There is no singular cause of writer’s block, but for many—especially new writers—the root cause of their writer’s block is fear. 

For many, writing begins as a hobby, and for many, creative writing—especially creative writing of any length—is self-taught. Would-be writers search the internet for videos and blog posts, check out craft books from their library, join writing groups or sign up for classes to learn how to be authors. It can be overwhelming to know where to even start. It’s no wonder that when they sit down to write their story, they freeze. 

Writing forums are full of posts from people who have had an idea for a story in their head for years, but just can’t get it down on paper. Why? Because they’re afraid of that voice inside them saying, “What if I’m not good enough?” 

I would venture to ask, good enough for what? Good enough to be published with the Big 5? Good enough to get on The NY Times Bestseller list? Good enough to get an agent? The first step to taming your writer’s block is to set a realistic expectation for that voice inside your head. And if you’re sitting at your desk, ready to draft, your realistic expectation is simply to write the thing. That’s it. Don’t worry about what comes next. 

Well, duh. But if you could write the thing (read: didn’t have writer’s block) then you would be writing the thing. Right? 

It’s a vicious, self-fulfilling cycle of wondering if you’re good enough to pull this off, being paralyzed by your fear of inadequacy, then finding yourself inadequate because you couldn’t do it. If you’re stuck in this loop, I am going to ask you to give yourself permission to make mistakes. Note, I did not ask you to give yourself permission to “be bad.” That language is far too judgmental to be of any help banishing that doubting voice inside you. But mistakes? Mistakes are great! Mistakes give you opportunities to learn, and when you learn from a mistake, the lessons are more likely to stick, more likely to make you become better at writing.

Besides, writing isn’t brain surgery. No lives are at stake. What is the worst that can happen? 

Well, if you have writer’s block, you’ve probably already got an answer prepared. The worst thing that could happen is you write an entire book, you reach the end, and it doesn’t work. It’s trash. You need to scrap the whole thing and rewrite it from the ground up. 

That would suck. It would suck a lot. But after you’ve had your cry about it and you really look at it, how bad of a mistake is it really? So, you probably spent months on your book. Wasted months, you’d probably be thinking. But is it wasted? If you know how your story won’t work, it puts you one step closer to figuring out how it will work. And sometimes, when it comes to writing, you just don’t know until you try. 

When you give yourself permission to make mistakes, you’re also giving yourself permission to try new things. Even more importantly, you’re giving yourself permission to fail at those new things. It’s giving yourself the opportunity to learn and grow in your writing, to experiment with style or structure or voice, to take your story and ask yourself, “what if…?” This authorial self-discovery can’t be taught in writing classes or books. And yeah, that draft might be cringe. But guess what? No one else has to see that draft, and you might just learn something from it. You could find a seed of an idea, some detail to mine, some melodramatic moment to tone down in edits. 

I will never forget a critique my screenwriting professor gave me my junior year. She said my writing style suited shows made for ABC Family or Disney. Which is fine, but she wanted me to push myself. She wanted me to try to write something edgier. My scenes shied away from the tougher topics, and I didn’t make my characters work for what they really needed. So I did. I wrote a scene that was uncomfortable for my characters and my readers. My professor loved it. And then she told me to cut it because it didn’t move the plot forward. That is basically the worst that can happen. You try it, it doesn’t work. That’s it. 

So I think we should reframe it. What is the best thing that could happen when you give yourself permission to make mistakes in your writing? You push your talents and grow your skills. You find your style. You develop your authentic voice. 

So go write the thing. Go mess it up. It’s the greatest gift you can give yourself as a writer.