The Blocked Writer's Book of The Dead

The Blocked
Writer’s
Book of the Dead
Bring Your Writing Back to Life!

David Rasch, Ph.D.
The Blocked Writer’s Book of the Dead
David Rasch, Ph.D.
Copyright 2010 David Rasch, Ph.D.
ISBN 978-1-935530-32-9
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or

transmitted, in any form or by any means now known or to be
invented, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system,
without written permission from the author, except for inclusion
of brief quotation in a review.
Illustration page 4 © The New Yorker Collection 2004. David

Sipress from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved.
Cover photo of Isis, Egyption Goddess of Magic and Protector of
the Dead, by David Rasch.
Text and cover design by Patricia Hamilton.
Park Place Publications

P.O. Box 829
Pacific Grove, California 93950
www.parkplacepublications.com
Printed in the United States of America

First Edition January 2011
For my mother, Adele
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my gratitude to several people who helped

with the creation of this book. My editor, Laurie Gibson, provided
invaluable assistance with reviewing and editing several versions
of the manuscript. The final product has been vastly improved by
her suggestions and exquisite attention to detail. Patricia Hamilton
skillfully and cheerfully guided me through the publication
process. I am indebted to her for many valuable contributions with
formatting, cover design, and a host of other essential aspects of
book publishing.
Ken Jones, Harold Grice, Deanne Gwinn, Joyce Krieg,
Mike Thomas, Wanda Sue Parrott, and several other members of the
Central Coast Writers branch of the California Writer’s Club have
provided inspiration, contacts, and resources that have assisted me
considerably on my writing journey. My Stanford colleagues Fred
Luskin, Hilton Obenzinger, Larraine Zappert, and the staff of the
Stanford Faculty/Staff Help Center have all offered helpful input
and support with my writing at various points through the years.
I am especially grateful for my daughters, Meehan and
Alison, who had to hear quite a bit about writer’s block throughout
their formative years. Their fresh wisdom and good humor has been
a delight that quietly boosts my energy to write. Finally, I would like
to thank my wife, Ixchel, for her unfailing encouragement, advice
and love as I encountered the many joys and challenges involved
with writing and publishing a book.
Contents
Dedication 3
Acknowledgements 5
Chapter 1 Why Blocked Writers Need a Book of the Dead 9
Chapter 2 Death is Inevitable; Writing is Not 13
Chapter 3 Know Thyself 17
Chapter 4 Past Lives and Write Now 37
Chapter 5 The Grateful Blocked 41
Chapter 6 Motivations for Writing 47
Chapter 7 A Room, Womb, or Tomb of One’s Own 52
Chapter 8 House Training the Writer Within 59
Chapter 9 Procrastination: The Sickness Unto Deadline 69
Chapter 10 Not in Your Write Mind 80
Chapter 11 Feelings 90
Chapter 12 The Judgment 93
Chapter 13 Encountering the Unknown 105
Chapter 14 Rebirth: Improving Writing Productivity 110
Chapter 15 Your Writing Productivity Improvement Plan 115
Appendix The Puppy Principles 123
Bibliography 124
About the Author 128
© The New Yorker Collection 2004. David Sipress from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved.

C H A P T E R 1
Why Blocked Writers

Need a Book of the Dead
“… bring me the water-pot and palette from the writing
kit of Thoth and the mysteries that are in them.”
~ The Egyptian Book of the Dead
“I can only write when deadlines have passed and I feel like there is
a gun to my head. Even then it takes enormous effort to make myself
do it, and I can only write in intense, long binges where I neglect
everything else in my life. Afterwards I feel completely drained. I
hate writing.”
“I have too many other commitments to find time to write. I know

my publishing record will be the single most important factor in
my tenure review, but somehow I lose sight of that because I feel
overwhelmed with the demands of teaching and other administrative
tasks. Maybe it’s a way of avoiding writing.”
“I’ve been working on the book forever, but I don’t seem any closer
to the end. I spend hours in the library and I’m always discovering
more books I need to read before I can feel confident about what I’m
writing. I’ve rewritten my first chapter so many times I’ve lost track
of why I even began writing this book.”

THE BLOCKED WRITER’S BOOK OF THE DEAD
“I have plenty of time to write but I waste enormous amounts of

time on insignificant tasks or just sleeping. I dread actually sitting
down at my desk and beginning to write. I’ll find any excuse to do
something else. No one knows how serious a problem this is and I lie
when my friends ask how my book is coming along.”
“I don’t belong here. The university made a huge mistake hiring me

as a professor. There’s no way I’ll ever be able to get published in a
respectable journal. If I try to write anything it will be obvious that I
am out of my league. I have this terrible recurring fantasy of a group
of graduate students reading an article I’ve written and laughing
out loud. Unfortunately, I’m not suited for any other kind of work
and I’m terrified of failing.”
“Whatever I write seems like absolute crap to me. I can spend hours
on a single paragraph, only to tear it up in disgust. What made me
think I could be a writer? I’m terrified that I don’t have what it takes
but I can’t give it up. Every day I feel haunted by thoughts of what I
am not accomplishing.”
Inspiration My inspiration for writing this book came from my experiences

for writing over two decades as a therapist, teacher, consultant, and group leader
this book for writers with productivity problems. The previous statements are
typical of what I hear from the writers I work with. This book is a
guide for people who are seeking to understand and resolve problems
with initiating, sustaining, and completing writing projects. The title
came to me when I realized that in writing a self-help book, I was
contributing to a genre whose origins can be traced to The Egyptian
Book of the Dead, which was probably mankind’s very first self-
help book. This remarkable text includes passages written as early as
the third millennium B.C. that instruct spirits of the dead on how to
achieve immortality and eternal happiness in the afterlife.
10
Writing was an essential element of burial for the ancient

Egyptians, at least for those who could afford it. They had their
“books of the dead” carved into the stone walls of their tombs
or written on papyrus rolls placed in their sarcophaguses. These
writings were believed to be indispensable aids for contending with
death and the afterlife. It was thought that only by reading the verses
in their tomb or sarcophagus would the disembodied spirits know
how to attain immortality and overcome horrific adversaries in the
next world (such as fierce crocodiles, enormous snakes, and ass-
swallowing demons). These post-mortem challenges sound daunting
indeed, but many living writers of books and dissertations confront
equal, if not greater, horrors. They need a book of the dead too.
My title was also inspired by another ancient classic of self-help The Tibetan
literature, The Tibetan Book of the Dead. It was written in the eighth Book of the
century A.D. and attributed to the teachings of Padmasambhava, a Dead
Buddhist saint. The Tibetan Book of the Dead is supposed to be read
aloud over the bodies of the recently deceased. It describes the perils
and opportunities that their souls will encounter in the “bardo,” a
spiritual dimension encountered after physical death and before
the next rebirth. Death and the subsequent trip through the bardo
is described as a time of great opportunity for those who have the
proper training, guidance, and presence of mind to respond skillfully
to the many challenging emotions, distractions, traps, and rewards
that characterize that realm.
The Tibetans believed that the recently disembodied soul
encounters a host of frightening and seductive phenomena in the
post-mortem trip through the bardo, which must be properly handled
to prevent an automatic rebirth into another confused and painful
existence on the earth, or worse. I think of the writing process as a
type of bardo, because those of us who write (like spirits leaving the
body) enter into a complex and challenging realm of experience and
are confronted directly with the remarkable, mysterious, and vexing
11
realities of our lives, habits, hearts, and minds.

In fact, several themes addressed in both the Tibetan and
Egyptian books of the dead are relevant to the experience of writing.
Hope, These include encountering the unknown, understanding the nature
possibility, of suffering and struggle, cultivating awareness, acting wisely,
power, recognizing and facing danger, working skillfully with difficult
mystery emotions, asking for help, learning patience, communicating
effectively, and attaining liberation from habits that trap us. Books
of the dead are also about hope, possibility, power, mystery, and
rebirth into greater worlds. They instruct about the paths toward
transformation that appear when all seems lost. These themes are as
relevant for living writers as they are for dead ones.
12
C H A P T E R 2
Death is Inevitable;
Writing is Not
All we have to do is wait long enough and death will come. Waiting
for writing to occur is less of a sure bet. Writing is a mentally
demanding and complex activity that requires sustained effort
and attention. Numerous neurological processes connected with
speech, motor activity, memory, emotion, visual perception, word
and sentence construction, and sound recognition light up the brain
during the process. We have to mentally and physically coordinate
all this activity in order to produce intelligible written documents.
It’s demanding, and the mechanics of writing are susceptible to
breaking down in many ways.
In my work I listen to stories of how people avoid writing. The
magnificent energy and creativity of the human mind is seldom so
exquisitely manifested as when it is devising methods of defeating
the intention to write. If these elaborate schemes of avoidance could
be regarded as high art instead of deadly sin, blockers would be a
proud and happy lot. We would only go to such extraordinary lengths
to avoid writing if there were compelling reasons to do so. Do any of
the following ring true for you?
To start with, you have to do it by yourself. It is a solitary
undertaking, and you need to be able to tolerate loneliness, self-
13
doubt, fatigue, dread, delayed gratification, uncertainty, criticism,

and overwhelm—yet still continue to write. Others can encourage
you in various ways, but at the end of the day, it’s you alone who
must actually make yourself do it.
Why writing
Writing is a sum of many diverse mental activities, behaviors,
can be tough
and relationships that somehow combine to create a finished product.
These include generating ideas, making notes, organizing those
notes, both expanding upon and refining ideas, building phrases
and sentences, creating drafts, revising drafts, seeking feedback,
final editing, dealing with criticism, praise, or rejection of the final
work … then getting into your next project. You have to perform
all of these tasks, and be able to decide when to move back and
forth between them. Hundreds of decisions and corrections of those
decisions must be made, even with short pieces. Your perseverance,
judgment, patience, and confidence are constantly put to the test.
In addition, for better and worse, your ability to write is
intimately connected with your psychological state. If you take
the time to closely examine what actually goes on in your mind
moment to moment, it quickly becomes apparent that you have
less control over your thoughts and feelings than you might want
to admit. A typical psyche is a seething cauldron, bubbling with
impulses, emotions, random ideas, habitual thoughts, creativity,
logic, fantasies, sensory perceptions, desires, and conflicts. Your
intention to write must assert itself from within this roiling psychic
miasma, despite the fact that some of these internal dynamics are not
supportive of your writing agenda. It is your own mind, supposedly,
but it doesn’t always mind you.
Writing is also hard because you are always confronting time-
consuming biological and social realities like the need to sleep, eat,
earn money, and spend time with your family and friends. Because
time and energy are limited, choosing to write often requires a
14
sacrifice of some sort in other areas.

Writing becomes even more difficult if important people
in your life do not support it. This includes loved ones who feel
neglected, colleagues and mentors who are neglectful, competitive,
or threatened, as well as parents and lovers who don’t understand
what you’re doing or who consider writing a lousy career choice or
a waste of time.
In addition, despite your best intentions, you can easily be
derailed from writing by the compelling and ubiquitous Siren songs
of hot baths, television, conversation, parties, e-mail, the Internet,
phone calls, the cookie jar, and the compulsion to scrub tile grout
with a toothbrush.
Being productive is also hard if you have had inadequate or
incorrect training. Writing requires that our brains and bodies learn
a complex set of neurological and behavioral operations that do
not occur naturally. If that training was done poorly or interrupted,
writing may be experienced as being especially arduous, distasteful,
and time consuming.
Many of the writers I work with recall painful or traumatic
experiences connected with writing from their pasts. Upsetting
remarks and negative reactions from teachers, parents, or other
important figures have a strong impact on young minds and create
intense feelings about writing such as resentment, fear, and self-
doubt. To make things worse, few of us were taught anything useful
in our educational system at any level about how to overcome
writing blocks or other common problems with writing productivity.
You usually have to figure these things out on your own, and it is
difficult to find competent assistance if you even think to seek it. Taking
You also take personal risks when you write. You are producing personal
something for public scrutiny that could expose you to negative risks
judgments and criticism. What if writing is your passionate dream
15
and your writing makes people angry, bored, or disappointed? If

you don’t write, other people may also get angry and disappointed.
If your ability to write productively is essential for career goals such
as completing an educational degree, achieving tenure in academia,
or making a living as an author, the pressure to produce can be a
motivating force, but it can also generate crippling anxiety spirals
and work stoppages.
Clearly, the personal challenges associated with being a writer
are not trivial. In my experience, to have at least occasional problems
of some sort with beginning or sustaining writing is more the norm
than the exception, even for writers with experience and success. If
writing never seems difficult, you have indeed been blessed (but I
would counsel you not to speak extensively about this blessing in
the company of other writers).
16
C H A P T E R 3
Know Thyself
The “blocked writer” who stares in anguish at a blank page or who

repeatedly rips up work in frustration is a widely recognized cultural
archetype that appears frequently in books, cartoons, movies, and
conversation. But what is “writer’s block”? I became curious about
this question in the early days of my work with writers. I was
counseling highly motivated, intelligent people seeking help with
performing a seemingly straightforward task. I should have been
able to help them, yet somehow I was managing to fail spectacularly.
Why? I couldn’t decide whether my clients were lazy, recalcitrant,
and uncooperative or whether I was just a remarkably inadequate
therapist. Over time I was able to see that writing productivity
problems are quite complex, subtle, and tenacious, and that I had to
look more deeply into the nature of these difficulties and facilitate
change more skillfully.
Writer’s block is not a single, identifiable syndrome. People use
the phrase, as I do in this book, to describe a variety of difficulties Writer’s block
that result in a halt or significant decrease in writing productivity. As is not a single
previously mentioned, writing is a complex, multifaceted enterprise syndrome
and it breaks down in many different and interesting ways. The
various forms of writing block often share common themes such
as perfectionism, procrastination, overwhelm, anxiety, and fear of
criticism, but each person’s writing process has its own unique context,
17
history, and specific pattern of behavior, thoughts, and feelings. I

recommend starting the journey with a thorough exploration of the
problem, and encourage you to seek a very specific understanding of
the assets and liabilities of your own writing process. This will help
you craft a plan for improving your writing productivity that is well
thought out and has a good chance of succeeding.
Writing Productivity Problems

Below is a list of common difficulties reported by blocked writers. It
is not an exhaustive list, and the categories should not be viewed as
rigidly defined or mutually exclusive. As you read through it, make
a note of the items that seem relevant to your writing process.
7 Time and Scheduling Difficulties

Many writers with productivity problems have trouble with time. You
Writing by
must find time, protect it, and then use it well despite the competing
conscious
pulls of other responsibilities, people, pleasures, and the complex
planning
workings of your mind. Every day, through conscious planning
or by
unconscious or by unconscious default, you prioritize your activities and make
default decisions about how to spend time. It can be quite a challenge to
determine how much time the writing portion of your life requires,
and to incorporate that into a workable routine. It may require some
maneuvering to insert regular blocks of writing time in your daily
and weekly schedule, and even if you find the time you are still
faced with the daunting task of sticking to the schedule and actually
writing something during the minutes or hours you’ve carved out.
18
Common problems with time and scheduling include:

• An inability or reluctance to make future plans about writing Writers often
• An inability or reluctance to schedule your day struggle to
manage time
• An inability or reluctance to stick with a schedule you have
made
• Losing track of time, getting distracted
• Chronic lateness
• Overbooking your time
• An inability to estimate how long a task will take
• Overwhelm and anxiety when thinking of the future
• Working too long at a stretch
• An inability to write except just before or after deadlines
• Insufficient prioritizing of writing relative to other activities and
commitments
• Over-focusing on the passage of time and worrying that time is
too short
Understanding your issues with managing time will also
be a topic on page 27: Assessing Your Writing Productivity
Problems.
7 Difficulty Starting
I have worked with several writers whose primary challenge was
taking the step of sitting down at their desk. Their anticipatory
anxiety or other resistances create a mental barrier against taking the
first step. Often they are entertaining an inaccurate and exaggerated
estimate of the agony that will ensue if they write. I love to swim
but I dislike getting into the water due to the brief shock of the initial
19
chilliness. I spend a good bit of time on the deck, contemplating

and postponing my entry, but once I dive in and do a couple of laps,
I’m plenty warm and I enjoy being immersed. Writers who have
difficulty starting often do fine once they have taken the plunge,
and the challenge is to learn to set up one’s writing life to increase
the odds of diving in. This will be discussed in more detail in the
subsequent chapters, A Room, Womb, or Tomb of One’s Own and
House-Training the Writer Within.
7 Rejecting Ideas Prematurely

