What do the psychologists say about writer’s block? Is it really a thing? Some say it might just all be in your head.

*Insert awkward half laugh and cough.*

As per an article entitled Blast through Writer’s Block by Stacy Lu, Psychologist Steven Pritzker, PhD, believes writer’s block is more to do with an issue in one’s discipline. The best way to deal with this issue? Creating a regular schedule and staying with it. While this seems straightforward, not everything that is sensible is easy to follow through on unless it is in your mind to commit to it. Writing, like everything else, is going to take work.

In studying psychology, it becomes clear that breaking down any progression or growth into stages is a favourite activity; therefore, it is no surprise that a few psychologists have broken down how creators create into four stages.

The first stage is preparation, in which you gather information and material. The second stage is incubation, which seems self-explanatory. This is the part when you set aside the work for a while to let the mind play around with it for a bit. From here, you move to the third stage called illumination, in which some lightbulbs may click on in your mind with some new ideas. The fourth stage is verification.

The article by Stacy Lu is not very long and well worth the read. If you find it helpful as well, or have any other interesting thoughts or ideas that come to mind, I’d love to hear them!

Source: Lu, Stacy. (2015). GradPSYCH Magazine. tinyurl.com/bd2c54x5