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A Comparative History of the Literary Draft in Europe
Edited by Olga Beloborodova and Dirk Van Hulle
[Comparative History of Literatures in European Languages XXXV] 2024
► pp. 229–240

1.3.1
Writer’s block

This chapter explores writer’s block by analysing the rewards of the writing process and its causation using a mixture of behaviourism and neuroscience, in an effort to move beyond the idea that writing is about rational intent. In particular, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s theory of flow is used to describe the pleasure available to writers and it is suggested that this in itself explains writing. A short section on the invocation to the Muse suggests that difficulties in composition occur throughout writing history. Through three case studies – John Milton, Ernest Hemingway, and J. R. R. Tolkien – the highly individual experience of writer’s block and its remedies are demonstrated.
Keywords: muse, Milton, Ernest Hemingway, J. R. R. Tolkien, writer’s block, writing process, flow, trauma, manuscript
Article outline
  • The idea of flow
  • The muse
  • John Milton
  • Ernest Hemingway
  • J. R. R. Tolkien
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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References (25)
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