Barnes n Noble’s Meet the Writers is one of my favorite sources for discovering authors and getting to know more about the authors and books that I already love.

Not too long ago, the world became very well acquainted with Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love. We fell in love with her candor, her humor, her humanness, her uncertainty, her journey. In 2009, Elizabeth finally completed a second book (at the time not yet published) when Meet the Writers’ Steve Bertrand interviewed her, and the topics that were discussed invoked questions each of us should ask ourselves as writers.

Here are some target questions that formed in my mind as I watched the video interview — questions we all do or should, as writers, ask ourselves. The discussion also brought to mind some helpful info, tips and advice from my own personal experience and observations. What’s your take? Let me know in the comments below.

Writers Block: Where is it coming from? Why is it happening? How long will it last? Am I all washed up as a writer?

It took Gilbert a year or so after writing Eat Pray Love to be able to get back into writing anything else. She had writers block that stemmed, in part, from having written something that was so well received and which had taken so much out of her. She questioned whether or not this meant that she was finished. Writers block for someone who has chosen writing as a profession is a very serious worry as many of us know from experience. It isn’t something that can be taken for granted.

Writers block can be, and can seem to be, quite prolonged. To ignore our writers block issues, we tend to blame life. We build excuses which could be turned into volumes themselves. Rest assured the writing will return, usually when we have given up or have relaxed a bit.

It may feel kind of like when you lose something, you can’t find it so you go out and buy another one (in this case new experiences, connections, and inspirations), only to come back and find what you lost and replaced. Now you have two of the same thing. You may find that you’re writing double time now and have more ideas than you know what to do with. Be sure to scribble notes!

It could also feel more like when you can’t get a jar open so you ask for help, and the second your help gets to you, you’ve found that you were finally able to open the jar.

Note that much of what we call writers block can have to do with lack of inspiration, or searching too hard for that perfect inspiration. This experience also has much to do with one’s “psychological state of self” (which will be talked about more below).

We may not know the exact reasons for our writers block. We may not know what we can do to get out of our funk. There is probably a very good reason for what we’re going through, however; one that may be self made, telling us to look within ourselves for the answer, or perhaps this thing we’re going through is just the way it is and instead of trying to write we should be looking outside of our windows.

Some solid advice, live your life. Take a vacation from your writers block. Engage yourself with something that makes you happy and which offers the feeling of accomplishment in small but meaningful ways. One day you’ll find that you’ve come back with a different view, and perhaps even a stronger voice.

As with most situations, there are many sides to look at. So here are some more pieces to the puzzle that are helpful to look at in conjunction to, or as a continuance of, the above writers block theories.

The connection between a writer’s psychological state of self, voice, and inspiration

Each day, writers hope to write what would be, at the very least, that one hit wonder. One of the things that happens, however, is that we get sucked into a long drawn out process. We get on a roll, get stuck, decide to go another way, and often before we’ve finished, we find that our personal psychological state has changed. Therefore our voice has changed and we find that there are inconsistencies in our stories. If we don’t find these faults, rest assured others will. These others that I speak of could be anyone from a friend you’ve asked to give your story a read, or an editor that won’t publish until your voice is consistent throughout. In the latter case, lets hope there is enough in your book to begin with to make them consider allowing you to fix this issue.

Part of writers block comes from that change of psychological state of self. It could be, that for whatever reason, we are in the process of changing, whether it be that we are growing, learning, becoming more aware of something, losing touch with something, seeing something differently… The list here of reasons could go on and on. Each writer is unique and therefore each of us can put together a different compilation of reasons that could apply to us individually . Just as we must be able to “read” our characters, we must also be able to “read” ourselves.

Due to any of those reasons, a writer will find it more than likely that his or her inspiration has simultaneously changed. It could be that our inspiration is the same inspiration looked at differently, or it could be a completely different inspiration altogether.

While Elizabeth Gilbert was lucky enough to catch her inspiration and voice within a set frame (and I suspect her fluidity in Eat Pray Love came from having done her research fully before actually sitting down to write Eat Pray Love in its final form), most of us tend to write before we have fully researched, and therefore we tend to change midway through our writing; this could happen once or quite a few times throughout the course of writing a particular piece. When this change happens, a writers needs to reevaluate both themselves and the piece they are working on, or their writing in general. This could be tedious and daunting. But if your story is worth it, if your message needs to get through, it has to be done. The question is, do you do it sooner or later? (Certainly not while you have writers block- although come to think of it, that just might be the very right time. You may be able to see things with a more detached and critical eye than you would when in creative mode.)

One thing is certain, each writer must find his or her voice as it is in that moment; the voice that is, not necessarily the voice that is expected. It may be a new voice, or a form of the old. Whatever that voice is, it will be a representation of the psychological state of self and the inspiration that formed it. Obtaining ones pure voice is one reason why some writers tend to steer away from reading books by others while they are working on a book of their own, as another writer’s voice could be overpowering and easy to move into.

On the one hand, we may find ourselves suffering from writers block because we are not prepared to deal with switching gears, or perhaps we simply need time to let our psychological self adjust itself. We may simply need to do more research, take more notes, do those things that are part of writing though not the actual act of writing.

It could be that we need to give ourselves more time, smell the roses, play with our friends, and just let it happen without thinking about it until we’re done. In focusing on where you are as a person, your inspiration will come, and your writer’s block will vanish… until it’s time to change again.

If you have any tips, advice, or experiences you’d like to share with other writers, we’d love to hear from you. E-mail us your idea(s) to become a guest post writer - your bio and appropriate personal links will be included. Short stories also accepted. For more information please contact Frieda Babbley at eyeonlifemag@gmail.com.

Writers Represented: Elizabeth Gilbert, Focus on Writer's Block