This is K.M. Wyland and you are listening to the 458 episode of the Helping Writers Become Authors

Podcast. I hope you enjoyed this week's podcast which is called Seven Things to Try

when Writing is hard.

Now some writers might hear that title and respond incredulously when isn't writing hard.

But as I'm sure all writers everywhere can attest, there are times when writing is hard in the normal sense, and times when it's hard, hard.

Often, the difficulty lies simply in the unwieldy story and the need for an ever evolving

understanding and ability in order to manage it.

According to my estimate, as much as 75% of what is referenced as writer's block is really just plot block.

Something in the story form is out of balance and or the story's problem is temporarily outpacing the author's skill level.

With enough persistence, these plot blocks give way sooner than later

and usually with the reward of either a better story or at least a greater awareness in the writer.

But then there are the difficulties that fall under the heading of that other 25%. This is when the writing is hard

in ways that aren't so easy to bull our way through.

These are often deeper issues arising from our life beyond the page.

They might include illness, our own or someone else's, exhaustion, stress, fear or other unresolved emotions, burnout, or any other number of things.

Sometimes the cause seems to be something as simple and vague as a mood. And it's infuriating. Unlike with plot blocks, solving the problem isn't always as simple as finding the right mental thread to pull.

Sometimes it's a matter of putting things other than writing first for

a while and coming to peace with that and other times it's a matter of using the

writing difficulties to help us work through what's really causing the block.

Until recently, I'd never experienced that second type of writer's block.

Plot block, sure. But I've spent my creative life

building a skill set that helps me efficiently and effectively deal with that.

...