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Question on tour: writer’s block and what to do about it? I’m not sure I’m the writer to ask this question of, because I don’t get writer’s block. Look at the number and length of the books I’ve done over the last ten years, do the math, if I ever suffered from writer’s block I could not have kept the schedule up. But then again, people seemed to have different ideas about what the dreaded block was, so I’ll go over some things people called writer’s block. First, out of ideas. Can’t help you there, I’m one of those writer’s that is blessed with ideas. Second, too many ideas can’t decide what to write. This one I can be a little more helpful with. Pick something, anything. Don’t worry if it’s a good idea or the best idea. The worst possible thing you can do is to not write, so write something, write anything. Maybe the idea you chose is actually a good idea and the writing will take off, or maybe the idea won’t fly. But if you don’t run the idea up the flag pole you’ll never know if someone salutes, or not. Try it, one of the wonderful things about being a writer is that you can always rewrite later. It’s not carved in stone. Let that idea fly, see where it takes you. One that most writers don’t talk about much, self-loathing. Just plain I hate myself and anything I could come up with is a stupid idea, and how could I possibly think that anyone would want to read anything I wrote. I can and can’t help with this one. Most of us have moments when we think we can’t do something. Writing, strangely, is an area I’m pretty confident in, but there are others that are not so bright for me. Here’s the secret to conquering that ugly voice in your head. Act, as if. Act as if you’re brave when you’re scared. You’ll still be scared, but you’ll seem brave, and you won’t let the fear stop you. Strangely, if you act braver than you are over and over again, eventually most fears begin to recede, to grow less. Not all, but most. Act as if you’re more positive than you are, and over a number of years you find that you have become more positive. It took about a decade for me to go from being Nellie Negative to Polly Positive, okay I’ll never be Polly Positive, but I’m a heck of a lot more positive than I used to be. Why did I do this change of inner thoughts? I was determined that the depressing negativity I had been raised with would not be passed on to my child. So I vowed to never say anything negative in front of her. Now that didn’t mean she was never told no, I believe in discipline. All these parents that want to be their child’s friend drive me crazy. First be their parent, you’re the only parents they’ll ever have, then be their friend. You cannot be your kids friend first and be an effective parent. Just doesn’t work that way. You have to give your kid room to hate you occasionally and not take it personally. They’ll get over it. But back to being positive. I never criticized myself in front of her. I never criticized her father in front of her. I smiled and put on a happy face on day’s that I was so sad I could barely stand myself. But she didn’t know it. That was the point. She is one of the brightest and happiest kids I know. Not only is the glass half full but it’s a bright shiny happy glass. My glass is still half empty, and isn’t it a dirty, cracked glass. But a strange thing happened in trying to raise my daughter more positively than I was raised, I became more positive. Even Jon has noticed that he’s more positive than when he married me, because I introduced him to the positive rule, and it was nonnegotiable. We’ve both become more positive people. What does this mean for writing? It means, act as if you believe that this idea you’re writing is brilliant. Act as if there wasn’t a voice in your head screaming at you that it will fail. Act as if that teacher or parent or whoever didn’t rip you apart for daring to be a writer. Act as if all the negativity isn’t there, all that stomach clenching fear isn’t there when you sit down at the computer. Act as if, act as if long enough, and it will change. You have the power to change how you feel about yourself inside. You have the power to retrain your thoughts and feelings, so that they are a comfort and not a torment. I know you can do it, because I did it. You don’t have to believe in yourself this moment, this day, just act as if you believe in yourself. Act as if, and get writing. Act as if, and just do it. It’s not a fast fix, but I promise that if you act as if, you’ll look up one day and realize that you really do believe, and you aren’t scared anymore. Maybe it will take weeks, or months, or even years. I don’t know the level of uncertainty in your heart, but the change does happen. Act as if, and gradually you will become that which you acted. One day you’ll look up and realize that you really aren’t afraid to speak in front of large groups. (One of my fears, years ago.) You’ll realize that months of just sitting down at the computer and working even when you were convinced it was crap, even when you knew you were killing trees to no purpose, you actually have a story that works, or makes you smile. You did it, and nothing helps build confidence like facing your fear and conquering it, and not letting it conquer you.