Hypnosis for Creative and Writer’s Block

Most researchers of writer’s block agree that it has three parts: an emotional and physical one, a motivational one and a cognitive one. Fear of failure is the cause most commonly attributed. The coping strategies described in the research aim to reduce anxiety about writing: write freely first, judge later, and work in short pieces. Hypnosis can help with the emotional part, calming the fear so that the first loose draft gets written.

What is writer’s block?

The Wikipedia article on writer’s block calls it a non-medical condition in which an author either cannot produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. It ranges from struggling to come up with original ideas to being unable to produce work for years, and it is measured by time without productivity, not simply time without writing. Professionals, academics, students and people working on any creative project can experience it.

The condition was first clinically described in 1947 by Edmund Bergler. The article also notes that the problem is not confined to pen and paper: feeling confined and overwhelmed by a topic can stall the thinking process for any kind of creative work.

What causes it?

Within those three components, the article describes several specific causes:

• Fear of failure: the most commonly attributed cause, especially where work will be judged or graded. John Daly and Michael Miller defined “writing apprehension” as anxiety or tension about writing tasks.
• Rules and perfection: Mike Rose linked writer’s block to strict guidelines and rigid preparation, and to becoming excessively preoccupied with grammar, structure or perfection.
• Judging while generating: in his book Conceptual Blockbusting, James Adams listed fear of taking a risk, “chaos” before writing, judging versus generating ideas, an inability to incubate ideas and a lack of motivation.
• Self-doubt: drawing on Albert Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy, the article notes that students with self-doubt are less likely to feel inspired to write.

How do writers get unstuck?

The article collects methods from writing teachers and writers themselves:

• Freewriting: writing continuously without stopping to think about grammar or correctness, a method encouraged by Peter Elbow to generate ideas and ease anxiety.
• Other ways of generating material: Irene Clark lists group discussion, journaling, brainstorming, clustering, list making and engaging with the text.
• Short sessions: breaking the work into pieces, for example with the Pomodoro technique of 25 minutes of writing followed by a 5-minute break.

Several of these methods separate generating from judging, the distinction Adams pointed to.

When is it not a creative problem?

Occasionally, the inability to write has a physical cause. The article notes that brain damage such as a stroke can produce agraphia, a severe inability to write, and that neurological conditions such as epilepsy have been linked to writing problems. If difficulty writing comes on suddenly, or with other changes in speech, movement or memory, see a doctor promptly. If it comes with persistent low mood, that deserves a conversation with a doctor or therapist too.

Can hypnosis get a stuck project moving?

With the emotional component. In a session you can settle your body, then picture yourself sitting down to write and producing a rough, unjudged page without stopping, with the editing saved for another day. You can also rehearse hearing the inner critic’s first comment and setting it aside until the judging stage. Nihat Bayat, cited in the article, links writing anxiety to knowing the work will be evaluated; the aim of the session is to make the first draft feel like it will not be.

Generate on one day, judge on another

For the next piece of work, split the calendar. On generating days, do a short self-hypnosis routine, then freewrite for 25 minutes without deleting anything. On judging days, read what you produced and pick out what is worth keeping. Keep the two kinds of day apart for two weeks and notice which one the block was really living in.

This article is general information, not medical or psychological advice; talk with a licensed clinician about your own situation.