For a writer, feeling that he or she can't write is very upsetting, and that's true whether the reason is a case of writer's block or just a lack of time. So what should you do?
Write.
Wait, I'm not being flippant. An article in the (Texas) Midland Reporter-Telegram cites psychology professor James Pennebaker: "He says the task of writing about traumatic experiences or even life stressors forces people to organize their thoughts and has shown in studies conducted since the late 1970s to improve overall health and allow people to connect better socially, among other things."
The article goes on: "When writing, he said, it's important to write for the full 15 minutes without worrying about grammar, spelling or other fundamentals. It's not the same as journaling, according to his research summaries, in that it doesn't ask people to dwell on the topic and doesn't require them to keep the thoughts or to ever look at them again."
Many such studies are done with college students, but Pennebaker did one with engineers who had lost their jobs after 20 or 30 years with the same company. According to the article, "Half the group wrote about time management and half about their feelings in relation to being fired. Both groups sent out an equal number of resumes and went on an equal number of interviews, he said, but the group who had written about losing their job found new jobs much faster."
So if you're stressing out, pick up the pen--even if the reason you're stressing out is that you are having trouble picking up the pen.
(There's a lot more useful information about overcoming the fear of writing and writer's block, as well as how to get your family and friends to be more supportive of your writing, in my book, YOUR WRITING COACH, published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other online and retail outlets now.)
