Why Some Writers Struggle to Just Get Started (and What to Do About It)
Authors Brendan Mahan and Alex Hughes Capell share why many writers struggle to get started and explain what to do about it.
Maybe you’ve been there. You sit down at the keyboard, wanting to write, but the cursor blinks endlessly. Maybe you try a sentence, then delete it. Ten uncomfortable minutes later, you stand up. You need to do your taxes, call the cable company, clean the grout in the kitchen—anything to not feel that stuck, frustrated feeling anymore. When you come back hours later, the cursor judges you even more harshly than before.
Some people call this writer’s block. But while pure writer’s block is caused by not knowing what’s next, trouble starting is usually something else. I call this problem the Wall of Awful.
The Wall of Awful is created by all the negative emotions you’ve had in the past around writing, brick by brick. That cutting comment your seventh grade teacher made about your grammar. The cousin who told you you’d never make it. Your own fears and frustrations that you won’t get your book or article right. That looming deadline you hate.
All of the fear and rejection you’ve ever faced is sitting there, between you and the story you love. Ooof. It’s a lot.
But there’s good news: The Wall of Awful is normal.
And you can get past it!
The Wall is an anxiety response, whether or not you feel the anxiety! It’s the “fight, flight, or freeze” system gone wrong. Your brain senses a threat, and gears up to fight that threat. But instead of fighting a tiger or running from a car about to hit you, you’re facing a Wall. Your body is trying to protect you by running or freezing, but responding in the wrong way.
To get past the Wall, you can’t just stare at it. You have to soothe, activate, or both.
Options to Get Past the Wall
Consider the following section to be a menu. Order as many or as few options as you need to get going.
The Easy Stuff
Because the Wall of Awful is about emotions, if you change your emotional state, you can often put a Door in the Wall. Try:
- Using music. Pick something you love or songs with a very different emotional tone. For writing, Alex loves Two Steps From Hell or Ludovico Einualdi.
- Body doubling. The ADHD community has figured out that when you can’t do the thing on your own, you can usually do it if a friend sits with you. Set up writing sprints with a friend, or ask for virtual support.
- A different location or process. If you usually write at home, go somewhere else. Brendan loves the library. Add novelty or a new process, like a whiteboard, colored pens, or dictation.
- Creating a more regular writing habit. When you sit down at the same place and time over and over, the act of writing becomes more routine. Routine things are less scary to the brain, and your Wall may lessen over time.
Soothe
Still having trouble? It’s okay. Take a breath. The more frustration and shame you feel about struggling, the higher the Wall gets. Instead, realize this struggle is normal! Everybody has a Wall of Awful about something.
When you identify the Wall and accept it, you take away a lot of its power.
Once you’ve accepted the Wall, try soothing your anxiety by using my CCAW model. Can you create more ___?
- Certainty. Plan what you need to write next, or at least what problem you’re solving. Defining what you’re doing gives you certainty, which is calming.
- Connection. Can you sit with that friend to write? Call someone for support, to talk through the issue? Or, alternatively, can you open up a document and create a dialogue between yourself and a fictional character who can help you feel better?
- Agency. You likely have more choices and power than you think. Try listing a few. Or promise yourself you’re writing this draft for yourself. No one else can see.
- Wellbeing. Can you make yourself physically or emotionally more comfortable? Have you eaten and had water recently? Can you go for a walk, drink tea, or burn a pleasant smelling candle? When you soothe your nervous system, the Wall becomes less imposing.
If you have the time, you could also try journaling about your emotions. Understanding what emotions you’re facing in the Wall and why is often the first step to letting them go.
Activate
According to Dr. William Dodson, many brains are “interest based.” Rather than being activated by importance, many people find their creativity “turns on” best when they have one of five things.
These things are Interest, Novelty, Challenge, Urgency, and Passion/Values (INCUP). If you’ve already soothed your anxiety but can’t start, you need to add one of these other factors.
We’re guessing you’ve probably already used many of these tactics without realizing it. Novel writing month challenges set up a time limit and a competition, the U and the C. And you likely started writing out of your own interests and values.
If you’re having trouble getting started even though you’re calm, try to reconnect with what you found so compelling about the project in the first place. Can you research some cool facts or read about someone’s experience with that passion? Can you remind yourself why writing this supports your values?
Set up your own novel writing challenge with friends. Work in a new place or in a new way for more novelty. Wear a silly hat and sit backwards on your chair if needed. Play cinematic music and pretend you’re a famous screenwriter. Or, add urgency using Pomodoro-style writing sprints or software that deletes your words if you stop writing. Once you know what to add, your creativity can lead the way.
All of us face Walls of Awful sooner or later. They’re part of being human, and being a writer. But with intentionality and care, you can get past the Wall and start writing the project you love.
Is It Really a Wall of Awful?
Before you try to Climb the Wall or to Put a Door in it, check to see if you actually have a Wall.
There are a few things that look like a Wall of Awful, but aren’t. For example, a lack of transition time. Trying to go directly from several easy-payoff tasks or an emotional family situation into deeply focused writing can make your brain rebel. Take 15 minutes in between to breathe and reset.
Or maybe the initial stages of thinking and prep are just hard to see. If your process requires you to noodle on a project before putting pen to paper, build that time in. Thinking time is writing time. The same goes for facing a story problem you don’t yet know how to solve. The Wall of Awful is driven by emotions; a story-based block is driven by information and decisions.
(Of course, you can have a Wall of Awful about story problems, or the first stages of a project. Things can stack like that.)
Finally, check to make sure you’re building a focused writing habit, not a habit of self-interruption and fast-payoff tasks. Building your writing muscle can be like running a couch to 5k, and may feel similarly uncomfortable.
Check out Brendan Mahan and Alex Hughes Capell's Overcoming the Wall of Awful here:
(WD uses affiliate links)
