Make a list of two of the mental blocks that has been hindering your writing. They might include fear, hesitation, doubt, unwillingness to try new things…whatever the blocks, write a short note acknowledging their existence and your commitment to working on them, one day at a time.

Clarify those blocks. If you named fear as one of your blocks, what specifically do you fear? Are you afraid of showing your writing to people? Are you scared of the manuscript submission process? Does the thought of asking for writing help cause you to break into a sweat? Identifying specific blocks will have a direct impact on those blocks.

Every day for the next 30 days, do something to confront each particular fear, no matter how small the action may seem. (Each mountain road began with a single dynamite blast or shovel scoop and then digging continued on from there. It takes a lot of rock loosening and shoving to clear a path.) For instance, let’s say that you listed fear of asking for writing help as one of your blocks. Every day for the next month, do something with that fear that speaks directly to it. Join a writing community—do it under another name, if you like—and then ask a question, any question. It doesn’t even have to be about writing. Just ask a question. Every day, go back and ask another question. (If you can’t think of a question, just ask a question about one of that day’s postings.) Call the library and ask if they can suggest any good books about writing. Go to Ask The Experts and submit a question about writing. (Heck, there are enough question boxes on the pages of my web site for you to spend the 30 days asking questions, questions, and more questions!) The purpose of this is to confront that fear head on…you’ll soon find that each question will become a little easier to ask. And whenever you ask the question, anticipate receiving a response. Expect your question to be respected, cared about, and help for that question to be given. (Fear of getting a response and fear of the kind of response that you’ll get are companions of the fear of asking for help. Those two little buggers will be dealt with right along with your fear of asking for help.)

Let’s pretend that you listed unwillingness to try new things as your second block. Each day, do something that you haven’t done before. Surf over to a web site that you’ve never been to. Spend some time exploring the site, click on all the links, sign up for a newsletter, sign a guest book…whatever strikes your fancy during your visit. If you haven’t been to the library in while, go and check out a book about writing or a juicy novel that you’ve been meaning to read but hadn’t gotten around to yet. Go to a bookstore and browse around. Go to Dairy Queen and try a new flavor of ice cream. Buy a different brand of coffee. (Try out Irish Crème instead of the usual Hazelnut that you drink in your coffee.) Again, the point is confronting the particular fear and getting used to doing exactly what you fear. Each new thing that you do, no matter how insignificant it seems at the time, will give you the confidence to try yet more things. Before you know it, you’ll have three creamers added to your morning repertoire!

To complete this exercise, keep a 30 day journal and record what you did for each fear and the feelings and reactions that you experienced before, during, and after the implementation of each day’s assignment. Your reflections will make for interesting, and enlightening, reading by the time the 30 days are up.

The world of writing consists of more than just writing. Free up the mind and the fingers will fly…