This tendency involves thinking of ideas then rejecting them before
they have been considered sufficiently or written down. Generally
this idea-rejecting process takes place privately in the solitude of the
individual mind. Ideas arise and are not written down because of a
feeling that they are not “good enough.”
You have to be able to tolerate the raw quality of your first
thoughts in order to let them out of the privacy of your cranium
and allow them to exist nakedly in black and white. Often they
look different on paper than they seemed in your head, and you can
evaluate them more objectively. The process of writing down rough
ideas in the early stages of a project should not be viewed as a waste
of time. Once ideas are written down, even if they embarrass you,
Writing they have been preserved and can be reflected upon and improved
stimulates over time. You are not proclaiming they will be the final product just
creativity because you wrote them. It is a step in the process that permits you
to develop your thoughts more fully and generate additional ideas
and inspirations. The act of actually writing words also stimulates
creative thoughts in a way that does not happen when the words
exist only in your mind. Freewriting is an exercise that can be very
useful for developing the skill of writing without involving your
inner critic in the process. It is the practice of writing down whatever
20
occurs to you without pausing or judging the content. Peter Elbow’s

book, Writing Without Teachers, gives a great explanation of how to
understand and work with freewriting.
7 Freezing Up or “Drawing a Blank”

This problem often takes the form of staring blankly at your paper
or monitor and being unable to think of what to write next. Typically
there is a sense of anxiety that accompanies this behavior, which
grows as time passes without any thoughts or words arriving. You
might also start getting anxious about the fact that you are anxious,
because you know that anxiety interferes with writing. As this
anxiety spiral intensifies it becomes even harder to think clearly or
produce writing. Anxiety inhibits abstract thinking, interferes with
short-term memory, and can wreak havoc on productivity.
7 Procrastinating
This is one of the most common behaviors associated with writing,
and it takes many forms. Briefly defined, procrastination is the
avoiding of writing that one wants or needs to do, even though one is
capable and interested in doing it. Procrastination frequently occurs
in alternation with intense, desperate episodes of rushed writing
under deadline pressure. The varieties of thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors associated with procrastination are extensive, and though
I should describe them now, I think I’ll do it later (see Chapter 9,
Procrastination: The Sickness Unto Deadline).
21
Working Long Hours with Little to Show for It

Some very energetic and disciplined writers find they are unable to
move their projects forward effectively. They don’t appear to avoid
work and they are willing and able to put in long hours, but somehow
meaningful forward progress eludes them. Below are some of the
ways this happens.
7 Excessive editing or rewriting of early drafts

This approach makes the experience of writing slower and more
stressful. Significant mental energy is required to solve editing
problems while simultaneously trying to generate ideas. Elements
of perfectionism are commonly associated with this premature
microscopic scrutiny of the fine points of an early draft. Frustration,
doubts, fears of failure, distaste for the process, and eventually a
disinclination to write are all aspects of this syndrome. Having said
this, I must also acknowledge that some very successful writers
prefer to write this way and I don’t recommend changing approaches
that work for you. But if you write this way and it leads to frustration
and work avoidance, then you may need to address it.
7 Getting lost or hiding in research

Often writing projects require that a certain amount of background
research be conducted. Some writers have difficulty making the
transition from gathering information to producing writing. Research
is interesting and it’s less demanding than creating sentences and
paragraphs that someone else will read and evaluate. Most writers
love to read and some are tempted to indulge their enjoyment of
reading beyond what the project really requires. Spending excessive
time doing research on the Internet, in the lab, or at the library
may also arise from the need to reassure yourself that you know
22
absolutely everything about the subject in order to prevent any

possibility of experiencing the humiliation that comes from making
a public mistake. Writers must do enough research to do their job
well, but if you’ve only been reading and taking notes, and several
years pass, this might signal a problem.
7 Commitment difficulties
These challenges are characterized by numerous rewrites that are
not refinements of an initial draft, but are rather repeated excursions
into entirely new approaches driven by excessive self-doubting.
A certain amount of reconsidering and overhauling should be
viewed as a healthy part of the creative process, but when doubt
becomes the dominant psychological driver, a descent into agony
and frustration may ensue. Usually this pattern is connected with
a fear of committing to a particular line of thought, because once
that commitment is made you feel vulnerable to criticism or failure.
What if your choice is not the “right” or “best” one? What if you
have made a crucial but unnoticed mistake that will undermine the
whole project? So you rewrite to assuage your anxiety by using a
different approach in an unending search for the perfect passage.
People caught up in this cycle are often plagued with doubts to the
degree that they can no longer recognize, appreciate, or effectively
develop their own good ideas. The internal stress generated by this
dynamic is considerable.
7 Overworking, difficulty with stopping

The compulsion to push too long and too hard is marked by the loss
of healthy life balance as the writing project becomes an obsession.
Overworking is different than having episodes of inspired immersion
in work, which are typically experienced as a good thing by writers.
People who overwork have become monomaniacal about their
23
involvement with writing to the point that creativity and productivity

suffer. Other common consequences are burnout and difficulties in
relationships, health, and happiness. As odd as it may sound, for
these writers, learning when to stop writing each day improves the
quality and quantity of output.
7 Including too much peripherally related material

Learning You have to be able to decide what is important and what is not
when to stop to make progress moving a project ahead. There is always more
writing to be said about any subject, and those writers who keep adding
peripheral material and lose touch with the main focus of the work
are less productive, even if they work long hours. Often they find
the editing process to be grueling. Editing decisions are not always
easy and writers can lose a lot of time agonizing over what to leave
in and what to take out. Some people find it very hard to remove
anything from their drafts out of fear that they might be excising
something vital. Editing questions are unavoidable and have no
perfect answers, but when the default position is to leave everything
in “just in case,” things can get very bogged down.
Difficulty Finishing
Some writers work well until they reach the end of their project.
Then everything stops. Putting the final touches on and presenting
it as “finished” arouses uneasy feelings. These writers may have
several nearly completed manuscripts. When one project is almost
complete they move on and start the next. Apprehensiveness about
public exposure and judgments typically drives this pattern. One
young faculty member in my class who had written prolifically was
denied tenure for his undistinguished publishing record because he
was unable to finish any of his several papers and submit them to
24
journals. After the wake-up call of his tenure denial he addressed

several projects with renewed vigor and completed them all.
Psychosomatic Barriers
I worked with a graduate student who had neck spasms whenever
he attempted to write. The spasms pinched a nerve that caused
his writing hand to go limp. Through our discussions it became
clear that the muscular contractions in his neck were connected
with his rage toward an advisor who was excessively critical and
inconsistent. His limp hand possibly symbolized the hopelessness
he felt trying to win his advisor’s approval. This is an example of a
psychosomatic writing problem. The physical experience made the
writing difficult or impossible, but recognizing his feelings of rage
and powerlessness was necessary to facilitate change. Other common
examples of psychosomatic barriers are headaches, fatigue, hand
cramps, dizziness, and nausea, when these symptoms are generated
by emotional conflicts.
Physical Problems
I have seen many people whose ability to write was limited by health
issues. These situations are heart wrenching when the desire to write
is strong but the body is weak in some critical way. Repetitive stress
injuries from keyboard use are sometimes tragically debilitating, and
awareness of correct ergonomics is important for those who write.
I worked with one assistant professor who was denied
tenure because her chronic arm and wrist pain made keyboard use
excruciating, and she was unable to complete enough work. Her
efforts to heal the injuries were begun too late, and alternative
technologies such as voice-recognition software were not yet
effective enough. If you spend a lot of time writing on a keyboard,
25
it’s worth the time to learn how to minimize the likelihood of such
injuries through proper posture and positioning of your computer.
This is especially true if you are beginning to experience neck, arm,
or wrist pain; there is good information available on the Internet
regarding what you can do.
Difficulties with Sharing Writing

and Dealing with Criticism
There are those who write fluently but are unable to show their work
to other people. Being private about one’s writing can be simply
a matter of preference, as in personal journal writing, but it is a
problem for those who desire publication, feedback, editing help, or
other assistance. You may have learned that it was unsafe to expose
your writing due to traumatic experiences in school or elsewhere.
It’s helpful to learn how to deal with the inevitable criticism and
rejection that comes from showing others your work, without getting
too devastated or blocked. Finding the right people to involve with
your writing process at various stages is important, and this topic
will be explored in Chapter 2, The Judgment.
Gender, Race, Culture, and Writing Blocks

Over the history of Western civilization, the production of written
texts has been overwhelmingly the province of fair-skinned males.
Fortunately this is changing, but numerous personal, professional,
and societal hurdles still exist for writers from the less empowered
segments of society, and these realities can contribute to writing
problems. Confidence crises, hopelessness, and self-doubt may be
more difficult to overcome for those who have learned that their
efforts will not be noticed or valued.
Securing access to helpful educational opportunities, collegial
26
support, publishers, and professional networks has traditionally been

harder for women and individuals from minority groups or foreign
cultures. I have also worked with several writers who were not native
speakers of English who were blocked due to lack of confidence
in their command of the language. Appropriate encouragement and
practical support goes a long way toward releasing the potential of
individuals with these additional challenges as writers.
Rejection, Criticism, and Interpersonal Issues

Writing may seem like a solitary enterprise, but there are a variety
of interpersonal issues that impinge upon writing productivity. Most
people are sensitive to the reactions and opinions of others, and
writers frequently have their confidence and self-esteem challenged
when either anticipating or reacting to encounters involving criticism
and rejection. Productivity can be enhanced by steadily improving
one’s ability to control anxiety and tolerate feedback. It is not
uncommon for blocked writers to have too few people to talk with
about their writing. Issues of embarrassment, shame, unworthiness,
and depression sometimes contribute to an unhealthy isolation.
The act of connecting with other writers can be a powerful way
to generate renewed passion, confidence, and energy for writing.
Isolated writers, however, frequently find the social, emotional,
and psychological barriers to reaching out to be formidable, and
Connecting
recommendations for change must be carefully considered.
with other
The impact of personal relationships on the writer is another
writers
complex area in which productivity-related issues may arise.
Our personal relationships may include people who have strong
opinions about our writing life. They may assist or interfere with
our productivity in subtle or overt ways. To a certain extent this is an
unavoidable reality and learning to keep both personal relationships
and a writing life going is a challenge for many writers.
27
Mental Health and Neurological Issues

Depression and anxiety are frequent visitors to those who struggle
with writing. Sometimes depression and anxiety arise primarily
because the writing is not happening. I have seen many cases where
mood and sleep patterns were significantly improved in blocked
writers who reconnected with their work in a meaningful way. Some
depressed or anxious writers begin writing productively only after
they received the appropriate therapy.
Other mental health issues such as bipolar disorder, schizo-
phrenia, post-traumatic stress, grief reactions, and addictions may
need to be treated effectively in order for writing to take place. While
it is true that some very well-known and prominent writers have
had serious mental health disorders, it would be a mistake for the
Depression, aspiring writer to view a mania, excessive drug use, or alcoholism
anxiety, and as the path to boost productivity. The number of talented people
writing who have been rendered incapable of writing due to psychological
suffering far exceeds the total of those who have been able to write
well in spite of, or because of, their afflictions.
Because writing demands so much of our gray matter, it is
also important to keep in mind that brain functioning is a critical
factor in both the performance and inner experience of writing. Each
writer’s brain develops its own unique method of performing and
coordinating the many cognitive tasks that are involved. We all have
different neurological strengths and challenges, and at the two ends
of the continuum there are people who seem to struggle very little
with writing and those who struggle a lot. Factors that affect brain
functioning such as brain injury, attention deficit disorder, sleep
deprivation, and dyslexia increase the challenges significantly. Some
authors manage to write productively in spite of such handicaps, but
they have to work very hard to do it.
28
A thorough exploration of the connections between writing

blocks and psychological and neurological disorders is beyond the
scope of this book, but it is important to recognize and address these
issues if they are part of your writing life.
Subject Matter and Writing Blocks

You may find that your subject matter triggers difficult memories
or feelings (for example, writing about a troubled childhood).
Moving away from writing in these circumstances is a way of
reducing discomfort. Writing is also a powerful social act. If your
writing addresses subjects or expresses opinions that breach societal
taboos, there are risks involved. The history of literate humanity
includes many unfortunate chapters involving book burning and the
persecution, imprisonment, and execution of authors whose words
have displeased someone. The issues of religion, politics, race, and
sex are commonly involved. The death threats made against Salman
Rushdie following publication of his book, The Satanic Verses, is
a good example from the modern era. Even if you do not expect to
be lynched or shot for your writing, the anticipation of an angry or
rejecting response from the public may generate enough discomfort
to block your writing process.
You might also worry about how your writing will affect
friends and family. One author in a writing group was stuck for quite
a while in her attempts to write a novel because she had drawn on
traits of a personal acquaintance in the creation of a rather unpleasant
character. Her fear of offending this person stopped her progress
for quite some time. She eventually decided to go ahead and write,
telling herself it was safe to write whatever she wanted in the privacy
of her home and she could decide later about whether it would be a
problem to go public with it.
29
Problems with Success

The prospect of success is challenging to some writers. Psychological
issues of this variety sometimes lead to self-sabotaging behaviors
connected with feelings of unworthiness or the fear of being the
center of attention. I know writers who had early or unanticipated
success and could not write after that. A junior professor in one of
my groups stalled completely after her first published article landed
Self-sabotaging her a job at a prestigious university. Several elements seemed to
behaviors have contributed to her paralysis, including fear of being discovered
as an imposter and the daunting challenge of matching her initial
success.
It is also important to consider whether anyone important in
your life would be threatened, resentful, jealous, or hurt if you were
to be successful as a writer. I worked with a young writer who had
been blocked for years after her father became enraged and physically
threatened her upon learning of her first publishing success. A young
professor in a writer’s group was blocked on her writing productivity
because her husband had been unable to complete his dissertation,
and her progress made her feel guilty.
A certain amount of hope and confidence is generally a good
thing for a writer, but problems can also arise from the anticipation
of a positive public response. A participant in a recent workshop
revealed that she became blocked with her writing when she imagined
that her book would become an enormous success and she would
have to appear on Oprah, which terrified her. A grandiose estimation
of one’s own talents can also lead to blocks in other ways, due to the
fear that if the writing is not received with adulation, it will be an
injury to one’s pride.
30
Assessing Your Writing Productivity Problems

I like to have as complete an understanding of a person’s writing pro-
cess as possible before I suggest changing anything. This assessment
is a tool I created for identifying problems that affect productivity.
It highlights a number of issues, habits, thoughts, feelings, and other
factors that are commonly associated with writing difficulties. It is a
distillation of my observations of struggling writers over the years,
and its purpose is to help you target the areas of your writing process
that need attention.
Most writers, even those who are content with their level of
productivity, will have some or several high scores on this assessment,
so don’t get upset if you end up with a number of elevated scores.
These are helpful in a couple of ways: they highlight the intensity
of your relationship with writing and they show you where you can
most effectively apply your efforts.
The golden underbelly of a vexatious block is often a powerful
desire to write. This tool is not meant to be a scientific instrument for
generating diagnostic labels for writers. Use it as a way to deepen
your understanding of your writing process and identifying the
primary issues to address.
Take a few minutes right now to complete this assessment.
Be honest and keep in mind that no one else needs to read your
answers, if you choose to keep them private. Pay special attention to
any items that trigger emotions, discomfort, confusion, or a desire
to shut this book. These items probably point to issues that lie at the
heart of your writing challenges, and will help you identify how to
best make productive changes.
31
Writing Productivity Self-Assessment

