You know that feeling when you sit down to write, stare at the blinking cursor, and suddenly, reorganizing your entire bookshelf feels urgent? Yeah. That’s The Block doing its sneaky little dance.
In my post, Writer's Block #1: The Real Reason You've Got The Block, we dug into the science behind writer’s block—how fear, perfectionism, and cognitive overload literally shut down your brain’s creative processes. But knowing why it happens is only part of the battle. The next trick is spotting it before it hijacks your writing time.
Here’s the kicker: writer’s block doesn’t always look like a blank page and an existential crisis. Sometimes, it masquerades as “productive” work, convincing you that you’re making progress when you’re actually avoiding the real work: writing.
Let’s break down real-life examples of how The Block manipulates your brain.
1. Procrastination Disguised as “Research”
You tell yourself you must understand the NHL Rulebook before you can write your next chapter. Or that your heroine’s ball gown needs to be historically perfect before you move forward. I mean, political events influenced the split in French and English women's fashion during the blockade of the Napoleonic wars, amiright?
This is analysis paralysis, a phenomenon in cognitive psychology where an overabundance of choices or information overwhelms the brain, making decision-making (or writing) nearly impossible. Your prefrontal cortex, responsible for executive functioning, gets stuck in a loop of weighing options instead of taking action.
The Science: Research triggers the dopaminergic reward system—the same system that makes social media addictive. Your brain treats every new piece of information as a small win, keeping you in a research spiral while avoiding the more complex, less immediately rewarding task: writing.
The Red Flag: If you’ve spent more time Googling or on ChatGPT than writing today, your brain might be prioritizing dopamine over progress.
The Fix: Set a time limit for research (e.g., 10 minutes) and write with placeholders like “[fancy gown here].” You can refine details after the words exist.
2. Constantly Switching Projects
New ideas? Thrilling. Finishing a book? Terrifying.
This is novelty-seeking behavior (pun intended), is driven by dopamine, the neurotransmitter that makes new and exciting things feel rewarding. When you start a fresh project, your brain gets a rush, but that excitement fades when writing becomes work. Instead of pushing through discomfort, your brain chases another dopamine hit by jumping to something new.
The Science: Psychologists call this variable reward conditioning, the same mechanism that makes gambling addictive. Your brain craves unpredictability, so it abandons the predictable (your current project) for the shiny new thing.
The Red flag: If you’ve declared multiple projects as “the one” in the last few months—and each time, you swore this was the story you’d finally finish—you’re probably chasing the dopamine high of something new rather than making real progress. *Raises hand* Not unlike the times when I began hot yoga, which led to kick boxing, which led to HIIT training, which led to sailing, then non-profit volunteering, followed by sewing, then embroidery, and finally loose-leaf tea collecting—no comment on that sedentary decline.
The Fix: Use implementation intentions—a psychological technique where you set a rule: “I can start a new project after I finish this draft.” Jot down new scene ideas, outlines, or character names in a notebook, but stay committed to your current work.
3. The Never-Ending Edit Loop
You write a paragraph. Hate it. Edit it. Tweak it. Reword it. Delete it. Rewrite it. Realize it was better the first time. Undo. Redo. Suddenly, an hour has passed, and you have negative words to show for it.
This is perfectionism-driven cognitive distortion—your brain convinces you that if something isn’t immediately perfect, it’s worthless. The anterior cingulate cortex, responsible for error detection, goes into overdrive, making every word feel wrong even when it’s perfectly fine.
The Science: Perfectionism is linked to overactive error monitoring, where your brain gets stuck in a cycle of self-correction instead of creative flow. This is why first drafts feel impossible—your brain sees every imperfection as a problem to fix now instead of later.
Red flag: If you’re spending more time tweaking than drafting, you’re stalling. *Looks in mirror while writing this blog.*
The Fix: Try timed writing sprints with a “no editing” rule. Write forward for 25 minutes, then move on. Your editor brain and writer brain are separate—give them different jobs.
4. “I Just Need to Get in the Right Headspace” Syndrome
You tell yourself you need to be in the perfect mood to write. That once your cold brew is in hand, you've gotten on your leggings, the lighting is bright enough to read but dim enough to provide ambiance, and you’ve completed your ritual of scrolling TikTok for “inspiration,” the words will flow.
This is state-dependent learning, a cognitive bias where we believe we can only perform well under specific conditions. The problem? Those conditions are often arbitrary and inconsistent, meaning you’re setting yourself up for failure.
The Science: Studies show that habit formation relies on consistency, not mood. If you only write when you feel like it, your brain associates writing with emotional readiness rather than discipline—making it harder to build a sustainable routine.
Red flag: If you’re waiting for the time you have your desk cleared, phone on silent, and a freshly brewed cuppa at your favorite writing chair, with your headphones playing the right Spotify station . . . all before writing, you’re using “preparation” as an excuse.
The Fix: Create a minimum viable habit—commit to just five minutes of writing, even if you don’t feel like it. Momentum follows action.
5. Suddenly, Everything Else Feels More Important
Dishes. Laundry. That one junk drawer you haven’t touched in five years. Your brain suddenly insists everything is more urgent than writing.
This is task displacement, a psychological phenomenon where your brain substitutes high-effort tasks with lower-effort, low-stakes ones. Your amygdala, the brain’s fear center, senses discomfort (writing is hard!) and redirects you to “easier” tasks to avoid cognitive strain.
The Science: The brain is wired to seek efficiency and avoid stress. Writing is cognitively demanding, so it tricks you into doing “productive” things that feel useful—but don’t actually move your book forward.
Red flag: If you're at your writing hour but suddenly have to clean out the coat closet, you’re avoiding the hard part.
What to do instead: Use the Pomodoro Technique—set a timer for 25 minutes, commit to writing, and only then move on to other tasks. My husband and I call this our "Tomato Time".
Spot It, Name It, Outsmart It
Writer’s block is a mental trickster, hijacking your brain’s reward system, fear response, and cognitive biases to keep you stuck. But when you start recognizing its patterns, you take away its power.
The next time you find yourself spiraling into research, tweaking the same paragraph for the eleventh time, or deep-cleaning your entire house instead of writing—pause. Name it for what it is. And then? Write anyway.
Because done is better than perfect. And finishing your book? That’s the ultimate win.
Until next time, stay sassy, keep writing, and know you've got this!