If you are a writer of any sort, you know the dreaded emptiness of staring at a blank page and can't think of what to write. The urge to put something, anything, onto that blank canvas is maddening. But the words just refuse to come out.
It feels like a beaver built a dam in your brain, effectively creating a word block. No matter how you poke and prod, the dam just refuses to break.
There is an expectation that all writers face. We are expected to always be working on the next great thing in our portfolio. But the reality is that we can become burnt out and just need a break.
A break can look like many different things. Sometimes, it can look like just writing to get some sort of thought flowing. Sometimes it can be stepping away and focusing on something different for a while. A break can look like a million things, and each person has their own way of coping with writer's block.
Writer's block does not mean you are a failure as a writer. It means you need some time to reset so you can return to the page and fill it with the thousands of words you couldn't find before. Sometimes we just need to step away and find those words before we can lead them to the page.
We are human. Every once in a while, we need to stop hunting for the right words and instead let them find us. Burning ourselves out on what we love will only turn that love into loathing. Be kind to yourself, take a break, and step away to take a breath. The words will come and they will fill that blank page.