Rate each question using this scale
Never Sometimes Always
1 2 3 4 5
1. Time
__ It is hard to find time to write
__ I have too many non-writing professional commitments
__ Other commitments take precedence over writing projects
__ I find it hard to plan my time effectively
__ I resist committing to a regular writing schedule
__ I plan writing time but then do not write
__ Time seems to slip away from me
__ I do not have a good method for prioritizing tasks
__ I don’t write without deadline pressure
__ I find it hard to balance writing time with the demands of personal or
family relationships
2. Space
__ My primary writing space has many distractions in it
__ I am vulnerable to many interruptions where I write
__ My writing space is uncomfortable or inconvenient
__ I have no good place to write
__ My writing space is a dysfunctional mess
__ I avoid writing by cleaning and organizing my space
__ I have equipment or software problems where I write
3. Starting to write
__ I have trouble generating good ideas
__ I find it difficult to organize my research or notes
__ I spend too much time reading resource materials
__ I find it hard to create an outline of my projects
__ I “block” when I try to start writing
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4. Procrastination
__ I consistently avoid writing, though I want to do it
__ I consistently miss goals I set for writing
__ I consistently miss deadlines set by others
__ I daydream or “space out” when I could be writing
__ I criticize myself frequently for procrastinating
__ I conceal from others that I have a problem with procrastination
__ I write in binges when deadlines loom
__ I am dissatisfied with the work I produce when I write in binges
__ I have little or no control over my procrastination
5. Perfectionism
__ I feel afraid that others will criticize my work
__ I am very self-critical about my writing
__ I edit first drafts rigorously as I write them
__ The process of writing is painful and slow
__ I rewrite sections repeatedly and still feel dissatisfied
__ I have rigid rules about how the process of writing should go
__ I have a difficult time deciding if my writing is good enough
6. Difficulty finishing
__ I spend lots of time researching peripheral issues
__ In major or minor ways, I revise my writing excessively
__ It is difficult for me to decide what to edit out as
unnecessary
__ I have multiple unfinished projects; few get done
__ I have difficulty committing fully to my ideas
__ I complete projects but do not submit them
7. Thinking and feeling patterns connected with writing

__ Self-criticism __ Overwhelm __ Impatience
__ Catastrophizing __ Resentment __ Pessimism
__ Arrogance __ Rebelliousness __ Dread
__ Imposter feelings __ Incompetence __ Fear
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8. Interpersonal issues
__ I am reluctant to show my writing to anyone
__ I have no mentor to advise me about writing
__ I do not involve other people in my process of writing
__ I don’t know who to seek assistance from if I need it
__ I feel unsafe acknowledging writing problems to others
__ My writing productivity is an issue in my personal relationship(s)
__ I get very upset when others criticize my writing
__ I have unresolved interpersonal conflicts that affect my productivity
__ I feel extremely distressed after a manuscript is rejected
9. Other issues that may affect writing

__ Depression
__ Anxiety/Panic
__ Grief/Loss
__ Learning disability, Attention Deficit Disorder
__ Mental illness (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc.)
__ Addiction (self or family member)
__ Life crises or transitions
__ Writing in a non-native language
Using This Assessment

When you have completed the assessment, review it and note where your scores are:
Highest _________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
Lowest _________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
These scores will give you a profile of your writing productivity strengths and
weaknesses. Below are some recommendations for chapters in the book that will be
most relevant for your specific issues.
Time: If you score high on section 1 (Time), then time management will be an
important issue to focus on, and you might want to carefully explore
Chapters 8 and 9.
Space: High scores on section 2 (Space) of the assessment indicate the presence
of the writing space problems addressed in Chapter 7.
Starting: Those of you who score the highest on section 3 (Starting to Write)
will probably find Chapters 10–13 to be the most relevant.
Procrastination: Many writers find they score high on section 4 (Procrastination);

Chapters 8, 9, and 15 address these issues most directly.
Perfectionism: If you score high in Perfectionism, section 5 of the assessment,

Chapters 10–12 will be the most helpful.
Finishing: Section 6 (Difficulty Finishing) high scorers will find useful information
in Chapters 8–13.
Thoughts and Feelings: Non-productive thinking and feeling patterns (section 7)

are common issues for writers, and Chapters 10 and 11 are the most
relevant if you scored high on these items.
Interpersonal: If interpersonal issues (section 8) are an area of concern for you,

Chapter 12 should be of assistance.
Other: High scores in section 9 normally indicate a need for additional help
beyond the scope offered by this book.
35
Here are some additional questions to think about:
Are there any issues you had not considered before?

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
What are the most important areas for you to work on first?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Are there other relevant issues that are not on the list?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
36
C h a p t e r 4
Past Lives and Write Now
Understanding your past as a writer is not always necessary in order

to overcome blocks, but it can be an important piece of the process.
Your history as a writer is linked to your current writing habits,
strengths, fears, and productivity. It may be helpful for you to take
a few moments and reflect on your past as a writer and consider
how it has affected you. Here are some questions to consider about
your personal history as a writer. Jot down some quick responses—
you may find it beneficial to discuss them with someone you feel
comfortable with and trust.
What are your earliest memories of writing?

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
What were your experiences and habits of writing during your school years?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
When did you realize you wanted to be someone who writes?

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Have you experienced writing as being pleasurable in the past? If so, has that
changed? When and how did that happen?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Have you had traumatic experiences related to writing? What were they?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
When did your difficulties with writing begin? Has writing always been hard or
did the difficulties begin at a certain recognizable point in time?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Do you come from a family of writers? If so, how has that helped or hindered
your journey as a writer?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
What messages, positive or negative, did you receive from family or school
about your writing, or about pursuing writing?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
What successes have you had as a writer?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
38
Who has helped you with your writing, and who has interfered?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Have you had times when the blocks seemed to recede and you were able
to write fluently? If yes, try to reflect upon what might have caused the shift
(for example, the influence of another, a change of writing locale, deadline
pressure, etc.).
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
In the process of considering these questions you might

recognize connections between your current writing dilemmas
and past experiences. See if you can relate your answers to the
questions above to your scores on the Writing Productivity Self-
Assessment.
Blocks are frequently connected to one or a number of previous
experiences that have generated connections between painful or
aversive memories and writing. In some cases, being able to see and
understand these connections can help get things moving again.
The other ghosts from the past that arise consistently in
my classes and workshops are linked to educational experiences.
Educational institutions are responsible for generating and per-
petuating a great many bad habits and teachings about writing.
Ignorant and rigid methods of evaluation, unnecessarily destructive
judgments and feedback, the encouragement of deadline binge
writing, and a lack of sensitivity to different learning styles are
education-related issues that can contribute to writer’s block.
39
Your writing process has a history. Be curious and examine

it carefully. You may find that learning about your past as a writer
is interesting at the very least, and may result in knowledge that is
useful for improving your writing productivity.
40
C h a p t e r 5
The Grateful Blocked
Is it helpful for blocked writers to remember to feel and express

gratitude? Is it possible to be blocked as a writer and still feel grateful
for your good fortune? Perhaps, though I would not want to minimize
the very real suffering and struggle writers often experience. Periods
of anguish, as wordless days drag by and deadlines crush in, may
make writing feel more like a curse than a blessing.
Most of us take writing for granted as a necessary and fun-
damental aspect of life and society, but it is actually a fairly recent
accomplishment in the history of our species. Even today most of
Earth’s inhabitants are illiterate. Acquiring the ability to write is a
result of good fortune to a large degree. It is a culturally created
human capacity that we have inherited from the thousands of
previous generations that developed and refined written expression.
It is difficult to conceive of the amount of time, energy, creativity,
and persistence that millions of people have invested in the project of
bringing writing to its present place in human culture. The educational
institutions created to develop and pass on this knowledge are now
at the heart of our civilization.
Consider the numerous factors that must be present in your life
in order to write. First, you need to be born in a culture that already
has writers in it, and then be successfully trained over several years
to learn how to do it. You need to have reasonably good health,
41
including a brain and nervous system that are functioning well, and
you have to have enough financial resources to allow taking time to
write. If other life circumstances, relationships, or responsibilities
are too problematic or overwhelming, you will not have the time,
energy, or concentration that writing demands. In addition, your
personality and emotional constitution have to be able to withstand
the rigors and challenges of the writing life, and you have to be
motivated enough to sustain the effort required. Many of these
necessary conditions are not present in the lives of millions on the
planet who will never have the opportunity to even consider a life as
a writer. You have a chance.
Think for a moment about those who have helped you with
Consider writing. Your list might include teachers, parents, living authors,
your good friends, writing colleagues, editors, classmates, reviewers, and others.
fortune Your list might also include the literary dead who communicate to
you through their works. A sense of appreciation for such blessings
can foster a helpful perspective when the writing gets tough. The
writing mind can, of course, readily twist blessings into punishment.
We can easily get hung up with feeling guilt and self-loathing for not
having done more with the gifts we have been given. This is one of
many unfortunate mental talents humanity possesses, and it is not
likely to help us write. Take a moment to consider your good fortune
in being able to write at all, and see if you can then approach your
writing as a gift and an opportunity.
Writing Assets, Talents, and Abilities

Before tackling the challenging issues associated with improving
writing productivity, remember what you have going for yourself as
a writer. It is easy to lose sight of your strong points, or take them for
granted when you are focused on what you are not accomplishing. It
is these assets that will form the basis of any positive changes, so it
42
is essential to keep them in mind as key resources and morale aids.

As you review the following list, see what emerges as your
chief strengths as a writer. If you identify with only a few items
in this list, it doesn’t mean things are hopeless. One strong asset
may be enough to enable you as a writer. Use the space below the
statement to elaborate and give examples for each item; feel free to
add to the list if other assets come to mind.
___ I am intelligent
_______________________________________________________________

___ I enjoy reading
_______________________________________________________________
___ I have perseverance

_______________________________________________________________

___ I know my subject well
_______________________________________________________________
___ I have passion for my subject

_______________________________________________________________
___ I enjoy writing

_______________________________________________________________
___ I have a good memory

_______________________________________________________________

___ I have a broad vocabulary
_______________________________________________________________
___ I know grammar

_______________________________________________________________
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___ I have an effective writing style

_______________________________________________________________
___ I can entertain with words

_______________________________________________________________
___ I have a good imagination

_______________________________________________________________
___ I am well organized

_______________________________________________________________

___ I have good quantitative skills
_______________________________________________________________
___ I collaborate well with others

_______________________________________________________________
___ I have good typing skills

_______________________________________________________________
___ I’ve had success with writing

_______________________________________________________________
___ I have a sense of humor

_______________________________________________________________
___ I have good research skills

_______________________________________________________________
___ I have a desire to share knowledge

_______________________________________________________________
44
___ I have a strong work ethic

_______________________________________________________________
___ I can persuade people

_______________________________________________________________
___ I am able to reason logically

_______________________________________________________________
___ I am able to tell a good story

_______________________________________________________________
___ I love language and words

_______________________________________________________________
___ I have supportive friends and/or family

_______________________________________________________________
___ I have helpful mentors and/or peers

_______________________________________________________________
___ I have good computer skills

_______________________________________________________________
Other assets, talents, and abilities:

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
45
As you review the items you have noted as strengths, try to

identify those capabilities that you rely on when you write. You
may take some of these strengths for granted or consider them
unimportant, but they are important and you draw from them when
you write. There may have been a time when you faced a tough
project and succeeded, or when someone offered you very useful
advice, which you accepted, applied, and benefited from. Think
about how these strengths can assist you now, and how you can stay
connected with them.
46
C h a p t e r 6
Motivations for Writing
On the final day of a recent class, one participant thanked me profuse-

ly and shared that she was very pleased with the progress she had
made. She had been avoiding and agonizing over an article for months
and during the class she decided to just abandon it completely. After
that she felt much, much happier. I’m still unsure whether I ought
to consider this as a success or a failure of my methods, but it did
cause me to reflect about the question: “Why do people bother to
write at all?”
As should be apparent by now, the barriers and challenges to
writing are many and powerful. This means there must be sufficient
motivation for us to undertake the effort to write in an ongoing way. I
encourage you to identify your motives and evaluate the importance
of writing in your life. Many writers consider writing to be a highly
important activity that gives their lives considerable meaning and
satisfaction. In general I find that writers are much happier when
they are writing regularly and productively. This observation has
reinforced my desire to work with blocked writers, who are often
unhappy, because I really enjoy seeing their mood improve.
Why do you want to write? There are as many answers
to this question as there are people who write. Below is a list of
some common motivators for writing. It is not exhaustive, but you
might want to note the items that apply to you, and add others that
47
aren’t on the list. Review the ones you identify with and note how
important or meaningful each one is to you. Getting clear about your
motivation(s) and the importance of writing in your life might serve
to enhance your commitment to actually doing it. How important
is writing compared to other aspects of living that you engage in?
Without sufficient desire it is hard to muster the energy to face the
challenges writing entails. Perhaps your desire is strong but you
ignore or repress it. You may be only partially unaware of how
important writing is to you. Staying in touch with your motivation
will assist you in sustaining your commitment to the ongoing practice
of writing.
48
Motivations for Writing

Rate each item and add specific thoughts where relevant
Weak Motivator ----------- Strong Motivator
1 2 3 4 5
___ To achieve educational goals

_______________________________________________________________
___ To sell something

_______________________________________________________________
___ To achieve professional goals

_______________________________________________________________

___ To stimulate change
_______________________________________________________________
___ To contribute to a field of knowledge

_______________________________________________________________

___ Creative expression
_______________________________________________________________

___ To answer a question or solve a problem
_______________________________________________________________
___ To entertain
_______________________________________________________________
49
___ To investigate situations and reveal facts

_______________________________________________________________
___ To make money

_______________________________________________________________
___ Personal reflection and growth

_______________________________________________________________

___ For enjoyment of the process
_______________________________________________________________
___ To build a reputation and gain recognition

_______________________________________________________________
___ To help people

_______________________________________________________________
___ To take on a challenge

_______________________________________________________________

___ To rebel or provoke
_______________________________________________________________
___ To enjoy people’s reactions

_______________________________________________________________

___ To influence or persuade
_______________________________________________________________
___ Answering an inner drive to write

_______________________________________________________________

50
___ To tell a story

_______________________________________________________________
___ To fulfill someone else’s expectations

_______________________________________________________________
___ I don’t know

_______________________________________________________________
Others: _________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Review what you have rated and written, and reflect on your
motivations for writing. If your motivation level is high, you probably
experience the state of being blocked or non-productive as very
distressing. You will need to reconnect with your writing to ease that
pain, and keeping your motivators in mind will help you do that.
51
C h a p t e r 7
A Room, Womb,
or Tomb of One’s Own
“If, however, o nobly born, thou hast, because of the influence of
karma, to enter into a womb, the teaching for the selection of the
womb door will be explained now. Listen.”
~ The Tibetan Book of the Dead
The earliest writings included in The Egyptian Book of the Dead

were originally chiseled in stone in the tombs of deceased pharaohs
and royalty. Tomb size, quality, furnishings, and decoration were all
considered critical for determining the spirit’s fate in the afterworld,
so careful consideration and planning were involved. The scribes
responsible for carving the hieroglyphics had considerable status in
their culture, but they undoubtedly endured adversities such as poor
lighting, lousy ventilation, annoying co-workers, ergonomically
incorrect work stations, and repetitive stress injuries. Their writing
blocks were made out of granite. (No wonder their daily word count
was so low!) We are fortunate to live in an age when more amenable
settings and tools for writing exist.
Having a good enough place to do your writing is important,
even if it doesn’t guarantee that any writing will occur there. In-
deed, many ideal locations lie fallow season after season as their
inhabitants languish in the numerous psychological purgatories and
hells reserved for those called to the writing life. Nevertheless, you
52
can at least improve your odds of writing more productively by

choosing and arranging your work setting in a thoughtful fashion.
Your writing place should be accessible, functional, and comfortable
enough so that at the very least it does not contribute to work
problems or avoidance.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead has specific instructions for
souls approaching a rebirth into the earthly plane of existence. These
teachings are instructions for identifying desirable and undesirable
wombs to enter. It is emphasized that this choice has enormous
consequences on the practical and spiritual success of one’s next
life, and should be approached in an informed and careful way. A
writer’s place of work is like a womb in that gestation, growth, labor,
and birth occur in both, so perhaps modern writers should pay heed
to the spirit of these ancient teachings.
To help you evaluate how well your room, womb, or tomb is
serving you, consider the following questions.
Is it easy for you to get to your writing space, or are there

practical or psychological barriers that interfere?
Some people work best with a dedicated writing zone that is not
used for other activities. It is less complicated and easier to start
working if you do not have to do a lot of preliminary arranging
of your space before getting down to it. When I was learning to
play guitar, I found I was much more likely to practice if the guitar
was out on the stand. If I had to contemplate the additional steps of
locating the case, opening it, and removing the guitar, I was much
less likely to play. It seems idiotic that something this trivial could
make a difference, but perhaps this type of idiocy is our lot, and we
should learn how to best live with it.
53
Do you have any negative feelings about the place itself?
Do negative feelings about your writing place ever deter you from
beginning or continuing to work? Are you comfortable enough
in the place where you usually write? Are there any disturbing
environmental issues such as temperature problems, poor lighting,
distracting noises, bad furniture, or noxious odors? Is the room
depressing, claustrophobic, or too messy? Can any of these con-
ditions be improved without great effort or expense? Does your
writing space need to be cleaned up or reorganized? Is that a task
you also avoid? When a general cleaning is in order, I encourage
you to resist doing it during your writing time.
How frequently do interruptions and distractions occur, and

