Both beginning and experienced writers struggle with writer’s block for many different reasons. It is something that might affect new writers more than experienced ones, but few statistics exist to prove this theory. It might explain why sometimes people never write their first novels despite how passionately they feel about it. Fortunately, writer’s block can be prevented or avoided if an author is on the lookout for the signs.

It is virtually impossible to make a standard definition of writer’s block and few people have ever attempted to do so. That being said, it is possible to categorize various forms of writer’s block. Novelists who experience writer’s block fall into two main groups. There are ‘plotters’ who can’t start writing a novel until they have plotted everything from beginning to end. Other authors are ‘pantsers.’ They write novels off the top of their heads with little to no planning involved. As you would imagine, both these writing methods have their advantages and disadvantages. Luckily, many of the solutions to writer’s block involve learning a thing or two from the opposite camp.

Pantsers: Let’s break down the life of a pantser. One day he gets a fantastic story idea and it stirs a great passion that he has to turn it into a masterpiece. At this point nothing short of a novel will do. The pantser finds some time, gets in front of a keyboard and starts to offload the surging ideas from his mind. He types feverishly through the first chapter and feels that the novel will be an instant bestseller.

His momentum starts to diminish in the second chapter and he becomes unsure about which direction to take. Still he continues to type away until he reaches chapter three and finds out he has no idea where his story is headed. This is a common form of writer’s block and a simple solution is to hold back the urge to start writing and do some planning. Usually, no matter how great the idea, an author has to stop and figure out the rest of the novel. This is because many great ideas are often just good for one epic scene but novels must have many of them.

Plotters: On the other side of the writing world are the plotters. A plotter must plan every scene of his/her novel sometimes to excruciatingly vivid detail. However, the plotter soon gets trapped in the endless sea of over planning. Such people usually find it difficult to create outlines of their novels hence they are unable to start writing. Some authors, especially fantasy writers, spend countless hours designing complex worlds for their novels complete with cultures, histories, and languages. The information they develop is often enough to write several books.

Of course authors have to create great scenes and places in their novels. However, when that process prevents them from beginning the actual writing, then they should know they are suffering from a common form of writer’s block. As you would expect, the remedy for this form of writer’s block is to take a leap of faith that your novel will turn out great and start writing – a great lesson from pantsers.