How can you write well when worry is overwhelming you?

How do you keep writing when it feels too hard?

Sometimes it feels impossible, doesn't it? You try to concentrate but you can’t. You used to have ideas but now you just feel empty. The pandemic, the sickness, the tiredness, the ‘when will it bloody end?’ - there are huge obstacles in the way of focus for all of us.

Stress makes it very hard to write.

My puppy is ill and I’ve found it almost impossible to do anything creative for the past few days.

Too much of my brain is taken up with worry, so there’s no space for making connections. Worry is exhausting and all consuming.

A relaxed mind can write

When you’re relaxed it’s much easier to get into a creative mindset. That joyful, fizzy leaping from idea to idea, joining dots, diving into memory, adding sensory details, making it vivid, pulling metaphors out of a hat like a crazy word magician? It’s just not there.

Under normal circumstances there’s a creative well somewhere in my brain. It might take a while to access it sometimes, but it’s always there for me to dip into. I know that if I make the time and space for it, and start writing anything at all, or doodling, or go for a walk, or a run, then I’ll be able to reach down and feel it and the words will flow.

Worry stops creativity in its tracks

Worry is like pouring concrete all over that creative source. It slows it completely. My creativity has ground to a complete halt. I can’t dive deep, I can’t think laterally, I can’t turn a memory into a story, because the doors in my mind won’t open. The fear is receding a little, but the doors are still stuck shut. Warped by the toxic bloated worry flood.

I try to write something, anything, and nothing happens. I put the bucket down into the well, there’s a sickening ‘thunk’ at the bottom, and it comes up empty. I don’t believe in writers’ block, but I am starting to believe in worriers’ block.

A brain in flight or flight mode can’t do deep work. So what to do?

What can you do when worry is overwhelming you?

Accept that sometimes you can’t write. You’re human, and sometimes you need a break. Don’t force it. Trying to write when you’re really stressed or anxious can be counterproductive. You’ll start worrying about not being able to write on top of whatever else you’re worrying about. And both those worries will pass.

When the worry recedes - and it will - try again.

Do all the gentle writing feel-good things first.

Go for a walk. Notice your surroundings - what's on the horizon and what's right up close?

Doodle a bit, play some music.

Focus on your senses - what can you see, hear, smell, taste and touch?

If you feel up to it, try a bite-sized 10 minutes of focused writing time and see what you come up with. Don't judge your writing, just be glad that you have written.

Be kind to yourself, and the words will come back.