Jonah MalinDec 29, 2021·3 min read

We’ve dubbed it as “writer’s block.” Suddenly and randomly, creativity flatlines.

Exercise won’t fix it.
Music won’t fix it.
Caffeine won’t fix it.

As a freelancer and creative writer, hours stuck in this haze can be dangerous. Not feeling “it” means I’m losing money and momentum and my f*cking mind.

And there are as many cliche solutions as there are BS fat burners floating around the internet.

Years ago, writer’s block could hold me back for weeks. I’d spin my wheels or wait until creativity struck again like lightning. Sometimes it would. Often it wouldn’t.

This afternoon was one of those days where the ink has run dry. But, I’ve got some web copy for a new freelance that needs to be delivered by darkness.

I don’t wave the white flag anymore.

I’ve found an antidote, stolen and modified from others writers much better than myself.

It may be the antithesis of advice you’ve read — but it works.

Stick it in the freezer.

When author Joan Didion found herself staring writer’s block in the eye, she would pull an unconventional U-turn.

Didion would put the draft in a plastic bag and stick it in the freezer. Literally.

She would return when she had the mental capacity and perspective to finish it off.

“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”― Joan Didion

Sure, it sounds a bit dramatic. But it’s a wonderful way to reposition creativity.

So, back to my writer’s block.

Instead of going for a jog or guzzling overpriced cans of caffeine, I’ll put my work in the “freezer,” open a fresh word doc, and write down exactly what is happening in front of me.

It’s loose, unfiltered, and ugly.

Like today’s excerpt…

“The sun is casting a golden glow over my cluttered table. Our puppy restlessly wrestles with stray leaves he pulled into the house. Then he flops down in quiet solitude.“

My girlfriend and I laugh that we have a very stoic puppy. He’s curious. Stone-faced. Reflective. Smarter than he lets on. Above him, the sky has begun dissolving into dark grey matter.

I wonder how many others are anxiously staring up at the impending darkness right now.

“I imagine two strangers are sitting under the stars on a pier somewhere. The rhythmic lapping of gentle waves below weightless soles hanging over the pier’s edge.

They stare at the stars. The stars stare back, unblinking.”

Damn. Now I’m writing.

When I’m exhausted or overwhelmed, this simple practice is a low-stress way of getting the words back into my fingers. There are no expectations. No one ever has to read it. But you’ll eventually have pages of fodder for future articles.

“Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now.” 
— Hemingway

To recap:

1. Start by closing whatever it is that’s giving you blockage. Freeze it.
2. Get up, move to another room, and describe exactly what’s happening around you. Keep it simple. But plant your words in reality.
3. Then, let the words weightlessly evolve into whatever comes to mind.

Voila, writer’s block cured.

Now excuse me as I get back to work.