The Meeting

“Good morning everyone and welcome to our first meeting. Now we are all here because at one time or another we have struggled with one of the toughest ailments known to writers. Writer’s block. As a writer myself there have been many times I sat staring at a blank page with nothing coming to me. Other times I have had countless ideas that I ended up hating or not being able to make work in the long run. This is a safe space for us to talk and discuss some of the things that inhibit us from our passion. It is an opportunity to share your stories and hopefully find support in one another to get through it. I welcome you all, who would like to go first?”

A woman raised her hand. She was dressed in all sorts of different colors and patterns. Her hair was dark with bright blue streaks through it. She wore a full face of makeup and her eye shadow was done to look like a rainbow. We all watched her intently as she spoke, “Hello, my name is Creativity, and I struggle with writer’s block.”

“Hi, Creativity.” We all said in unison.

“It’s hard, you know? Some days I have all these ideas that could go so far or become something so great. Other days I can’t think of anything. I write all these stories in my head verbally and forget to write them down on paper. I end up losing my train of thought and all the ideas that were on board as well. Wait, that’s a great idea. Quick, get me a piece of paper before I forget. Never mind, I already forgot.” She sighed deeply. “I mean look at me! I have my own sense of style, my hair is always changing, I create art on my face. Yet I struggle with coming up with ideas? It just doesn’t make any sense.”

“Thank you for sharing with us Creativity. Does anyone have any advice for her or anything they would like to share? Maybe she sparked some ideas with you?”

The person across from her began speaking. He was dressed in a suit and tie with his hair neatly gelled. In his hand, he held a clicker, almost like he was meant to be on stage as a public speaker. He stood up when he spoke, occasionally pressing the clicker as if to change the slide of a slideshow. “Hello, my name is Inspiration, and I struggle with writer’s block.”

“Hi, Inspiration.”

“Thank you all for the warm welcome, it is lovely to be here finding support in my fellow writers. As Creativity mentioned about her ideas, I too struggle. Ideas come to me, but I lack finding motive that inspires me to write the idea. Some days I’m at the supermarket and an item or a person I see sparks an idea and I’m inspired. I could write a whole novel about that one thing. Other days I could tear through my entire home looking for that one object, or watching out the window to find that one person. I’ll put hours into looking for ideas of what inspires me. It evades me sometimes for days and at its worst weeks. That doesn’t mean that I give up though, ideas still come to me it’s more about which ones I can make work. Creativity, have you considered keeping a notebook with you to jot your ideas down when they come to you?” He sat down as if to let us know his speech was over.

She thought about it for a moment. “That’s actually a really great idea Inspiration!”

“Thank you Inspiration for sharing and for your helpful advice. Again, we are here to give each other support so we can get through this. Drive? You’ve been awfully quiet today. Would you like to share anything?”

A woman with her hair in a messy bun and what looked like pajamas on sat quietly looking from person to person. She chuckled. “Hi. My name is Drive, and I struggle with writer’s block.”

“Hi, Drive.”

“Yeah, hi. You know it does amaze me Creativity that you could be lacking in ideas when you’re dressed like a clown from a circus. Inspiration, you must’ve received an A in public speaking. I get struggling with ideas or finding things that could inspire those ideas, but it’s worse than that for me. See, I could find things that inspire an idea for me but none of that matters when I am lacking the ambition to do what I love. You all talk like all writing comes down to is having an idea and writing it down, but it is so much more than that. It’s about having the drive to take that inspiration and create an idea that is interesting and could be turned into something great. All of my stuff tends to turn into dead ends or unfinished projects because I lose interest. What do you do when you don’t know where to go next with what you’re writing?”

They all sat silently staring at her. Her sudden burst of emotion made the air in the room feel heavy. For a moment nobody spoke.

“Thank you, Drive, for sharing with us and giving us all something to think about. My name is Author, and I too struggle with writer’s block.”

“Hi, Author.”

She smiled and looked at each individual sitting in the room. “We have made good progress today. The first step towards getting back into our groove as writers are to understand what is keeping us from our craft. In my case, it is all of you." They all looked at her in shock and confusion.

"How are we keeping you from your writing?" Creativity asked.

"Well, Creativity, if you could gather yourself and your thoughts in a more organized manner as an author I would have endless material to work with. Inspiration, if you worked more closely with Creativity I would always be creating new works." Inspiration and Creativity looked at each other and then down at their hands, Drive chuckled as she watched them.

"Don't think you're out of this one Drive. One day you get yourself put together and the next you look like this. Your job is to keep me going to help keep me focused, and if I lose you that's it. So, I need all of you to get it together because as the Author I have a deadline on this piece and I cannot be struggling any further. That concludes our meeting." Author grabbed her bag and made her way towards her desk. She opened her computer and began typing as the rest still sat behind her. "Get your stuff together guys." She said after a moment of silence and they all returned to their work.