Key Facts:
- Your Writer’s Block Is Bullsh*t: Stop Fighting It, Start Writing It is a new book by Australian clinical psychologist Dr Vincent Fogliati and professional ghostwriter Roger Joyce, releasing this month.
- The book applies the ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) Matrix model to the creative process, making it the first of its kind to do so.
- Rather than encouraging writers to overcome fear and self-doubt, the authors argue that creative confidence does not need to come first – the goal is to work alongside these feelings and write anyway.
- Grounded in evidence-based psychological principles, the book offers practical strategies for breaking cycles of avoidance, perfectionism, and creative inertia.
- The authors openly admit they themselves avoided writing the book, reinforcing their core message that fear arises when something matters – and that the solution is to stop letting fear make your decisions.
The first book of its kind to apply the skills and practices of the ACT Matrix model to the creative process – turning psychological flexibility into practical creative action.
It’s an uncomfortable paradox familiar to any writer: nothing is easier than not writing. The creative process exposes all the messy, lurking demons of our inner landscape – so avoiding the writing desk becomes not just an act of procrastination, but one of self-preservation.
As the founder of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy states so simply: “You hurt where you care, and care where you hurt.”
Australian clinical psychologist Dr Vincent Fogliati and professional ghost writer Roger Joyce suggest that creative success isn’t achieved by winning the fight against our inner demons – but by letting go of the need to conquer them at all.
In their new book releasing this month, Your Writer’s Block Is Bullsh*t: Stop Fighting It, Start Writing It, the authors argue that creative confidence doesn’t have to come first. Fear, self-doubt and discomfort can all be present; the goal is to work alongside them and start writing anyway.
Grounded in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a psychotherapeutic approach with demonstrated effectiveness in reducing avoidance and improving performance and motivation, the authors take readers on a journey from paralysis to creative flow, beginning with a confession that every writer will recognise: they avoided writing this book themselves.
“We didn’t write this book because we conquered fear,” says Fogliati, a psychologist and researcher who has worked closely with many writers, artists and academics navigating perfectionism and fear of failure. “We wrote it because fear shows up when something matters. The goal isn’t to make fear disappear. It’s to stop letting fear make your decisions.”
It is a compassionate, evidence-backed manual for anyone who strives to move forward, but find themselves stuck in cycles of avoidance, perfectionism, or fear of failure. Applying psychological principles to the messy creative process, this book offers proven strategies for shifting from creative inertia and into a productive mindset, while navigating the inner challenges and emotional barriers that truly hold us back.
Insightful, honest, and often funny, Your Writer’s Block Is Bullsh*t is the essential guide for anyone trying to do meaningful work while wrestling with internal resistance.
You don’t have to wait until you feel ready. You just have to start.