Evaluating what specifically are they?
your writing
place Convincingly valid interruptions can, of course, be readily self-
generated in any location, but some settings will put you at greater
risk. Do people pop in and talk to you uninvited? Are you likely to be
called away to solve someone else’s pressing problems during your
writing time? Is the phone an issue? Do you secretly feel grateful for
these interruptions? Interruptions are a problem for many writers,
both at the office and at home. There is no life without interruptions,
but putting in a bit of effort to minimize them during your writing
time should pay off. For example, you can close your door, inform
people that you’d like to be left alone, and silence your phone.
If you write at work, are your attempts to write defeated by

the demands of non-writing tasks?
The temptation to engage in other professional activities (or perhaps

even quasi-professional activities) readily undermines the discipline
54
for writing. This issue arises frequently for academics who have
colleagues and students seeking their attention on the job. A professor
I know put a “Do Not Disturb!” sign on her door while writing, and
then trained those in her environment to respect it and hold their
questions until her writing hour was over. Others find that writing in
the office early in the morning or in the evening works well because
so few other people are around. Putting the phone on voice mail and
postponing the urge to check e-mail during writing times are good
habits to initiate. If all efforts fail and distractions prevail, it may be
the case that the office is not a good place for you to write.
Do you write at home?
Writing at home has advantages as well as risks. Family influences

and distractions can be powerful barriers to writing productivity. Is
there sufficient privacy and quiet to allow concentration? Are there
children or significant others who might be seeking your attention
or resenting you for sequestering yourself in your room? Are there
unfinished home projects and tasks that will compete with writing
for your attention? How do you maintain your resolve to write when
hobbies, hot baths, television, and food are so readily available?
How isolated do you need to be to focus on your work?
There are those writers who find the ambience and background
noise of a café beneficial; others need complete privacy and silence.
Do you relish the aloneness that often accompanies writing, or does
it give you the creeps? Is music or background noise a help or a
hindrance?
55
Is your writing space supplied with whatever materials,

computers, books, and other writing tools you need so you
don’t have to get up in search of essentials?
Each time you rise up to roam around looking for something, you
are increasing the chances that when you sit down again it will be in
a chair in another galaxy far, far away from your project.
Do you write in more than one place?
Writing in more than one place may open additional opportunities

to be productive, though there are potential risks and hassles. If you
use two computers, make sure the programs are compatible so your
work can be integrated. Transferring sections back and forth can lead
to errors and mishaps. Laptops provide the convenience of working
virtually anywhere, though they need to be backed up regularly in
case of disk crashes, loss, or theft. Laptops provide mobility and
the flexibility to write in numerous locations and make use of free
chunks of time when you are away from your usual workspace, but
long typing stints on the laptop are rougher on the neck, arms, and
eyes. Any computer station that leads to repetitive stress injuries
will greatly reduce your productivity, so ergonomic considerations
are important.
What about using the computer?
This wonderful invention offers many improvements over type-

writers and chisels in terms of accelerating the writing process,
but it is a double-edged sword. Computers provide easy access to
tempting, time-gobbling distractions such as e-mail, Web surfing,
instant messaging, and games, games, games, games. Do any of these
activities affect your productivity? If so, consider ways to reduce
56
exposure to these temptations. A professor I worked with decided to

have two desks and two computers in his office. One set-up was for
writing and the second was for all other tasks related to his job. His
writing computer was not connected to the Internet and all games Write first
had been removed. The effort required to stand up, cross the room,
and turn on the other system was a sufficient deterrent to his passion
for engaging in cyberspace distractions. Those who avoid writing by
playing computer games (boring and mindless games like solitaire
are usually chosen for this purpose) are often initially reluctant when
I ask them to delete the games from their computer. At the very
least, try to make them harder to get to. An effective general rule to
employ is to always write first, before diving into the vast oceans of
entertainment the computer provides.
Should you change where you write?
A writing space that has been the site of long-standing struggle and
repeated disappointment can itself become haunted like a tomb—
evoking memories that trigger negative feelings and habits of
avoidance. If this is your situation, no matter how perfect the spot
may appear, you might want to experiment with going somewhere
else to see what happens. I have had several people tell me that after
making a change of locale they found a renewed energy and interest
in regular writing. For the same reason that it sometimes works to
just kick a malfunctioning soda machine, this geographical remedy
occasionally works with writing blocks, though additional measures
are generally required to effect a lasting change. The important thing
is to notice how you feel and how well you work in your chosen
setting, and then to improve it if you need to.
57
Both wombs and tombs are launching pads for entry into
another world. The ancient books of the dead emphasize the need to
pay attention, make good decisions, and prepare properly to ensure a
successful journey. As you prepare to launch into writing, make sure
your pad is made of the right stuff.
58
C h a p t e r 8
House-Training
the Writer Within
“O nobly-born, (so and so), listen.
That thou art suffering so cometh from
thine own karma; it is not due to anyone else’s:
it is thine own karma.”
Each time you put off working on your article, poem, or novel, you
create a moment of relief for yourself. It feels good to procrastinate
because (for a while, anyway) you don’t have to face the many
challenges that writing presents. Unfortunately, this works like
house-training a new puppy by giving him a biscuit when he pees
on the rug instead of on the paper. There is an experience of some
immediate, welcome relief but what follows is a mess you have to
clean up later. Typically such patterns are repeated and reinforced,
which causes you to procrastinate again and again, despite your best
intentions.
Counterproductive writing habits die hard. The writers attend-
ing my classes have often struggled with the same problem or set of
problems for years and are often quite discouraged. After repeated
experiences of failure, the feelings of powerlessness, hopelessness,
frustration, overwhelm, and self-loathing take root in the psyche.
It is natural to want to avoid going through these uncomfortable
internal experiences again and again, so a variety of psychological
59
Procrastination and behavioral tactics arise that provide some measure of relief
operates like by interfering with writing. Procrastination operates like a heroin
heroin addiction: it fixes our immediate discomfort while leading us into
hell.
If your bad habits have been long-standing, then you are
probably not fully aware of the mechanisms that control your
behavior. You may not consciously register the fact that you are
automatically re-enacting a pattern of avoidance behavior designed
(by you) to protect you from an uncomfortable experience or feeling.
Daydreaming, forgetfulness, rationalizing, confusion, and getting
distracted by less-crucial tasks are all aspects of this cycle. Habits
are resilient and efforts toward change must be carefully considered
and executed in order to be successful.
The first step is to study your writing habits as specifically
and objectively as possible, with a spirit of curiosity and self-
forgiveness. Focus on how you behave day to day, as you respond to
the following questions.
Make a list of the things you typically do when you are avoiding writing.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Do you reward yourself for not writing in any obvious or subtle way? How?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
60
Do you do anything that makes writing unappealing or aversive?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Some part of you will experience efforts to increase product-

ivity as threatening, aggravating, or an imposition. You need
to address this inner conflict skillfully in order to overcome this
challenge. A man in one of my groups described his process of
changing habits as “tiptoeing past a sleeping lion.” Keep moving
forward without waking up the hungry beast of resistance.
One approach for altering writing habits based on principles
from behavioral psychology is useful to consider. These principles
come from research into methods for altering human behavior. The
goal is to reinforce the desired behavior (writing) and discourage
unwanted behavior (avoiding writing).
Here are some of these strategies that I have found to work.
1. Stack the deck in your favor
2. Make a work schedule and track performance
3. Break big projects into specific, realizable tasks with short time frames
4. Identify and remove rewards for unwanted behavior
5. Decrease exposure to temptations and distractions
6. Harness your neuroses
7. Make a routine, simple pleasure contingent upon writing first
8. Reinforce success
61
A woman in my class complained that this behavioral approach

incorporates the same techniques scientists use to teach rats to press
levers for food pellets. I had to concede the point, but later found it
Make
gratifying to learn that she had developed the routine of rewarding
failure less
likely herself with one M&M (a pellet of sorts) for every page she wrote.
Stack the deck in your favor

I encourage blocked writers to make failure less likely to occur. For
many reasons writing is frequently difficult to do, so respect that
reality and set yourself up as well as possible to succeed. Protect
yourself from habitual tendencies that predictably derail your train
of words.
If you have identified factors that have helped you write
successfully in the past, incorporate these elements into your pre-
parations and planning for your writing sessions. This could be
as simple as recreating the same writing space you had when you
wrote well in the past. If someone really helped you with a previous
successful project, is that person or someone similar available now?
Make changes by taking small steps that would be very difficult
to not do. For instance, if your goal is to start writing every day, if
you make the sessions short (15 minutes) you may find it hard to
rationalize skipping the session. I encourage you to be pragmatic
and do what works, whether or not it fits your image of what a “real”
writer would do. Here are some ideas to experiment with.
Make a Work Schedule

7 Write daily.
This could mean Monday through Friday. A seven-day schedule
can also work if the writer’s life is not already out of balance from
62
overworking. Writing at the same time each day helps to strengthen

the habit. This is impossible for many writers, but you can strive to
make the weekly routine as consistent as possible. An advantage of
a regular schedule is that it eliminates the daily process of deciding
when to write. Each time you have to make a decision about writing,
it increases the likelihood that you will decide not to do it. The more
regularly you write, the less dreadful it feels to face it each day. To
the extent that you generate new, positive associations with writing
through regular practice, you reinforce your efforts. I have met many
writers who hate scheduling their writing and refuse to do it. Some
believe that working with a schedule is a worthy idea, but they have
never been able to stick to one. Scheduling writing is not the only
way to become more productive, but I have seen it produce powerful
results for those blocked writers who found a way to move in this
direction. Write daily. Write daily. Write daily. This is the single
most important piece of advice in this book.
7 If work avoidance is a problem, begin with short

writing periods.
The goal to strive for initially is the establishment of new routines,
not an amazing daily word count. The initiation of a routine of regular
writing sessions will predictably generate some uncomfortable
feelings, and these are easier to tolerate if the period is brief.
If you have been doing little or no writing, 15 minutes may be a
good time period to set aside when you begin. One blocked writer Establish a
complained to me that 15 minutes was not long enough because he routine
was already so far behind on his project. I asked how much writing
he was currently doing each day. When he said, “None,” I asked if
15 minutes would be better than that. He looked irritated, but he did
stop complaining.
Those who experiment with short sessions often find that more
63
gets done in those few minutes than they might have guessed. But
the real advantage of the short sessions is the establishment of a
consistent practice of writing. You can increase the duration later
when the habit becomes stronger.
7 Choose a time when your energy is good and

distractions will be minimal.
Many people find writing to be hard work that requires their best
concentration and energy level. Mornings are frequently a good
time for that, with an added benefit being that the work is done early
and you don’t have to think about it for the rest of the day. But
mornings are unavailable for many people with families and jobs. A
scientist in one of my groups had to work in her lab every morning,
so she began the routine of writing her papers in the late afternoon,
just before she went home. It wasn’t perfect because she had lower
energy at that point, but it was beneficial because her experimental
work was fresh in her mind and everyone else had left by then.
If you have a plan to write early but then postpone the work
for later in the day, you greatly increase the odds that nothing will
happen. If you have this postponing habit, I recommend you adopt
the rule that you have to wait until the next day to write if you miss
your scheduled time. This spares you the stress of disappointing
yourself day after day, and it implicitly communicates that writing
is a privilege rather than a burden.
For those who come alive after sundown, the advantages of
late-night writing might include a quiet house and fewer interruptions
and distractions. Sometimes jobs, families, and other obligations
will unavoidably suck up your best energy, and you have to make
the most of whatever time is left, with whatever energy you have.
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7 Resist the urge to overdo it.

When a surge of energy for writing rolls in, it’s tempting to ride the
wave until it crashes. If you get too excited, however, and press far
into the wee hours, sleep is lost and energy, concentration, and the
desire to write will be less available the next day. Heroically long
writing sessions are hard to sustain day after day and can lead to
feelings of burnout that interfere with motivation. Even if you feel
like you are on a roll, it may be best to stop and make a note of the
ideas you wish to address as the starting point for the next session.
This step will help bring closure to your work for the day, allow time
for rest, and create momentum for starting up again.
7 Track your performance.

Make a chart for the refrigerator, keep a writing journal, or put a
gold star on your calendar when you have written. Small efforts add
up over time and it is encouraging to see progress when you review
your writing record. The act of regularly recording your writing
efforts tends to promote productivity by consistently bringing
your attention to the issue. In my experience most blocked writers
don’t follow this recommendation because it calls forth the same
avoidance impulses that writing does, and is depressing to do when
writing is not happening. It somehow makes me feel I am doing my
job properly when I recommend performance tracking, even if only
a handful of people ever do it. If you are serious about wanting to
change your writing habits, experiment with this.
Break Big Projects into Bite-Sized Chunks

I like the word “chunks.” It reminds me of those wonderful bricks
of chocolate that break down into six or eight smaller blocks. For
65
writers it means breaking off a chunk of work each day that is

small enough to swallow. It is wise to resist the temptation to fixate
Maintaining
your focus on the unfathomable enormity of attempting to write a book or a
dissertation. Such thoughts generate anxiety, confusion, and a sense
of being overwhelmed. For instance, long-distance open-water
swimmers use a technique of lifting their heads and looking forward
toward their destination with every fifth or sixth breath. Their other
breaths are taken by rotating the head to the side, which requires less
energy and maintains speed better. Looking at the finish line with
every breath is exhausting and slows one down because it puts the
body in the wrong position in the water. This is a model that writers
can consider: take a sighting on the whole project occasionally to
stay on track, but focus on the daily goals and tasks most of the time.
And keep breathing.
For writers who do not plan projects but create them as they
go using a more intuitive process, breaking a project into segments
might not work. In these cases the bite-sized chunks might be the
chunks of time they commit to their writing each day. Do the daily
minutes of writing and trust that the larger project will fall into place
over time.
Identify and Remove Rewards for Unwanted

Behavior
If you love sweets and you head for the cookie jar when you should
be writing, keep in mind that eating that cookie will make it harder
for you to write tomorrow. It is more than just being a little naughty;
you are conditioning your behavior to thwart your own aspirations.
The cookie might not taste so sweet if you look at it this way.
Sometimes it is hard to even identify how you are reinforcing your
own unwanted habits. Those of you who scrub tile grout to avoid
66
writing may not recognize that there is some element of relief or

self-reward involved in that activity, but there is.
Decrease Exposure to Temptations and

Distractions
Choose a time and place to write that will limit your contact with
anything associated with your most common avoidance behaviors.
These behaviors are usually identifiable, and by making a conscious
decision to get out of harm’s way, you increase the odds that you’ll
write. Food, television, the phone, reading material, computer
games, e-mail, Web surfing, and socializing are common distracting
factors; making them less accessible when you write is one way to
stack the deck in your favor.
Harness Your Neuroses

A doctoral student in one of my groups was eventually able to finish
her dissertation by telling her department secretary that she would
give her one page of the document every day. She knew that walking
into the department without that page would create unbearable
shame and embarrassment for her, so she overcame her resistance
and produced. Another class participant would schedule times for
doing housecleaning, which she hated, because then she would
write in order to avoid doing those chores. Faced with two bad
alternatives, we choose the less aversive. People often ask me why
the predictable, long-term negative consequences of not writing—
like guilt, self-loathing, and regret—won’t motivate them to write.
I tell them it’s because the immediate relief of procrastinating in the
moment is a more powerful factor for determining behavior than the
anticipation of some bad feelings in the future.
67
Make a Routine, Simple Pleasure Contingent

