Look Who it Was Random video

How to overcome writer's block?

174 views · Published 20 November 2014 · 50:00 · Indexed 25 October 2026

Channel: CJ Liu · 2014 · Howto & Style

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One of the hardest part of any new project is getting started and figuring out how to overcome writers block or any other creative block that may come up. CJ gets expert advice from Tina Welling who conducts workshops around the country on creative writing. Learn how to tackle some of the most common problems you'll encounter when writing a song, poem, or a book.
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----------HIGH LEVEL SUMMARY----------------

*How to tap your inspiration and vision for your master piece using a spirit walk through nature? 
During my interview with Tina, she mentions a process for opening up and accepting our inner wisdom which can be key during the creative process.  I really liked the way she describes how she uses these spirit walks.  After writing her book, she said that she sat on her porch reading books or walking through the woods, and that she viewed this as an integral part of the creative process.  Even though she was not at the computer, she was still a writer during these periods.  Her nature walks, which she calls spirit walks, was a way for her to be in the moment and collect the raw materials she would then use in her next book or article.  In the video she describes the process she uses for getting in the juicy creative zone.  

* How to handle writer's block? I’ve often wondered what professional writers, musicians, artists do when they hit this point.  Recently, I talked to author Tina Welling, who has taught the last twenty years at the Jackson Hole Writers Conference. She questions the whole idea of writer’s block and the idea you need a muse to get inspired.  Instead, she believes that writer’s block is a form of self-imposed fear and that we psyche ourselves out by judging our work too early in the creative process.  

* How do you know when to cut something out of your book, keep it, or recycle it (short story)? 
Tina describes this beautifully in our interview.  She says that the rewriting, polishing and pulling things together is when the art comes in.  She feels if it’s a good piece that it still holds energy for her and she will continue to edit it until the energy is no longer there.  Tina describes how she wrote the first draft of “Writing Wild” fifteen years ago and finished writing it twelve years ago. While she’s edited it hundreds of times, it still held the energy for her.  She knew when she was done because she got to the point when she thought “this is my best”.  Another one of her litmus tests was her sense of aliveness and authenticity.  It was her clue that it was time to stop when she lost her sense of aliveness and authenticity,. Personally, I love this idea.

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