How to Reclaim Your Purpose as an Author

*If you are new here, WELCOME! For How to Reclaim Your Purpose as an Author, I share a few techniques to overcome your funk, reclaim your author purpose, and get writing again!

Please note this is not intended as a substitute for therapy. If you are facing a serious mental health issue, please reach out and find professional help.

It’s early in the morning and the house is quiet except for the sound of my “good-intentions” alarm. I roll over in the darkness, feeling the cool air hit my arm as I reach out to turn off the alarm, and then I slip my hand back into the warmth of my covers and snuggle deeper into my bed.

It might seem like an innocent enough gesture, but, despite the fact that my body is relaxed and still half-asleep, my mind is whirling in a tumultuous battle of shoulds and buts.

I SHOULD get out of bed and enjoy working in this early morning solitude before my kids wake up and need me, BUT I also need the rest because I know what the day with two busy toddlers holds.

I SHOULD get out of bed and work towards my goals, BUT what’s the point because …. no one is reading my work, I still haven’t gotten that story published, what difference is my writing really making in the world (ETC.).

You get my gist. And, I’ve bet you’ve been there, too. Maybe it’s late at night that you’ve set aside time, but you DESERVE to binge Netflix after that long, hard day. Maybe it’s during your kids’ nap time or on your lunch break, but something always comes up and destroys your good intentions of writing again.

Whatever time or situation it is, I get it.

Overcome Writer’s Block

*If you are new here, WELCOME! For How to Overcome Writer’s Block, I share a few stories and five books to help you fight writer’s block!

If you’ve been writing for very long at all, you’ve probably faced the beast called Writer’s Block. You may not know that many professional writers don’t believe there is such a thing as writer’s block. If you have read something disclaiming its existence, you’ve heard people waving it off as laziness or lack of commitment or what-have-you. When you’re in the middle of it, though, you know writer’s block is a very real thing.

Overcome the Two Types of Writer’s Block

There are two types of writer’s block. The first type could easily seem like laziness or lack of commitment to some people, but if you’re already feeling down, beating yourself up for skipping another day of writing, and feeling frustrated that you haven’t felt any kind of inspiration in days, weeks, months, that kind of talk isn’t going to help at all.

The thing you may not realize, especially if you are somewhat new to writing, is that ALL writers feel this way. When you feel that lump in your stomach, that dread of facing a blank page once again, the first thing you need to do is squash the notion that the real geniuses, the real successful writers, don’t ever feel that way. It’s a myth. A myth highly circulated through hushed circles of jealous writers, but a myth nonetheless.