Breaking The Chain of Writer’s Block: Part 2 

By Jacob Krueger

Recognizing The Cycle of Abuse

Click here to read Part 1 of the series

Have you ever felt cut off from your inner artist?

Do you feel like there was once a childlike spirit of creativity inside you, that now no longer wants to come out and play?

Do you find yourself dragging yourself reluctantly to your keyboard… or even worse not dragging yourself there at all?

Do you feel like you’ve lost your creative inner-child?

We say things to our little inner artist that we would never say to any other human being, let alone a child. In fact, in the real world, if anyone saw you treating a child the way you treat your inner artist, they’d be rushing off to call social services. When we abuse the creative child inside us, it starts to behave like most abused children: becoming glum, rebellious, fearful, and depressed. What used to feel like play now feels like being force fed celery and chopped liver. And before long, your inner artist doesn’t want to play with you anymore, no matter how good your intentions for it may be.

Breaking The Cycle of Abuse

This isn’t your fault. Since you were in kindergarten, and the first well meaning adult told you to “think before you speak” or made you feel ashamed for acting on your impulses, you’ve been taught to censor your inner artist. This works great for preparing you for your place on the Henry Ford assembly-line of life. But it’s deadly for writers. And until you become aware of the way this innate self-censorship is affecting you, it’s like having a wall between you and your creative brain.

In my screenwriting classes here in New York and Online, I teach a unique feedback style designed to reframe the way you communicate with your inner artist and with your fellow writers. The result is a unique community that understands what it’s like to be an artist, and can help you nurture your creative child, while still building toward your creative goals.

A Reframing Technique You Can Use Now

If you have trouble breaking the abusive cycle with your inner artist, resist the urge to beat yourself up about it. This will only add to the cycle of self abuse. Instead, focus on becoming aware of your patterns, and seeking out the support you need to help you build a positive relationship with your creativity: a good screenwriting class, a hypnosis session for writer’s block, or our Break Through Writers Block class, to get you back on the right track with your writing.

Check out Breaking The Chain of Writer’s Block, Part 3, in which I share a reframing technique you can use right now to break the cycle of abuse with your inner artist.