Upon Writing First
This might mean you would not read the newspaper, check your
e-mail, watch television, or talk on the phone until some minimum
amount of writing has taken place. Choose something that is part of
your daily life that is somewhat pleasurable. One doctoral student
I worked with was getting quite good at the piano during a several-
month period when he did no work on his dissertation. By making
piano playing contingent on his having written each day, he was
able to establish a regular writing regime and finish the project. This
tactic also reinforces the writing habit because the work is followed
with a reward.
Reinforce Success
If you follow a successful work session with something pleasant,
you will be building a positive association that supports your good
writing habits. I’ve known writers who have developed post-writing
routines involving meals, naps, music, light reading, or socializing.
If you are like most writers I’ve known, the most powerful reward
for reinforcing your writing habit is seeing the fruits of your labor in
the form of completed pages. An additional reward biscuit is often
not necessary, but if you give yourself one anyway, you will enjoy it
all the more knowing your writing for the day is done.
Do not try to incorporate all of these bits of advice into

your writing life
Experiment with one or two approaches at first. Start small and
proceed gradually. The goal at this point is not to produce reams
of text; it is to create new habits. The increase in production will
follow naturally. You can change your writing karma.
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C h a p t e r 9
Procrastination: The
Sickness Unto Deadline
“O procrastinating one, who thinketh not of the coming of death,
Devoting thyself to the useless doings of this life,
Improvident art thou in dissipating thy great opportunity;
Mistaken, indeed, will thy purpose be now if thou returnest
empty-handed (without having written) from this life:
Since the Holy Dharma (writing) is known to be thy true need,
Wilt thou not devote thyself to the Holy Dharma (writing)
even now?”
~ The Tibetan Book of the Dead (parentheses mine)
Procrastination is one of the enduring challenges of human experi-

ence and behavior. It is viewed in American culture as a moral failing
and is often equated with sloth, one of the seven deadly sins. Writers
who procrastinate may castigate themselves for being “lazy,” but
that label is misleading. Laziness implies a degree of contented
relaxation that rarely applies to writers. The procrastination state
is typically very dynamic and uncomfortable on the inside, even if
nothing is happening on the outside.
On page 67 is a visual depiction of the process of procrastination
that I created using the patterns I most frequently encounter with
writers. It is based loosely on the Buddhist “Wheel of Samsara,”
which depicts the cyclic, self-perpetuating nature of human suffering.
While everyone’s style of procrastination is unique, several common
69
features are included in this wheel. The point of presenting the issue
in this way is to highlight how we unwittingly create and maintain
behavior that we don’t like, and then feel unhappy and controlled by
it. The more times we go around the wheel, the more we reinforce
the pattern. The steps become grooved and automatic, and the wheel
eventually spins without our conscious awareness. If this cycle
Unwittingly
reinforcing seems familiar to you, you are not alone.
bad habits It is useful to imagine that you have more than one “will”
controlling the decisions you make, and that some of these “wills”
have their own agendas that are at odds with the writing goals you
have set. The other wills need to be acknowledged and contended
with thoughtfully and skillfully. They are not stupid and in fact have
made a career out of gaining control and outsmarting other intentions
that might lead to discomfort. We can view such psychological
mechanisms as self-protection programs that have become too
effective. That is because we have reinforced them continually over
the years. We feel victimized and powerless because we don’t see
that we are also the perpetrator.
Let’s take a spin around the procrastination wheel and

examine the issues.
7 Unclear, Unrealistic Goals; Denial of the Problem

Even when there has been a consistent, enduring pattern of work
avoidance in the past, it is common for procrastinators to be naively
hopeful and optimistic before embarking on a writing project. It is
a form of denial about the problem. In your mind it seems that it
should be fairly easy to tackle the project, and you dismiss any inner
voices warning you about long-standing avoidance patterns. You
might say to yourself, “This time I’ll just write every day and stay
ahead of the deadlines. No more of that procrastination wheel for
70
71
me!” This denial has the consequence of interfering with the need
to be thoughtful about managing your behavior. If you tell yourself
that writing should go easily, then why should you bother making
plans about potential problems? So you get out of the gate poorly
prepared to meet the predictably difficult challenges that lie ahead.
You are also blindly stepping onto the wheel of procrastination by
laying the groundwork for delaying the start of writing.
One method of working with this issue is to acknowledge
that you have a problem. Completing and reviewing the Writing
Productivity Self-Assessment is one way to determine the nature
and severity of your problem. This may sting the pride or generate
feelings such as shame, overwhelm, and dread, but if such problems
exist, it’s best to face them. If you accept that your patterns of work
avoidance will always recur, then you can realistically put some
plans in place for diminishing their impact. An example of this sort
of planning will be presented in the final chapter of this book, “Your
Writing Productivity Improvement Plan.”
7 Delay Start
Time seems plentiful at the very beginning of a writing project.
There seems to be no big problem with letting things slide a bit.
“What’s the hurry?” There is usually some physical and emotional
comfort connected with this postponing, and it is easy to quiet that
tiny voice of truth inside that is encouraging you to get started,
because there is seemingly such a large cushion of time. “I’ll get to
it soon enough—don’t worry!” This is the top of the slippery slope,
and without knowing it, you are setting up the dynamics for the rest
of the project, which is the pattern of avoiding writing.
It helps at this point on the wheel to remember the command
“Write first!” This means that no matter what your inner dialogue is
telling you, the best way to proceed is to do the more challenging
72
task (writing) before you do anything else. Even if you work for
only five minutes, you will start the project by writing rather than
postponing, and this is the right formula for improved productivity.
Beginning this way will also make it easier to start work the next
day and the day after.
7 Fear of Failure; Anxiety

As time passes you feel the need to get going and at this point
you might experience tendrils of fear working their way into your
consciousness. It begins to dawn that the task facing you may be
more difficult than you previously admitted to yourself. As you
imagine beginning to write, anxiety starts to percolate. Self-doubts
about your competence arise, memories of previous failures surface,
and a sense of dread engulfs you. One of the problems with anxiety
Anxiety
is that it interferes with concentration and short-term memory, both
interferes with
of which are essential to writing. As a result, attempts to write at this
concentration
point might be false starts, reinforcing your fear that you will not
and memory
succeed. It feels better to distract and calm yourself by popping open
a beer or checking your Facebook page. The Wheel of Suffering
gains momentum.
7 Resentment
As discomfort and stress register more clearly in your mind and
body, you feel trapped. You wonder how you ever got yourself into
such a hell. You want to strike out and slug someone, but there really
is no one to blame. Your resentment might make you rebel against
writing, rip up drafts, bristle at friends and family, mentally flagellate
yourself, and kick your dog. Sometimes this resentment takes the
rebellious form of “No one tells me what to do; not even myself!”
Resentment and fear are close relatives, and in the chapter
“Feelings” I will explore in greater detail how to approach working
73
Convert with emotions so they have less effect on productivity. One key is
negative building the skill of continuing to write even when these feelings
emotions emerge. When you are emotionally worked up, it is easy to tell
into fuel yourself that writing is too hard, or that you are in the wrong mood for
writing. You will benefit from learning how to gently lean into your
work even when anger and fear are present. It is helpful to remember
that all feelings are temporary and pass with time. Sometimes these
emotional energies can be converted to fuel and channeled into the
writing in a useful way.
7 Missed Goals: Pep Talks

Now that the pattern of postponing has been established and
your inner turmoil is activated, you attempt to establish goals for
productivity to bring yourself to the task. As in the first stage of the
Wheel of Suffering, you are still in denial about the seriousness
of the problem. You attempt to address the powerful forces of
procrastination by generating some inner deadlines, writing them on
your calendar, and giving yourself pep talks about why you should
get going. The humbling reality is that these attempts to resolve the
problem are ineffective, and you cannot make yourself sit down at
your desk and type on the keyboard by simply telling yourself that
you should.
7 Daydreaming
Daydreaming is truly a tricky problem. When you daydream you
disconnect from awareness of your immediate life in this world and
slip into a realm where your mind drifts along on other currents. In
the morning you might give yourself the goal of writing five pages
before breakfast but somehow, three hours later, you find yourself
in the grocery store buying chocolate chip cookies and renting a
DVD. Your mind is not your own. The process of disconnecting and
74
getting lost in the labyrinths of the mind is subtle and quick. You are
usually unaware that it is happening.
If this is one of your challenges, it is useful to have external
structures and reminders for your writing life. This may mean
discussing your writing process with other people who will hold you
accountable and encourage you. You can arrange to meet and write
with others, if that helps. Classes and critique groups also provide
a regular external structure for focusing on your writing, and the
thought of arriving at an upcoming session with nothing to show is
often a strong motivation to stay on task.
It also helps to have dedicated writing periods scheduled in
your day and written on your calendar or posted on your refrigerator.
You might also set up cues such as buzzers on your iPhone© that go
off to remind you to write, etc. Even when we remember to write,
within minutes of beginning your mind may wander. Writing often
brings up stressful feelings, so the impulse to wander about in the
recesses of your inner mind is seductive because it allows relief. When
you allow your consciousness to be captured by unconscious forces
within you, you lose valuable time and become unproductive.
Mindfulness meditation is another good practice for streng-
thening your connection with the reality from which you write.
This is a meditation practice that cultivates awareness of the
present moment. Mindfulness practices developed from Buddhism
described in John Kabot-Zinn’s book Full Catastrophe Living and
Jack Kornfield’s A Path with Heart are simple, effective ways to
improve concentration, awareness of the moment, and openness to
whatever arises—all of these skills are useful to writers.
7 Avoidance; Worry
As you travel around the Wheel of Suffering, your level of concern
escalates, as does your motivation to avoid. Worry is a good thing
75
on one hand because it elevates your awareness of what you need

to do, but it is also uncomfortable, so it simultaneously amplifies
the impulse to avoid writing. You may witness yourself engaging
in self-sabotaging behavior, yet be unable to stop procrastinating.
The level of distress associated with your project dips temporarily
each time you avoid writing, but your internal payload of discomfort
continues to grow and weigh on you more and more. There seems to
be no way out except to worry more and avoid more.
7 Lying; Self-Criticism
Now that a good bit of time has passed with not enough to show for it,
shame and self-loathing worm their way into your psyche. If you are
asked about your writing, it feels too embarrassing to tell the truth,
so you hedge a bit, or maybe a lot. You tell your friends, teachers,
colleagues, or significant others that you are making progress, even
though you really aren’t. You may also delude yourself that the
situation is different than it really is. At this point you feel badly
about both your inability to write and the fact that you are deceiving
others. More bad feelings now become associated with writing,
making it just that much more onerous to sit down and face the
monster. In addition, you are now carrying the fear that some of the
people you lied to will find out the truth, resulting in the possibility
of painful relationship damage. You sometimes wonder how you
will ever get out of your predicament, and your stress level rises.
You feel out of control.
7 Overwhelm; Deadline; Anxiety Threshold

As the final deadline for completing your project becomes imminent,
reality breaks through and you become motivated by dread and fear
76
of failure. As this fear of failure becomes more powerful than the

fear of facing your writing, you are propelled into desperate action.
You imagine the awful consequences of not completing your work
on time, and are genuinely baffled about how you could have put
Deadline-
yourself in this predicament again. You had promised yourself you
driven
would not wait until the last minute to begin, but you did. Now, writing
however, there is no time for wallowing in self-pity, daydreaming, or frenzy
lecturing yourself. Somehow you have to do it, and even though the
challenge seems monumental, you force yourself to face the task.
7 Binge; Disappointment; Rationalizing

At this point on the Wheel of Suffering, a last-minute, deadline-
driven frenzy of writing erupts. With or without the use of stimulants
of various sorts, long binges of work ensue in an adrenalized state
of hyperactivity. Everything else in life is sidelined and forgotten as
the monomaniacal focus on writing takes center stage. You might
feel both dread and thrill in trying to beat the clock and perhaps a
perverse sense of satisfaction that you were able to procrastinate for
so long and yet will still be able to complete the project.
Generally, if you finish in this way, you know you could have
done a better job if you had not been forced to write in a manic
binge. There may be a sense of disappointment in either the final
product, yourself, or both. After this disappointment comes the ego-
assuaging mental exercise where you tell yourself that you really are
more capable than the writing shows, and that you could have done
better if you had had sufficient time. You might come up with other
rationalizations that explain why things turned out the way they did.
77
7 “I’ll Do Better Next Time”

This is the juncture where, after the work is completed, you make
a promise to yourself to change how you approach your writing.
You know it would be better to not procrastinate and mentally, you
reaffirm your commitment to this goal. The problem is that you leave
out the implementation of a clear and defined path to accomplish
these non-trivial changes in your behavior. Somehow you feel it is
enough to simply tell yourself that it will be different next time. But
it isn’t. You start another journey around the wheel.
Quick-fix
solutions
are
ineffective I always ask writers who procrastinate what they have previously
done to try to overcome the problem. Often the reply is “Nothing”
or a variation of “I tell myself I shouldn’t procrastinate” or “I get
mad at myself.” Sometimes I hear “I’ve tried everything,” but this
is never true. When you are spinning on the wheel it is hard to think
creatively, even to see obvious solutions. You may know what will
help, but find you are unable to do it. Attempted “solutions” such
as internal pep talks and verbal self-flagellation only perpetuate the
pattern instead of altering it. In my classes I gently try to communi-
cate the message that these approaches don’t work for a very good
reason. They are completely inadequate. You need sharper arrows in
your quiver to slay the dragon of procrastination. Quick-fix solutions
to long-standing procrastination patterns are as effective as fad diets,
especially if those solutions are part of the wheel itself (e.g., self-
criticism, unrealistic plans, binge writing at deadlines, internal pep
talks).
You can jump off the Wheel of Suffering at any point in the
cycle. It is important to remember to respect the power of these
patterns, and to set expectations and goals accordingly. Any action
you take to get off, slow down, or stop the wheel will call forth
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resistance. The resistance may be an unconscious veering away

from the project, a cascade of frightening or dreadful thoughts, a
vague but compelling feeling of dread, or a deviously well-crafted
rationalization for doing nothing. You can learn to recognize the
resistance in the form of the non-productive thoughts, feelings, and
behavior patterns that you’ve identified in your Writing Productivity
Self-Assessment. If you are aware of your resistance as it occurs in
the moment, you have the option of choosing to write in spite of it.
This is easier said than done, and we never succeed 100 percent of
the time, but every tiny victory serves to slow the cycle.
Begin with small steps that are only mildly uncomfortable,
because feelings of anxiety, overwhelm, resentment, and dread are
more likely to be activated if our goals and expectations are too
ambitious. The best way to break the cycle at any point is to go ahead
and write a little bit every day, even if some inner voice is screaming
at you to pop a beer and turn on the TV. This takes some effort,
but afterward you will feel good knowing that you have established
some control over the process.
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C h a p t e r 1 0
Not in Your Write Mind

Thoughts and Feelings about Writing
“O nobly-born, whatever fearful and terrifying visions thou mayest
see recognize them to be thine own thought forms.”
~ TheTibetan Book of the Dead
Humanity has been graced with an exquisite brain, frequently touted

as the crowning achievement of evolution. Because of this biological
marvel, our species has distinguished itself among living organisms
by developing, among other things, the complex skills of reading and
writing. In fact, in the rather brief period that humankind has been
able to read and write, astounding and vast literary traditions have
been established on our once-illiterate planet. The thinking brain has
truly been a blessing to our species, but it comes with a dark side.
We have a mind with a depth and complexity so magnificent that it
is also capable of thoroughly undermining our attempts to engage in
the wonderful enterprise of writing. Our remarkable, mischievous
mind is both our staunchest ally and wiliest adversary in the writing
process.
In The Tibetan Book of the Dead, the entire post-mortem
adventure is understood as a grand projection of our own mental
processes. Numerous passages exhort the departed soul to remember
the illusory nature of experiences in the afterlife, and to not be afraid
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or deceived by these confused beliefs and visions of the mind. This

is also good advice for blocked writers. If disturbing or distracting
thoughts are interfering with your ability to sit down and write, then
it makes sense to learn more about these adversaries that reside in
your own skull. You can increase your ability to maintain your “write
mind” (the mind that supports a regular and productive writing
practice) by paying attention to what is happening in there.
I encourage writers to identify their personal versions of the
terrifying visions that create disabling emotions about their work.
What apparitions arise in your mind that generate feelings such as
fear, dread, powerlessness, anger, confusion, and overwhelm? A
doctoral student in his eighth year of work on his dissertation was
incapacitated by intrusive memories of the misdeeds of his hostile
and sadistic faculty advisor. A screenwriter was afraid to write
rough drafts because of fantasies that he would unexpectedly die
and someone would find his unpolished pages and conclude that
he was a bad writer. An aspiring fiction writer would consistently
hear a loud internal voice telling her she had no right to pretend to
be a writer. There are infinite variations of such stories that have
the same underlying dynamic: thoughts, memories, and fantasies
arise in our imagination and generate disturbing emotions that then
interfere with writing. Here are some thoughts about thoughts that
might help you remain in your write mind.
7 Thoughts that contribute to writing blocks are

almost always automatically repeating habits of
thinking.
Most of the thoughts that disrupt your writing are not mysterious
or new. These patterns were established in your younger, formative
years and carried forward into adulthood. You can identify them
by placing a bit of attention on your inner mental and emotional
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processes. The bad news is that these repeating, well-grooved

patterns of thinking occur quickly and powerfully, often before your
conscious mind knows what has happened. You might be aware of
what they are; you might not.
The good news is that, because you are equipped with a
magnificent human brain, you can learn to identify these patterns
and consciously decrease their debilitating impact on your writing
productivity. It is not too hard to pick out the thought patterns once
you concentrate on this task, because they occur over and over. Some
people can identify particular internal voices that spout criticism,
insults, or prophecies of doom. More than one of my students has
even had a name and visual image of their “inner harasser.”
7 Harmful thoughts can occur without your noticing

