that in daily. Your unconscious will take care of the rest. Even if you end up throwing out what you wrote, you have got your unconscious out mining and soon you will bump into an idea.

3. Let go of those people in your life who are time wasters. You may like them, you may find something interesting about them, but you don’t have to keep them intently around. Think about the people in your life and who are respectful of your time, who understand you need some solitude of mind, who are supportive of your intellectual life. Be willing to let go of people who cause you stress or whom you can’t be your best self with.

4. Use the same principle with your reading. Only read what is worthwhile. Read good writing. It will feed, inspire and relax you.

5. Give yourself pleasures. Be with a friend who makes you laugh. Be with two friends who make you laugh. Laughter is the great “unlocker” of energy. Go somewhere you – a park or view or walk –really love. Have a (diet) ice cream. Pleasure is eros is creativity.

6. Go to bed early. Eat less. That actually gives you more energy and energy gives you ideas. Plug your phone in any room that is not your bedroom.

7. Don’t think about the past. Look forward. Forget the book you wrote that didn’t work. Think about this book. Forget the fight you had with your lover or spouse. Think about what you can do positively in your life and let go of looking in the “rearview mirror.” You can’t do much about all that… but you can be constructive.

I know these are the simplest of precepts but they are good to remember and if you cook them all up together, suddenly your creativity will be right back in your fingertips.

About the author: Gay Walley has published 2 novels, “Strings Attached” and “The Erotic Fire of the Unattainable”, currently becoming a movie. Her play, “Love Genius and a Walk”, is scheduled for Off Broadway 2015. Two more books, “Duet” and “Lost in Montreal” came out in 2014. She teaches writing in New York. Read her eBooks “How to write your first novel” and “The smart guide to business writing” on Bookboon.