This Vanity Fair Article Made Me Think Differently About Writer’s Block

One of my guilty pleasures is the glossies – Tatler, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and, importantly for today, Vanity Fair. When I visited New Zealand recently I bagged an October 2024 issue (they tend to be a few issues behind Down Under) featuring an interview with architect Elizabeth Roberts. The opening line of this interview instantly caught my attention.

“When architect Elizabeth Roberts has a creative block, it's usually just a sign she hasn't collected enough information yet.”

~ Keziah Weir, Vanity Fair, October 2024

What does this mean? Reading on, we find out “…this might mean the neighborhood's history, or how the rising sun hits a building.” Roberts uses the world around her to better understand the space she’s working with.

Weir shares a story of when Roberts was invited to submit a design proposal for an empty plot in the Catskills. Too many possibilities can be overwhelming. As any creative will tell you, the blank canvas or page is the most exciting but intimidating space in the world.

While exploring her blank Catskills canvas, Roberts noticed the stone walls of past farmer’s cottages. This helped her to realise where the best place to build was.

"After hundreds of years, and understanding the grade and the light and the views, these farmers nailed it."

~ Elizabeth Roberts, Vanity Fair, October 2024

How does this apply to other forms of creative block, especially writing?

Usually, we think of writer’s block as having a lack of ideas. What it might really mean is we don’t have the right information, or enough of it, to decide what to write next. Luckily, this Vanity Fair article gives several suggestions on how we might achieve this.

First; background knowledge. Have you done enough research into your work’s setting or time period? Is there something you’re missing that will answer the question that’s stalling your progress?

I’m currently using this solution for a novella I’m editing. I’m unable to decide whether to make the setting post-apocalyptic, or to make it historical. This will affect how I describe the setting and the backstory, so it’s an important decision to make. I’ve decided I need to do more research to decide what setting would best compliment the story.

Something that struck me when reading about Robert’s work is how she considers light. No one likes sitting in a dark house, so knowing where to build to get the best amount of sunlight is an important skill for an architect.

For a writer, it’s important to know how to write to achieve a desired effect on your reader. If you’re writing horror, you want them to be scared. If it’s comedy, you need them to laugh, etcetera. If you’re stuck on a chapter, scene, or sentence, ask yourself what would best add to the effect you want on readers.

Knowing when and where to be influenced by past writers is also a useful block-buster. Just as Roberts is influenced by neighbourhood history and long-gone farmers, you need to be reading up on the best in your genre. Find out what they did well. Decide how you’ll put your own twist on it.

Hopefully these tips will get you out of your own creative rut.