The Write Mind: Getting Started, or How Ice Cream Impacts the Writer’s Soul

When I tell people what I do, I usually get a blank stare—the same one I’m aiming at my computer screen right now as I try to come up with a topic for my inaugural column.
Life coach for writers? Sounds great. What is it?

Like ice cream, or writing a novel, it’s a tough thing to explain, and adjectives don’t do it justice. Cold and creamy? Ambitious and long? Firsthand experience is the best explanation, but I can’t deliver that in 350-500 words, and my brain’s going cold. So now I’m at the freezer, wolfing down Haagen-Dazs.

Writers. We come in every shape and size, with a wide range of quirks and neuroses, with bad habits and good, in every imaginable flavor. But despite our variety, we face the same obstacles, and the greatest among them is usually ourselves.

Take me. I’m a pint down and colder than ever. Every writer I know has agonized over the blank screen, the new chapter, the looming deadline. What freezes us in these moments—perfectionism, guilt, fear of rejection—varies depending on who we are, but we can all learn techniques for breaking the ice. Here are eight:

1. Take a break. Too simple? Maybe, but it often does the trick. Don’t stay away for more than a few minutes before getting back to work.

2. Switch modes. Writing isn’t always about the text itself. Try revision, or talking it out, or writing about what you’re about to write. Then see what happens.

3. Toss things up. Go to a coffee shop, write in bed, ditch the laptop for paper and pen.
A break in routine can unfreeze the mind.

4. Breathe. Your brain needs oxygen to function, but breathing often takes a back seat to cherry vanilla. Five deep breaths can change everything.

5. Get busy. If your mind’s blank, don’t just sit there. Try clustering, list making, brainstorming, or a creative writing exercise to loosen up.

6. Write crap. Everybody does. Think of it as fertilizer, and give yourself kudos for shoveling it. Without it, the good stuff can’t grow.

7. Have fun. Start with an idea, chapter or character that excites you. Other ideas will snowball as you go, and then you can circle back.

8. Acknowledge yourself. Take credit every time you put energy toward writing, even if you’re just daydreaming. Every thought matters, and facing the blank screen is far less daunting when you embrace it as part of the process.

Today, number seven did it for me: fun with ice cream. And you want to know what’s really great? These techniques are as useful in life as they are in writing. Try them next time you’re stuck at the freezer, and see what happens.

To get started and get where we’re going, we writers need skills to manage ourselves. That’s what The Write Mind is all about. And it’s no empty pint.

Have a question for Doug? Click here to submit it to THE WRITE MIND.

Doug Kurtz is a published novelist, certified life coach and the owner of Write Life Coaching (www.writelifecoaching.com). He earned his MA in creative writing at the University of Colorado, where he also taught fiction writing. He currently lives in Boulder, where he’s busy coaching other writers and working on his next novel.