How to Outsmart Writer’s Block (with Neuroscience)

Welcome back to another special edition of the show with some thoughts on the malady that we rarely care to whisper of ... even on our most prolific days. We’ll kick off the show with the iconic, international bestselling author of 14 novels, including the era-defining Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture – Douglas Coupland – with his thoughts on the subject. "I don't believe in writer's block. Think about it -- when you were blocked in college and had to write a paper, didn't it always manage to fix itself the night before the paper was due? Writer's block is having too much time on your hands." – Jodi Picoult Last year I wrote a piece for Copyblogger titled "How to Outsmart Writer’s Block with Neuroscience" – there are lots of good resources embedded there – and that piece explored a handful of solutions to the accursed ailment. I wanted to revisit it here with some past podcast guests thrown in for humor and context. As you know if you’ve listened to enough of The Writer Files, I dig into the habits, habitats and brains of dozens of renowned and prolific authors, and I ask them roughly the same questions about their unique process as a survey of contemporary writers. We’ve always billed the podcast as a hybrid of "Inside the Writer’s Studio" meets "The Proust Questionnaire," and this makes for a treasure trove of knowledge to pick and choose from for writers. And just a reminder that you can find the entire archive at writerfiles.fm, where you can also support the show by just clicking the little yellow PayPal donation button on any of the episodes. So we’ll kick it off with a little refresher course on the miracle of the human brain. Stay tuned ... This episode of The Writer Files is brought to you by the team at Author Accelerator. Author Accelerator book coaches give writers feedback, accountability, and support while you write, so you can get that your idea out of your head and onto the page. Show Notes: Author Accelerator How to Outsmart Writer’s Block with Neuroscience - Kelton Reid for Copyblogger The Best of ‘The Writer’s Brain’ Part Four: Writer’s Block How to Kill Writer’s Block and Become a Master Copywriter in Only 3 Hours a Day The Physics of Productivity: Newton’s Laws of Getting Stuff Done – James Clear How to Beat Writer’s Block – Maria Konnikova Inside the Race to Hack the Human Brain - WIRED Please click the PayPal Donate button to support The Writer Files with a secure PayPal donation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Om Podcasten

“Learn how acclaimed writers keep the ink flowing, the cursor moving, and avoid writer’s block.” Each week, host Kelton Reid chats with guests like Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah, on life after becoming a laureate; #1 New York Times bestselling author, Emily Henry on her past life as a YA mid-lister; Celebrated author, Walter Mosley, on his conflicted feelings after winning a National Book Award; NY Times bestselling author, Lisa Scottoline, on what she learned from literary lion Philip Roth; #1 NY Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane on what he borrowed from Clint Eastwood; and bestselling author, Matt Haig, on the process behind his novel, The Midnight Library, and serial guest hosts: neuroscientist Michael Grybko, journalist Adam Skolnick, and short story writer Robert Bruce.