Identifying or questioning them.
debilitating
patterns of The mental activities that accompany blocks typically occur without
thought your conscious choice and even possibly without your awareness.
You may experience uncomfortable feelings about writing but fail
to notice the dark inner dialogues and fantasies behind the scenes
that are wreaking havoc. In these inner dialogues you might be
saying something terribly frightening or critical about yourself or
the project. It is equally possible to be aware of disturbing physical
sensations connected to writing without having a clear idea of why
you are experiencing them. Or you may simply notice that you are
repeatedly unable to bring yourself to your desk, without knowing
why. Feelings of powerlessness and frustration are intensified when
there is a lack of understanding about the inner dynamics that are
dictating your self-sabotaging behavior. This confusion sets the
scene for a depressing spiral of apprehension, decreased confidence,
and increased aversion to writing.
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7 Your thoughts generate emotional and behavioral

responses that influence your writing productivity.
It is a cruel irony that your own thoughts create the very feelings
that give you a sense of being hampered or victimized. When you
experience anxiety, anger, overwhelm, or dread about writing it is
because you have generated these feelings. It might seem strange to
look at your emotional life this way, but give it a try. It is tempting
to believe you have no choice about the feelings you experience,
but this is only partially true. There are some things you can do to
change the quality and intensity of your inner experience.
A woman in one of my classes spoke about how much she hated
writing. She also wanted desperately to write because she loved to
write. This predicament is not uncommon. It feels agonizing to do it
and impossible to give it up. I asked her if it was writing she hated,
or the disturbing feelings that arise when she writes. This difference
is not trivial. If you realize that the emotions that interfere with your
productivity are unfortunate mental habits that you are perpetuating,
you then have the opportunity to try to change them. Below are two
perspectives that can help you in this regard.
7 Just because we think or feel something, that doesn’t

make it true.
Debilitating thoughts that plague writers (e.g., “I have no talent,”
“I will fail if I attempt this,” or “I am not a writer”) are generally
exaggerations and distortions of the truth that have gained too much
authority and power due to their endless internal repetition. It is a
form of self-inflicted brainwashing in which the struggling writer
is both the terrorist and the terrorized. Dragging these thoughts
into the clear light of day and examining them more objectively is
one method of freeing yourself from being bullied and controlled
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by them. They are mental habits we have learned, not immutable

“Truths.” They are also temporary experiences. Sometimes all we
have to do is wait them out and they will go away.
7 If you become more aware of the mental processes

connected with your blocks, you will at least have a
fighting chance of escaping their control.
There are some things you can do to alter your inner experience.
Pay attention Start by identifying your own particular set of thoughts and feelings
to emotions about writing. The self-assessments presented earlier should help
and body with this. If nothing seems to emerge for you in the form of an
sensations identifiable thought, pay attention to emotions and body sensations
connected with your writing. These are usually recurrent patterns
as well, and sometimes with a bit of effort and focus you can
identify the thoughts connected with emotions and sensations. The
most common problematic thoughts generate the emotions of fear,
resentment, hopelessness, or overwhelm. Look for these. If you are
only aware of feeling blank or daydreaming, try to notice subtle or
faint feelings that may provide clues about what you are saying to
yourself.
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Mental and Emotional Perspectives

Associated with Writing Problems
In order to identify as specifically as possible the demons that put you out of your write
mind, try to hear the thoughts as if they were spoken in the form of a sentence. This
makes them concrete and easier to contend with. Here are some examples that might
prime the pump.
All or nothing “If the best journal doesn’t accept my article, it’s been a
waste of time writing it.”
Arrogance “I’m a very talented writer and I don’t have to prove it

by writing something.”
Boredom “I’d like to write more but it’s such drudgery.”
Catastrophic thinking “If I don’t write this paper, I’ll fail the class and flunk
out of school. Then I won’t be able to get a job and I’ll
end up living on the street.”
Critical of one’s own work “My story is crap.”
Denial “This time the project should flow smoothly.”
Difficulties with decisions “I’ll leave it in. Nope, I’ll take it out. Nah, I better keep
it in. But it looks out of place there.”
Dread “The process of writing this paper is going to be

horrific!”
Dread of criticism “I will wither and die if she tells me she doesn’t like my
poem.”
Discounting “Yes, several publishers told me they wanted to publish

the book, but that doesn’t mean it’s any good.”
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Exaggerate difficulties “This memo is going to take an enormous amount of

time and effort to complete.”
Fear of loss of control “What is wrong with me? I can’t seem to make
myself write. Am I losing it? Do I have early-onset
Alzheimer’s?”
Forgetfulness “Oops! I forgot to write during the last decade.”
Guilt “I’m disappointing others because of my writing

problems.”
Grandiosity “My novel will be the next Moby Dick.”
Haunted by the past “This is going to be a nightmare, just like the last
article.”
Hopelessness “Why should I bother? It will just be another miserable

failure.”
Impatience “I am writing too slowly. This is taking way too long.”
Imposter feelings “When they read this crap they will find out I’m not a
real writer.”
Indolence “I just don’t feel like writing right now. It’ll be OK to

do it later.”
Judgmental “His article is absolute junk. I couldn’t live with myself

if I wrote like that.”
Low self-esteem “I am a worthless person because of my writing

problems.”
Overwhelm “There is so much to do I don’t know where to begin!

I’ll never be able to do it all!”
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Minimize capabilities “I don’t have enough energy to work on that project.”

“I can write an article, but there is no way I could write
a book.”
Panic “Oh my God! I can’t breathe! Heart attack! I’m going

crazy!”
Perfectionism “Every word in this first draft needs to be perfect.”
Pessimism “There is no way they will publish my article.”
Rationalizing “Well, I would have had an ‘A’ if I had spent more time
on it.”
Rebelliousness “If I don’t feel like writing, you can’t make me.”
Resentment “I hate writing.”
Self-criticism “I’m a lousy writer.”
Self-limiting beliefs “I can write only when I feel inspired.”

“I can write only when there is a gun pointed at my
head.”
“I can write only when I have many hours of free time.”
“I can’t start writing until I’ve got the whole novel
figured out.”
Should and shouldn’t “I should be writing more. I should be writing better.

I should be able to write without so much struggle. I
shouldn’t feel so anxious about writing.”
Specialness “My writing is a very special part of me and I don’t

want to risk losing that by exposing my work to
criticism from the public.”
Superstitions “If I finish my book I will die.”
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Time-estimation errors “I’ll have plenty of time later to write this article.”
“This article will take forever to do. I can’t face it.”
Uncertainty “I don’t know how to write this next chapter.”
Unrealistic standards “My novel has to be as good as Moby Dick.”

Other thoughts:
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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7 You also have access to helpful and adaptive ways of

thinking.
You may or may not be aware that you also have supportive,
encouraging, and empowering patterns of thinking that can and do
help you write. Refer back to the exercise in Chapter 5 where you
listed your abilities and talents with writing. Consciously accessing
and highlighting these thoughts and beliefs is an approach that has
helped some writers. Use memories of past successes, validations
from others, inspirations, and feelings of competence or pleasure that
have been connected to your writing. Bring these thoughts into your
mind when you notice the negative patterns asserting themselves, to
counter the negativity and reconnect with your strengths.
Generate a short list of the dominant thoughts about writing
that populate your mental universe, and notice how frequently they
pop up in your mind during the day. With practice you will get better
at this. When you notice you are procrastinating, for instance, shift
your attention to what you are feeling and thinking. Catch your
mental processes in the act, without judging yourself, and study
them. Be curious about your amazing mind. Can you pinpoint the
inner voices most responsible for your difficulties? Are you able to
see how these voices might be exaggerated, inaccurate, or distorted?
How do these thoughts sound if you say them out loud, or to another
person? Which thoughts assist you in maintaining consistent writing,
or returning to writing? The goal is to develop the ability to recognize
thoughts as just being thoughts, and feelings as being nothing more
than feelings. Watch them come into your awareness and let them
float away. Then get back to writing.
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C h a p t e r 11
Feelings
“And again, at that time, thou wilt be feeling very miserable.
Be not miserable in that way.”
If you increase your capacity to accept, feel, tolerate, and understand

the emotional side of your nature, you will increase your capacity
to write. Writing is much more than an intellectual pursuit, and
emotions are inextricably woven into the process, in both obvious
and subtle ways. You feel something when you anticipate writing.
You feel something while you write. Then you feel something when
you read what you have written, or when someone else does. Some
feelings help writing productivity, some don’t. Emotions provide
the necessary fuel to motivate you to pick up the pen in spite of
the effort and struggle involved. Emotions help you evaluate when
something you’ve written feels right or wrong. Emotions can also
be difficult internal experiences to battle with, flee from, cling to,
or ignore.
One of the problems with emotions is that they are powerful
and they operate much faster than your conscious mind does. It is
not always easy to see what is happening in the moments when you
are deciding whether you will write or not, and your conditioned
emotional responses often determine the outcome.
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Every writer I have ever met experiences emotional discomfort

occasionally or frequently while writing or thinking about writing.
Even if you don’t fully understand where your difficult feelings
come from, you can learn to increase your tolerance for these internal
states and in so doing, gain greater control of your writing.
Allow yourself to feel emotions such as fear, resentment,
shame, inadequacy, and ambivalence, without automatically
responding with attempts to repress or flee from their intensity.
They’re just feelings. You are going to survive. You will grow
stronger by allowing your body to go through emotionally intense
states without panicking. These are time-limited experiences. Some
part of you may feel like you will certainly die if you sit down to
write, but you won’t. Take baby steps in this direction and see what
happens. Do just a little bit more writing when disturbing feelings
arrive, instead of moving away from your project. No need to be
heroic. You are building up your writing muscles bit by bit. These
small changes have big consequences if you keep it up.
One method of reducing emotional discomfort when you want
to write is to practice relaxing. Distressing feelings are almost always
connected with muscular tension, and if you gain some control over
the tension, the feelings will have less power over your decisions
about writing. I recommend taking three minutes to relax when you
start to write or when you are stuck. Sit quietly in a comfortable
chair, close your eyes, and take three deep breaths. Then tune into the
muscles in your face, tongue, jaws, and hands. Just pay attention to
how these muscles feel, and let go of any tightness you notice there.
When your notice your mind has wandered, bring your attention Reducing
back to these muscles and see if you can relax them more. This tends emotional
discomfort
to quiet the mind. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get immediate
relief: the more you practice this technique, the more effective it will
become.
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Quite a few writers I know find it useful to do something

physical, like pacing or hiking, when they are engaged in a writing
project. Sometimes a repetitive physical activity engages the mind
in a helpful way that allows the writing mind to function better. Any
exercise that promotes blood flow in the body, and especially in the
brain, is helpful.
Another method of handling uncomfortable or distressing
thoughts and feelings during a writing session is to pause and
write them down when they arrive. Tell yourself you will consider
these issues when your writing session is done, and return to your
project.
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C h a p t e r 1 2
The Judgment
“… do not speak against me concerning what I have done, do not
bring up anything against me in the presence of the Great God…”
~ The Egyptian Book of the Dead
“… thou needst not be afraid. The Lords of Death are thine own
hallucinations.”
With surprising similarity both The Egyptian Book of the Dead

and The Tibetan Book of the Dead describe a pivotal sequence in
the afterlife called “The Judgment,” during which the deceased’s
character and deeds on Earth are reviewed and evaluated. The gods
Thoth (Egyptian) and Yama, Lord of Death (Tibetan), conduct
ruthlessly thorough post-mortem examinations of each soul’s earthly
deeds, and those unfortunates with an excess of black marks on their
ledger are sentenced to either additional rounds of suffering on Earth
or to a more enduring damnation in agonizing hells or lakes of fire.
Needless to say, it is very important to make it through this crucial
juncture successfully, and both books of the dead offer considerable
coaching on this point.
Writers don’t have to wait until they die to meet the Lord of
Death—they experience The Judgment every day. These judgments
come from teachers, professors, parents, editors, friends, classmates,
colleagues, the public, reviewers, and significant others. Writing is
a social enterprise, and if your writing becomes public in any way,
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Acid- there will be judgments to contend with. As previously discussed,

tongued real or imagined negative evaluations from others can inhibit you
internal from writing at all.
critics In addition, the inner lords of death, self-judgments, can be
particularly damning, and also damming, to the flow of writing. As
writers, we frequently endure the caustic heckling of these acid-
tongued internal critics. It comes with the territory. Obviously, it’s
not so easy to get into an enthusiastic, productive writing groove if
the soundtrack of your writing life is a corrosive tirade of criticism
and self-loathing. In severe cases, each and every word put to paper
comes under an unforgiving and time-consuming laser-like scrutiny
of evaluation and condemnation. There is a place for a perfectionist’s
eye in the writing process, but if it runs amok too early on, your
inspirations will be snuffed out before they have a chance to unfold
and mature. And your writing becomes as much fun as a swim in the
lake of fire.
If you secretly cherish a stratospherically high evaluation of
your talents, you may also run the risk of not writing because the
acid test of putting your work out into the world is a potential threat
to your attractive self-view. Your ego senses the danger that comes
with receiving feedback. The reading public might not share your
opinion, and this could deflate the appealing self-image you have
constructed.
Even well-deserved, positive evaluations of your writing can
lead to blocks. A young woman in a writing group had an impressive
reception to work she published in her early twenties and then she
locked up for years. Like Wily Coyote when he runs off a cliff
chasing the Roadrunner, she did great until she looked down and
realized how high above the ground she was. There is so far to fall
when you’re up that high. Her success exceeded her self-confidence
by too great a margin, and she was plagued by the conviction that it
was a fluke and she would not be able to do it again, yet she also felt
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it would be a terrible failure if she didn’t.

It is often, if not always, true that the impact of others’ opinions
affect us most when they mirror beliefs or fears we carry within us.
Everyone has a style of dealing with real or anticipated feedback.
What is yours?
Here are some questions to help you consider this issue.
Do you carry an internal image of the audience you are writing for when you
write?
_______________________________________________________________
Does this “imagined audience” help or hinder your progress and productivity?
_______________________________________________________________
How?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Do you avoid showing your work to others due to fears about how they will
react?
_______________________________________________________________
Do you feel like an imposter who will be discovered if others read your work?
_______________________________________________________________
Do you imagine scenes where people important to you are reacting to your
writing?
_______________________________________________________________
How are these fantasies helpful or harmful to your writing process?

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
What are your real or imagined “worst case scenarios” regarding criticism
and rejection?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
How have specific incidents of criticism affected your productivity?

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
How have specific incidents of praise affected your productivity?

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Can you identify the people in your life who have helped or harmed you with
their feedback? Who were they and what did they do?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
What is the difference between the type of feedback that has helped your
productivity and feedback that resulted in blocks?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
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How critical are you of other people’s writing? If you are quite critical of
others, do you apply the same harsh criticism to your own work?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Real or imagined judgments might inhibit you as a writer, but

you can develop strategies that mitigate the impact of these issues.
Here are some examples of how to do that.
7 Know your sensitivities and respect them—to a

point. Gradually increase your tolerance for receiving
feedback to your work.
If you are quite sensitive and avoidant about showing your work to No writer
others, but would like to be able to, start carefully and thoughtfully. escapes
View this as an ability you will cultivate over time in a step-by-step negative
way. Be patient and avoid comparing yourself to people who do feedback
not seem to have the same struggles. It doesn’t matter what other
people feel or do. Our social and interpersonal habits are typically
long-standing and resilient patterns that are connected with many
different, powerful feelings. Change in this area is possible but
should be approached wisely and gradually. Even minor changes
that involve being more social or public about your writing are
significant victories. Each step strengthens your hide, teaches you
something about yourself and others, and lays the groundwork for
going further. A supportive class or workshop is sometimes a good
way to start becoming more public with your writing.
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7 Choose the right time to ask for feedback.

