There’s no denying how many authors both unknown and established alike suffer from writer’s block during their literary careers. The enigma can be a devastating one, generally exhibiting its bothersome, debilitating symptoms during a crucial period such as a deadline for an article or during a manuscript publication timeline. Writer’s block stifles critical creativity for authors much like the groin injury does to the star quarterback facing the Super Bowl and unable to play. To make matters worse, writers rarely admit to suffering from the condition, making the devastation of facing a blank page without an idea or clue to which word to strum across the page first, a lonely and humiliating experience.

          Several texts exist containing exercises to awaken the creative mind through releasing the barriers presenting the illusion of restraint. Steering the Craft by Ursula K. Le Guin contains many examples of these type brainstorm exercises. Le Guin’s exercises proved to be productive and stimulating during the workshop from which many of them were taken. Exercises geared toward breaking psychoanalytic barriers, theoretical issues hidden within the subconscious, stimulate the creative mind through instructional methods designed to fool the brain into writing without a conscious realization that the writer’s block has lifted. So imagine the pleasure I felt when my custom designed psychoanalytical stimulation exercise called “Releasing the Silent Butterfly” worked wonders with the writing students I tutor.

           Part 1: Recall a special place from your childhood. Describe this memory in no less than 100 words. Be free. Be creative. Most of all, be quick. You have to complete this journey back in time within five minutes. Don’t worry about punctuation, grammatical usage, the dreaded adverb, or any no-no’s typically found on the Elements of Style’s ‘do not do’ list.

            Part 2: Now, revisit this same place as the person you are today. Same rules apply. What’s different? How has your special place changed? Is it gone? Was it imaginary? Don’t worry about being perfect, just write. Allow your silent butterfly to soar high enough to be visible.

            ‘Release the Silent Butterfly’ culminates into a two part exercise resonating within the vein of Le Guin’s exercises, but with a twist of originality. That being said, the exercise focuses on uninhibited inspiration, creative flow minus the formal confinement of grammatical worries. An illusion to trick the student’s mind into forgetting he or she is completing a writing exercise, while providing pertinent time restraints. The focus on the differences in perception between the ‘child’ and ‘adult’ versions of a shared memory assists in defeating writer’s block through familiar association. The above modified version works for all authorial levels and age groups and can be completed anytime or anyplace. University level students who tried this exercise also said they found inspiration to try everything from autobiographical pieces to poetry based on the spontaneous results generated after completion. Try this exercise to combat the writer’s block fiend and release the beautiful story restrained inside.