Rob Parnell's Writing Academy Blog

I've always been loath to tackle the subject of writer's block. A personal, largely superstitious thing - but still I get asked what writers should do about it - all the time! So here goes: 1. Crisis, What Crisis? First off, you need to deny that there is any such thing as writer's block. This debilitating condition can only hurt you when you give it the privilege of a concrete name. Take away its name and you begin to take away its power over you. Tell yourself, there is no such thing as writer's block. There is writing and not-writing. Only writers have a name for something they're NOT doing. Think about the absurdity of builder's block, or doctor's block, or pilot's block. Any kind of inability to write is similarly absurd. Writing is like breathing - something you learned to do a long time ago without thinking. Stop thinking about it - and just do it. 2. Stop! In the Name of Love. If you've run out of ideas or you're st...

Many people write to me about writer's block. They hate it when the urge to write drops off in the middle of a novel or a non-fiction book or a screenplay, even during a short story. They worry about what that means. Are they really a writer? Has the Muse deserted them? Or is it symptomatic of some more serious psychological issue? Some writers worry about stopping even before it happens to them. A recipe for disaster if ever there was one. Whatever the problem, my feeling is that if you get stuck, you need to go back and examine the reasons why you started in the first place. That place was most likely the strongest position you ever occupied in relation to your writing. Why did you start to write? To make order from chaos? To right wrongs? For catharsis? Or simply to enjoy the creative process? Personally, I've written for as long as I've been able. I wrote little pamphlets about hating my sister and stealing candy from the local shop at...

This week, I was interested to read about brain waves and how they work, and apply what I could glean to writing. Here's the basic info: Beta Waves In our normal waking lives our brain waves pulse quickly, at between 14 to 100 Hz. These are called Beta waves and are good at keeping us awake and attentive enough for our daily tasks - working, playing, eating, socializing and watching TV and movies. Curiously Beta waves aren't that conducive to prolonged study or activities like factory or office work because at the Beta level, the brain is looking for more stimulation. It's as attentive as a butterfly, constantly vigilant for more stimuli and easily bored by monotony. Gamma Waves Gamma waves pulse at a higher rate - from 24 to around 70000 Hz and are normally associated with a 'higher state of consciousness' in that they seem to give us an increased sense of meaning and connectedness to the world around us. Commonly, during times of inspiration and joy, or playing sp...