Your writing project will go through many stages on the way to
completion. There are numerous points along the way when you
might benefit from input, and other times when you should keep
your writing private. Everyone is different in terms of what works
best. Common stages in a writing project include:
• generating ideas
• doing research
• organizing notes
• making an outline
• writing a first draft
• refining and revising additional drafts
• final editing
• submitting the completed work
• revisions and resubmission (if needed)
• beginning a new project
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7 Consider your work style and identify where in this

process you are most likely to have problems.
During which phase(s) are you most at risk to procrastinate or
block?
______________________________________________________
During which phase(s) would you benefit the most from input?
______________________________________________________
Some writers do not like to have their ideas or stories made public
too early in the process, out of concern that the project needs to
gestate internally longer to develop properly, without interference.
Others like a lot of interaction in the beginning stages to help them
brainstorm and focus on what they really want to write about. Identify
your preferred stages and consider how feedback might be of use
to you at that time. Experiment with involving people at different
phases of your projects and go with what feels right.
7 Choose the right people to show your work to.

Some people in your life will help you become more productive—
and some will not. It is essential to recognize the difference. Some
readers have the ability to give feedback that is thoughtful, sensitive,
useful, and honest. Some will give glowing praise about everything
you show them. Others, intentionally or not, will stomp your ego flat
because of ignorance, insensitivity, or their own unresolved issues
with their own writing. If you have a history of being terrified or
even just apprehensive about the process of showing your work and
receiving feedback, avoid these types. You certainly don’t need any
additional bad experiences related to this issue.
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Start off by selecting a reader or listener you trust. Someone

who is unlikely to assault your self-esteem, such as a pet cat. When
you are ready to approach a human reader, choose someone who
is at least somewhat kind, and then ask him or her to read your
work without giving you any sort of feedback about it. This affords
you some safety in order to take the first step of coming out of the
closet with less risk. As you gain comfort with doing this, you can
begin asking for reactions, perhaps initially requesting to hear only
what the reader liked about the piece. At this beginning stage, if
the person you chose cannot do this, and feels compelled to “help”
you by pointing out flaws and suggesting “improvements,” then find
someone else. There will be time for constructive criticism later,
after your tolerance for handling feedback has grown stronger.
Your best writing advisors may not be the people you are
closest to. This is unfortunate but frequently true. Significant others,
family members, and best friends are obvious choices for readers,
but their close relationship with you may make them unable to give
you useful and objective feedback, no matter how much you love
them. This can be especially true when your significant other is also
a writer. It’s OK to keep your work private if that is the case, and to
help your loved ones understand why you need that. If it works to
include them at some phase of the process—great!
7 Specify the type of feedback you are seeking, and the

feedback you don’t want.
Not only does this help you, it helps your reader as well. If you
need input on a character you are creating and instead get a lot of
feedback about punctuation, it will be irritating. If you are in the
initial stages of a project and want reactions to the general concept
and structure of the piece, tell your reader to focus on that and to
ignore imperfections in the sentences and grammar. This gives you a
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certain amount of control over how much emotional stress you will
experience, and better odds of getting the responses you need to help
move your project along.
7 Rehearse worst case scenarios and develop plans for

survival.
Whether you are anticipating feedback from your grandmother, a
teacher, or the editor of the premier journal in your field, there is
always a chance that something you hear from that person could
traumatize you. It is useful to mentally consider the worst case
situation and imagine how you will successfully cope with that.
Remind yourself that you will survive, and that you can disregard
the criticism that comes from ignorance or is gratuitously hostile
and mean-spirited, and use the constructive criticism to improve
your work. Imagine yourself continuing to write successfully even
if the worst case were to occur. Know whom you can talk to for
perspective, support, and encouragement. Remember, no piece of
writing will please everyone; even Shakespeare has his detractors.
The important thing about mental preparation is that it can decrease
the chances that negative feedback will prevent you from writing.
Negative feedback is a powerful block generator and no writer
escapes this challenge completely, no matter what successes he or
she has experienced.
7 Have revision and resubmission plans.

When awaiting a response to a submission to a publisher or literary
agent, it is empowering to have backup plans for how you will
continue to promote your manuscript in the event of a rejection.
There is a good chance your submission will be going to an
editor you don’t know, where it will be considered in a selection
process whose outcome is determined by numerous variables and
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influences you have no control over. Don’t let this process affect
your willingness to continue writing. Keep in mind that The Cat in
the Hat was rejected by 50 publishers before it was accepted. Revise
and resubmit if possible, or find another place to submit your work.
Over time you will develop the skill of not taking the rejections so
personally that they prevent you from writing the next day.
7 Keep more than one project going.

If you are waiting to hear about the acceptance or rejection of a piece,
it can be a psychological buffer to know you have another project in
the pipeline. You are not putting all your eggs in one unpredictable
basket. By working on something new, you also decrease your
anxiety by bringing your mental energy to a productive focus rather
than obsessing about someone else’s opinion or decision about your
work. Plus, you are creating another piece that might bear fruit if
the one before it doesn’t, and you are continuing to strengthen your
routine of regular writing.
7 Continue writing after a project is completed.

It is natural to want to take a break when you have completed a project,
especially one that has been challenging and lengthy. This gap time
between projects is, however, a high-risk juncture for initiating an
extended period of work avoidance. If you take a break of a few
days, have a plan in place about when you will begin writing again.
It should be more specific than “I’ll get going in a while, when I feel
rested and inspired again.” Pick a date and time in the near future
that you will set aside to return to your writing schedule, even if it is
only for a few minutes a day. Keep at least one toe in the water.
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7 “What will help the writing?”

None of us can completely separate our feelings about our “self”
when judgments are made about our writing. But perhaps we can
move in that direction just enough to prevent criticism and rejection
from paralyzing our writing muscles. One way to do this is to keep
asking, “What will help the writing?” You will benefit more if your
mind is focused on that question rather than on whether or not
you are an imposter or an idiot or stupid or worthless or boring or
magnificent. After all, our lives are a mystery—we don’t really know
what is going on, and all the time we spend protecting, defending,
rationalizing, loathing, and lauding our sense of self is, at the end of
the day, a pointless exercise in generating pain. Maybe it would be
better to spend what precious little time we have on the planet doing Taking in
anything else instead of that. Of course, this is easier said than done, feedback
but you can always direct at least some tiny bit of effort toward without
doing something else. Something that will leave you with a sense of wilting
accomplishment and satisfaction. Something that has the potential
to make a contribution. Something like writing.
By keeping your primary focus on how to make your writing
better, rather than on how criticism and rejection make you feel,
you also cultivate a degree of openness and tolerance for receiving
important feedback that is not complimentary. It is essential for
your growth and development as a writer to be able to take in such
information without wilting completely. The perceptive minds of
others offer a storehouse of information, and you can benefit from
knowing what they think is good, or not so good, about your work.
Even some nasty, ill-tempered remarks will potentially be useful to
you if they contain a grain of truth. You will be more willing and
less threatened to hear tough but true words about your work if you
believe those words will help you write better. Even if they come
from the mouth of a jerk.
103
As noted in the passage from The Tibetan Book of the Dead at

the start of this chapter, the fears and resentments we experience in
the process of placing our pages in front of the public are our own.
These feelings can be triggered by imagined feedback or by our
actual interactions with others, but they are our own feelings, and
they can stop the writing. The bad news is that we habitually feed
and reinforce these inner demons that control us. The good news is
that like many demons, their bark is worse than their actual bite. The
best news is that we can learn to tame them, a little bit at a time.
104
C h a p t e r 1 3
Encountering the
Unknown
“Thick, awesome darkness will appear in front
of thee continually.”
Writing, like dying, involves an unavoidable confrontation with

the unknown. We don’t know exactly what will happen when we
sit down to write. In the gap between initiating and completing a
writing project, we have many opportunities to observe how we deal
with the unknown.
The unknown might be a sentence not yet right, a mountain
of information not yet organized, an argument not yet developed,
a problem not yet solved, or a story line not yet worked out. We
know something more needs to be accomplished, and we don’t
know exactly how we will do it. This moment of contemplating
the unknown is fertile territory for spawning anxiety, self-doubt,
confidence crises, and work avoidance. The experience of not
knowing may also make a person feel that something internal is
lacking: intelligence, creativity, or other unnamable attributes that
“real” writers supposedly possess.
What is your characteristic mode of responding when you
don’t know how to proceed? During the writing of my dissertation
105
I repeatedly confronted new problems and challenges I had no

ready solutions for. In my mind, each one of these problems was
a dark torpedo screaming toward my dissertation’s brittle hull. I
would back away from the project with each challenge because my
catastrophic fantasizing made the writing hard to tolerate. Eventually
I’d return to my desk and the problems would somehow be resolved
after I wrestled with them for a while. The ship stayed afloat and I
eventually learned to settle down and trust the process.
Here are some of the responses that the encounter with the
unknown evokes in writers I have worked with. Do any of these
sound familiar to you?
___ Not beginning a project due to uncertainty of how to begin or

thinking that all problems need to be resolved before starting
to write.
___ Feeling overwhelmed when contemplating the organizational

challenges of a project.
___ Losing confidence that you will be able to do what is required,

then avoiding work to reduce discomfort.
___ Feeling fraudulent for not having answers to problems that

“real” writers would have no trouble with.
___ Being impatient with the pace of the process of resolving the
project’s challenges.
___ Becoming obsessed with the passing of time while feeling

stuck and not producing.
106
___ Decreased ability to concentrate and write effectively due to

anxiety generated by contemplating unresolved problems.
___ Interpreting the unavoidable reflective pauses that occur

during writing as “blocks” and worrying that the pauses are
evidence of incompetence or proof that the project is not
going to come out right.
___ Retreating into extensive reading binges to fill in presumed

gaps of knowledge.
___ Working excessively long hours to gain a sense of control but

having little to show for it.
___ Experiencing feelings of shame or humiliation while

anticipating failure, and then procrastinating to avoid those
feelings.
As you can see from the list above, several of the issues
connected with facing the unknown are linked to procrastination.
Can you imagine making friends with the “thick, awesome darkness”
when it appears? One strategy is to consciously cultivate a greater
degree of acceptance and tolerance for the uncertainties of the writing
process. Remind yourself that these moments are an unavoidable and
necessary part of creating something new. Be patient when things
aren’t immediately clear. If you are in the process of clarifying
something or doing a task for the first time, things may proceed
gradually, especially with projects that are covering new ground or
that are complex.
“Unknown” doesn’t have to mean terrifying, daunting, or
painful. In fact, for many writers it is the appeal of creating something
107
that doesn’t yet exist in the world that propels them to write. The
encounter with the unknown is where the thrills and gratification lie,
as well as the hardships. It is where interesting things happen.
Be curious when you feel stumped. Pause and ponder the
problem, and see if you can witness your emotional responses in a
more dispassionate way. As discussed in Chapter 10, Not in Your
Write Mind, try to hang out in the uncertainty without panicking
or bolting. The writing issue you are trying to resolve may indeed
be a challenging one, but it’s your emotional reactions that turn a
challenge into a block. Try not to abandon your efforts too quickly.
Shifting to Stay in there for a while and notice what happens. See if you can
freewriting calm yourself by taking a few deep breaths and relaxing the muscles
of your face, jaw, neck, shoulders, and arms. If it is just a wave of
emotion, maybe you can ride it out and keep going. Take a deep
breath.
Another tactic is to switch to freewriting for five or ten minutes
and see what bubbles up from that process. Freewriting, as described
in Peter Elbow’s book Writing Without Teachers, is simply writing
any and all words that come to mind without pausing and without
trying to censor or control what comes out. The freewriting itself
may yield new ideas or clues to a helpful approach, and it is also
useful as a recuperative shift of focus for your stressed-out mind
while deeper processes work on the solutions.
You might also benefit from conversations with other people
when you feel bewildered. The process of talking about your
predicament in conversation often results in a productive shift.
(Those of us in the therapy business are very grateful that things
work this way.) It’s not necessary to find a listener who will solve
the problem for you, just one who is able to lend a sympathetic and
thoughtful ear while you discover your own answers. If you don’t
generally talk with others about writing or ask anyone for help, it
108
may initially feel uncomfortable to do so. I have found that blocked

writers are often too isolated and private about their work, and if
they begin to take even modest steps to involve other people in their
writing process, good things begin to happen.
You may encounter the unknown because you actually need to
know more about your topic before you can proceed. Doing additional
research may feel like a hassle that will be too time consuming,
but in the long run more time will be wasted in trying to proceed
without having necessary information. But look out for getting lost
on the Web or in the library researching issues that are only slightly
relevant, because that feels more comfortable than writing.
“But,” you might ask, “what if I feel like I am beating a dead
horse?” If you are in a lengthy struggle to resolve a writing problem
and your efforts are only making you more anxious, frustrated, and
exhausted, it may be wise to shift gears and do something else for a
while. Move to a different, less challenging part of the project, work
on another project, or do something unrelated to writing. Sometimes
answers come into focus if you take a break and chew on the issues
subconsciously. If you do take a break from writing to let your dead Exhaustion,
hunger, and
horse catch its breath, make it a conscious decision and have a plan
stress
for returning to the writing.
Hitting an impasse may also mean that you are too exhausted,
hungry, or stressed out to think clearly and work effectively. A
writer can easily forget about the body. Sleep, exercise, and food
are essential to keep the writing machine operational. An aspiring
novelist, who was also a store manager and the father of four
children, decided that the only free time he had to write was from
four to six in the morning. The trouble was that he never went to bed
before midnight. His plan to write from four to six lasted two days.
Respect your indispensable ally, your body, and notice when your
fuel gauge is on “E.”
109
C h a p t e r 1 4
Rebirth: Improving
Writing Productivity
Below is a set of tips and recommendations for improving your

writing productivity; these ideas and suggestions address many
different aspects of the writing process. By now you probably have
a sense of which areas need the most attention to improve your
productivity as a writer. Check the items below that will contribute
most to your writing efforts.
Time
___ Create a routine time for writing (daily is best).
___ Schedule an optimal daily amount. Short, regular sessions

of less than an hour are recommended following a non-
productive period.
___ Protect your writing time.
___ Be realistic in planning projects and setting expectations. Start

with small, realizable goals.
___ Maintain a balance between writing and other responsibilities

and activities in your life.
110
___ Maintain a consistent daily output when working with long-

term deadlines.
___ Keep in mind that binge writing at deadline maintains patterns

of blocking.
Space
___ Have a place to write that is comfortable, easy to get to, and
functional.
___ Arrange your space to minimize exposure to your highest risk

distractions (cookie jars, telephones, televisions, etc.).
___ Do not begin a writing session by cleaning and organizing

your work space; do this after you have written.
Getting Started
___ Have your writing place stocked with necessary materials.
___ Recall times in the past when you wrote productively. What
were your patterns of writing then? What can you apply from
those times to your present situation?
___ Establish or re-establish a consistent habit and ritual of daily

writing.
___ If you are just staring at the monitor or page and are having
difficulty getting started, try warming up with a brief period of
freewriting. This could be five or ten minutes of writing down
anything that comes to mind without concern about the nature or
quality of the content.
111
Changing Behavior
___ Make a chart of your daily writing productivity. Put it on the
refrigerator.

___ Analyze each writing project and break it into bite-sized
chunks.

___ Make success unavoidable each day by having goals that
would be hard not to attain.

___ Start with modest expectations, especially after a non-
productive period.
___ Make a list of your most common work-avoiding behaviors

(e.g., eating, taking a bath, e-mailing, TV watching, non-essential
busywork, etc.). Develop strategies for reducing the likelihood of
engaging in each of those activities during writing time.
___ Notice if you are reinforcing the pattern of avoiding writing.

Do you reward yourself when you do not write by engaging in
pleasure-seeking activities during writing time?
___ If needed, make a desired daily activity contingent upon

having done some writing. This might mean denying yourself
exercise, reading the newspaper, talking on the phone, playing
piano, watching a favorite show, or taking a shower unless a
minimum amount of writing has occurred.
112
Thoughts and Feelings

___ Notice your “self-talk” about writing. Pay particular attention
to those thoughts that are frightening, critical, demoralizing, and
overwhelming. These thoughts generate distressing feelings that
may interfere with our writing productivity.
___ When you notice negative thoughts invading, consciously

replace unhelpful messages with positive, hopeful thoughts;
reminding yourself of previous successes and the abilities you
possess. This process becomes more effective with practice.
___ Be mindful of patterns of placing perfectionistic, unrealistic,

or excessively rigid demands on your writing process or content.
An unreasonably harsh internal critic is a common feature among
blocked writers. Practice with freewriting can help temper these.
___ If anxiety or depression becomes chronic or intense, seek

professional assistance.
People Issues
___ Develop and utilize relationships with colleagues or other
writers you can share your work with.
___ Be specific about the kind of feedback you want or do not

want when sharing your work with others.

___ Work collaboratively with another writer(s) on a project.
___ Avoid isolation: maintain or rekindle professional and

personal contacts, especially if blocking is a problem.
113
___ Determine if there are any unresolved interpersonal issues

with significant people (colleague, mentor, dissertation advisor,
boss, spouse) that may be affecting your writing. Make efforts to
address these problems.
___ If you have difficulty showing your writing to others, begin

with people you like and trust, and who are unlikely to savage your
work. Slowly branch out from there to include others. A group or
class often provides a supportive environment for going public
with your writing.
114
C h a p t e r 1 5
Your Writing Productivity

Improvement Plan
This is a section for creating your own writing productivity plan.

Take a few minutes to fill out this section, even if you feel some
resistance to doing so, and use the items from the tips in the previous
chapter as an aid. Making a plan is an act of commitment to yourself
and your writing that will increase the odds that you will put what
you have learned from this book into practice.
The process of creating your Writing Productivity
Improvement Plan involves remembering and honoring your desire
to write, deciding what writing project is most important to start
with, knowing your strengths and challenges, selecting realistic and
appropriate steps to take, and developing strategies for reconnecting
to writing if you fall off the wagon. You may want to keep a copy
of this plan in a conspicuous place to remind yourself of your
commitment. It may also help to let someone else know you have
made a plan about your writing. Just imagining that a friend might
ask you about your progress could motivate you to stay on track.
If you find yourself anxious, overwhelmed, or highly resistant
to taking this step of committing to a plan, consider filling out just
one section of it per day over the next week. On the seventh day
you can rest and review what you’ve accomplished and see that it is
115
good. There is no rush; the important thing is that you are continuing
to move a step forward every day—even if the steps appear small.
No step is a small step if you’ve been blocked.
116
Writing Productivity Improvement Plan

1. In a single sentence, explain why it is important for you to write regularly
(refer to the Motivations for Writing checklist on page 45).
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. What writing project(s) would you most like to make progress on?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Do you have externally dictated deadlines? If not, create a realistic time frame for
completing it (them).
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
3. Recall a time when you wrote relatively well on a project

(refer to the Writing Assets, Strengths, and Abilities checklist on page 39).
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
What abilities, talents, habits, and personal qualities contributed to your success?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
117
How did you schedule writing time, and where did you write?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
What was your mood and state of mind like?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Did anyone else contribute to making that a positive experience? How?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Are there elements of that experience that could be applied to your current projects?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
4. List the primary challenges to your writing productivity (refer to the Self-
Assessment on page 28).
a. ______________________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________________
c. ______________________________________________________________
118
5. For each challenge identified, generate one idea (select from the Improving
Productivity list in the previous chapter or create your own) for addressing some
aspect of the problem that you can take action on in the next week. Post a copy of
this “Set of Solutions” where you write, on your refrigerator, and anywhere else it
might be helpful to have it. Make a check mark on it and note the date each time you
implement a planned solution.
a. ______________________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________________
c. ______________________________________________________________

6. Generate one idea (select from the Improving Productivity tips in the previous
chapter or create your own) for addressing three of your primary challenges that
you can take action on in the next month. Update and amend as needed. Post a copy
of this Set of Solutions where you write, on your refrigerator, and anywhere else it
might be helpful to have it. Make a check mark on it and note the date each time you
implement a planned solution.
a. ______________________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________________
c. ______________________________________________________________
7. Congratulate yourself for valuing yourself as a writer, for deciding to

consciously address your writing habits, and for having the courage and willingness
to spend the time and effort required to improve them.
119
Dealing with Relapses

If you find that you are unable to make a plan, or that you start off
well but get blocked again after a while, do not despair. This is not
a sign that there is no hope, only that there are additional issues that
need to be addressed. Such difficulties are more the norm than the
exception. There may be a few or several false starts along the way
to establishing your connection with regular writing, and you may
find there is always a gap between your goals and your performance.
This is normal, and you don’t have to hate yourself or give up hope
because of it.
When you recognize that you are not writing, there are several
things you can do that will help.
1. Find your Writing Productivity Improvement Plan. Pick

one action item and do it. It should be something simple and
brief.
2. Write for five minutes, then stop. Do this every day for a week
and see what happens. If you can’t write on your project yet,
write about anything, without judging the content.
3. Don’t get too isolated. Contact someone you trust who is a good
listener, and discuss your dilemma.
4. Amend your writing plan if needed. Initial steps should move

you forward but not be too challenging to complete.
5. Offer support and encouragement to someone else who is

struggling with writing. Helping others can serve your
writing as well.
120
6. Remind yourself of why you want to write. Review your

Motivations for Writing checklist on page 45.
7. Remind yourself of your writing strengths. Review your

Writing Assets, Talents, and Abilities checklist on page 39.
The goal is to try to reengage with the writing process and

to start writing consistently again. A little bit of writing each day
is a powerful way to break the cycle of avoidance, and it sets the
stage for you to enjoy and feel confident about writing again. You
may find you have to confront your demons and work with your
mind, emotions, and relationships before you can write for even five
minutes. Every writer has to find the approach that works for him or
her. The greatest predictor of success will be your willingness to keep
at it; to return to writing, even when the resistance is powerful.
Final Thoughts
As a writer, you are on a journey. From your early youth you have
been expressing yourself using the written word, and you have
developed an interest and a passion for writing. In your journey as
a writer you have encountered numerous challenges; some coming
from the outside world and some generated by your own mind. At
times these challenges may have slowed down the flow of the words
and ideas you desired to express, or perhaps stopped them dead.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead and The Egyptian Book of the
Dead are roadmaps for attaining salvation. They offer guidance,
warning, encouragement, and wisdom for souls embarking on the
challenging journey to the worlds beyond this one. Both books stress
the importance of maintaining an awareness of one’s vulnerability
and the importance of respecting the powerful and mysterious forces
that control our lives. It is also implicit in both books that you can
121
improve your fate by understanding yourself, paying attention to the

situations you encounter, and working skillfully with the challenges
that arise. The desired result is a transformation of the meaning of
death from a depressing annihilation into an opportunity to attain a
joyful and blessed eternity. The Blocked Writer’s Book of the Dead
has a similar goal: the transformation of depressing blocks and
procrastination into a joyful and blessed flow of words.
I hope that by reading this book you have developed a deeper
understanding of your writing process, and have identified at least a
few ideas or suggestions that will assist you or inspire you to bring
your writing back to life. I also hope you have developed a greater
sense of appreciation and compassion for yourself as you experience
the wonderful rewards and awesome challenges of producing the
written word.
122
A p p e n d i x
The Puppy Principles

Imagine that the part of you that wants to write is an adorable, excited,
energetic little puppy. A puppy that is totally dependent upon you to
keep him happy, well fed, and healthy. Here are some guidelines for
caring for your writing puppy.
1. Love, honor, and respect your puppy.
2. Feed and walk your puppy every day.
3. Sometimes, let your puppy off the leash to run free.
4. Train your puppy to come when you call by using rewards

and kind words, not intimidation.
5. Be firm and consistent with training, but don’t break your

puppy’s spirit.
6. Housebreaking your puppy will be a gradual process: do not

give the puppy a biscuit when he pees on the rug.
7. If you ignore your puppy all day, he might keep you awake at
night or chew up your slippers.
8. Protect your puppy from harm.
9. Remember that your puppy likes to play with other puppies.
10. Play with your puppy, enjoy your puppy, love your puppy.
123
Bibliography
Benabou, Marcel. (1996). Why I Have Not Written Any of My Books.
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Benchley, Robert. (2001). The Benchley Roundup. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Boice, Robert. (1994). How Writers Journey to Comfort and Fluency.
Westport: Praeger. A comprehensive description of his knowledge
and advice for writers of all types.
Boice, Robert. (1992a). “Combined treatments for writing blocks.”
Behaviour Research and Therapy. 30, 51–61.
Boice, Robert. (1990). Professors as Writers. Stillwater: New Forums.
A well-researched, balanced and practical guide focussed on
improving productivity in academia, though it applies to all writers.
Highly recommended.
Bolker, Joan. (1997). The Writer’s Home Companion. New York:
Henry Holt.
Bolker, Joan. (1998). Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a
Day. New York: Owl Books.
Boon, Marcus. (2002). The Road of Excess: A History of Writers on
Drugs. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Burns, David. (1992). Feeling Good. New York: Avon.
Helpful techniques from cognitive therapy to address problems
with perfectionism, negative self-talk, depression, anxiety, etc.
Cameron, Julia. (1995). The Artist’s Way. New York: Putnam.
The daily writing exercise prescribed in this book is potentially
useful to all blocked writers.
124
Cameron, Julia. (1998). The Right to Write. New York:

Tarcher/Putnam.
Charters, Ann. (1992). The Portable Beat Reader. New York: Penguin.
Dyer, Geoff. (1997). Out of Sheer Rage. New York: North Point
Press. Dark, funny.
Elbow, Peter. (1973). Writing Without Teachers. New York: Oxford
University Press. Very good explanation and description of
“freewriting.”
Evans-Wentz, W. Y. (ed.) (1960). The Tibetan Book of the Dead.
London: Oxford University Press.
Faulkner, Raymond and Goelet, Ogden. (ed) (1998). The Egyptian
Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day: Being the
Papyrus of Ani. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
Flaherty, Alice, W. (2004). The Midnight Disease. New York:
Houghton Mifflin. A neurologist weighs in on writing and the brain.
Goldberg, Natalie. (1990). Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life. New
York: Bantam.
Goldberg, Natalie. (1988). Writing Down the Bones. Boston:
Shambala.
Harvey, Joan C. and Cynthia Katz. (1985). If I’m So Successful,Why
Do I Feel Like a Fake? New York: St. Martin’s.
Huddle, David. (1991). The Writing Habit: Essays. Salt Lake City:
Gibbs-Smith.
Johnstone, Keith. (1992). Impro: Improvisation and Theatre. New
York: Routledge. An inspiring book on creativity and spontaneity.
Kabot-Zinn, John. (2005). Full Catastrophe Living. New York:
Bantam. An introduction to mindfulness meditation as a way to
relieve stress.
125
Kellog, Ronald. (1994). The Psychology of Writing. New York:

Oxford
University Press.
Kirsch, Gesa. (1993). Women Writing the Academy.
Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. Issues and
challenges for women academic writers.
Kornfeld, Jack. (1993). A Path With Heart. New York: Bantam.
A good explanation of the Buddhist approach to working with
the mind.
Lamott, Anne. (1994). Bird by Bird. New York: Pantheon.
This humane and very funny approach to the emotional
challenges of being a writer is a morale booster.
Miller, Henry. (1964). Henry Miller on Writing. New York:
New Directions.
Moxley, J. and Lenker, L. (1995). The Politics and Process
of Scholarship. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Essays
on a number of issues related to writing and publishing in
academia.
Olsen, Tillie. (1979). Silences. New York: Dell. A women’s account
of the experience of being unable to write for years due to
other responsibilities.
Rico, Gabrielle. (1983). Writing the Natural Way. Los Angeles:
Tarcher.
Rose, Mike. (1985). When a Writer Can’t Write. New York:
Guilford.
Steinbeck, John. (1989). Working Days: The Journals of the
Grapes of Wrath. New York: Viking. Even the greatest writers
struggle.
126
Sternberg, David. (1981). How to Complete and Survive a

Doctoral Dissertation. New York: St. Martin’s.
Valian, Virginia. (1977). “Learning to Work” in Working it
Out. New York: Pantheon. A great article on working with
resistance.
Weschler, Lawrence. (2000). “The Novelist and the Nun.” The
New Yorker, 10/2/2000, 74–86.
Zerubavel, Eviatar. (1999). The Clockwork Muse. Cambridge:
Harvard University Press. This book offers a systematic
approach to organizing and writing big projects.
127
About the Author
David A. Rasch, Ph.D.

Photo courtesy of Stanford University
David Rasch is a psychologist with 20 years of experience working

with writers who struggle with blocks, procrastination, and other
writing productivity problems. He has worked as a therapist, workshop
leader, writing consultant, Director at Stanford University’s Faculty
Staff Help Center, and he currently serves as the Stanford University
Ombuds. Dr. Rasch has given presentations about his work with
faculty authors at state and national conferences and has spoken to
numerous student and staff groups at Stanford and other universities
nationwide. He has also offered talks and workshops attended by
writers of poetry, fiction, journalism, academic research, nonfiction,
business and technical writing, Web writing, and personal writing.
Dr. Rasch brings a compassionate, humorous, and insightful
perspective to his work that combines his extensive psychological
training and experience with practical advice for negotiating the
daily challenges of the writing life. In addition to The Blocked
Writer’s Book of the Dead, his writing includes a chapter in the
edited volume Process and Organizational Redesign, several
magazine and newsletter articles, and more than a hundred songs.
Dr. Rasch is President of the Central Coast Writers Branch of the
California Writers Club and was recipient of their Centennial Short
Story Award in 2009.
128
WORKSHOP
David Rasch offers workshops and classes

for improving writing productivity,
and is available to speak to groups
interested in the topic.
David also consults individually with writers.
For more information, e-mail him at:
davidarnotrasch@gmail.com

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The Blocked

Bring Your Writing Back to Life!

Copyright 2010 David Rasch, Ph.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or

Illustration page 4 © The New Yorker Collection 2004. David

Park Place Publications

Printed in the United States of America

I would like to express my gratitude to several people who helped

Why Blocked Writers

“I have too many other commitments to find time to write. I know

“I have plenty of time to write but I waste enormous amounts of

“I don’t belong here. The university made a huge mistake hiring me

Inspiration My inspiration for writing this book came from my experiences

Writing was an essential element of burial for the ancient

realities of our lives, habits, hearts, and minds.

doubt, fatigue, dread, delayed gratification, uncertainty, criticism,

sacrifice of some sort in other areas.

and your writing makes people angry, bored, or disappointed? If

The “blocked writer” who stares in anguish at a blank page or who

history, and specific pattern of behavior, thoughts, and feelings. I

Writing Productivity Problems

7 Time and Scheduling Difficulties

Common problems with time and scheduling include:

chilliness. I spend a good bit of time on the deck, contemplating

7 Rejecting Ideas Prematurely

occurs to you without pausing or judging the content. Peter Elbow’s

7 Freezing Up or “Drawing a Blank”

Working Long Hours with Little to Show for It

7 Excessive editing or rewriting of early drafts

7 Getting lost or hiding in research

absolutely everything about the subject in order to prevent any

7 Overworking, difficulty with stopping

involvement with writing to the point that creativity and productivity

7 Including too much peripherally related material

journals. After the wake-up call of his tenure denial he addressed

Difficulties with Sharing Writing

Gender, Race, Culture, and Writing Blocks

support, publishers, and professional networks has traditionally been

Rejection, Criticism, and Interpersonal Issues

Mental Health and Neurological Issues

A thorough exploration of the connections between writing

Subject Matter and Writing Blocks

Problems with Success

Assessing Your Writing Productivity Problems

Writing Productivity Self-Assessment

7. Thinking and feeling patterns connected with writing

9. Other issues that may affect writing

Using This Assessment

Procrastination: Many writers find they score high on section 4 (Procrastination);

Perfectionism: If you score high in Perfectionism, section 5 of the assessment,

Thoughts and Feelings: Non-productive thinking and feeling patterns (section 7)

Interpersonal: If interpersonal issues (section 8) are an area of concern for you,

Here are some additional questions to think about:

Are there any issues you had not considered before?

Past Lives and Write Now

Understanding your past as a writer is not always necessary in order

What are your earliest memories of writing?

When did you realize you wanted to be someone who writes?

In the process of considering these questions you might