New Musings on the Block

I noticed recently that I've got 3,000 reads! Whoever you are, thank you.

I wanted to mark this milestone somehow, but wasn't sure how. Then I read Lilly Cooper's Top Story about writer's block. (If you haven't read it yet, go and have a look - it's insightful!)

I have just had a nasty bout of Writer's Block - and I mean really nasty, every time I tried to push myself up off the mat, it pummelled me back down again. This seems like the perfect topic. Maybe, on some level, I'm hoping that by marking a small success, I'll ward off a repeat.

I already knew, before I read Lilly's piece, that some people think writer's block doesn't exist. I've even caught myself thinking along those lines. Beating myself up with them. Flagellating myself with another tail o' the cat.

"I'm just being lazy" - that one stings.

"I'm just procrastinating" - that one gets under my skin.

"I'm just not very good" - ouch!

"Maybe I'm not a writer at all" - that one cuts deep.

Lilly calls it a "scourge" - and isn't that the perfect imagery?

Not a Block

My prevailing theory is that, often, it isn't a "block" at all. That is not to say it doesn't exist. Only that it's all too easy to think there's a block when the words don't flow. When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail, right?

To my mind, it's part of the rhythm of writing. The opportunity to read, people watch, absorb, percolate. The inhale before the exhale. Some people panic, and think there is something "wrong" because they are trying to harvest in the planting season.

OK - that works for a little, but what about when that lull is dragging on and still nothing is coming?

Most people are literate. Any of them can hit the keyboard - but what sets you or I apart as "writers" compared to any other sucker with a pen? I've said before - I think it's because we don't just write while the words are flowing, when it's easy... we also do it when it's hard. Doesn't this mean that the "block" is part and parcel of being a writer, then? To put it another way - how can you "write when it's hard" if it's never bloody hard?

Surely we've all had those days - or even weeks, or... no I won't even say it. We've all had times when the large number of words deleted subtracted from the meagre number of them written leaves you in a vanishing pit of minus figures. It's depressing. It's frustrating.

More Self-Flagellation

I've seen a number of posts recently about Guilt. The guilt people feel when they aren't writing as much as they "should", or if they aren't spending "enough" time on Vocal. They aren't engaging with others as much as they feel those people deserve. Finding balance is an art all it's own. It's an area I often -possibly ironically -fall down in. An exercise in self-forgiveness.

I think the two are linked - not being part of (and present in) a writing community, and not being able to write. It's a chicken and egg, isn't it? Are you absent from the community because you aren't writing? Or are you not writing because you are absent? For me, this throws into sharp relief the value of places like Vocal.

Cures

1. Suffer

This is my first, worst and best advice! Creativity is often a response to pain. I get insanely creative when stuffed up with a nasty cold, for instance. It doesn't have to be a physical ailment. How many songs are written about unrequited love? There is a reason for that. What have you got that you can use?

It doesn't even have to be yours - although inward is where many of us go, in an effort to "write what we know". Grief, social injustices, pet peeves - embrace some of the negative. Social media can be a bit of a bugger for toxic positivity. Could this be lending to an uptick in writer's block? During an age when people are more literate and writing more than ever... Now, wouldn't that be funny?

Be mindful of your mental wellbeing, of course. If you don't wield your pain-tbrush mindfully, Stuff can leak out of your pen anyway and catch you unawares. This happened to me recently with Run Run As Fast As You Can. That piece ended up much sadder than I expected - I thought I was going to write a horror, or a comedy-horror and it went another route entirely.

2. Let your creativity lead

Lilly suggests not trying to make your piece fit precisely the vision you started with, but instead let it take shape. I love this. It's a brilliant tip. Give your characters their head. Let it go in an unexpected direction if it needs to.

Can we apply the same when faced with a block? If nothing is coming, write something else. If this story is stuck, work on that one. Or write a poem instead. What do you fancy? I find this works a good portion of the time for me. Which leads me to....

3. Notice that you are already writing

You probably write something every day. Letters, blog posts, rants on social media. There is a little thread hanging off at least one of them, like off a favourite sweater. Pull it. See where it goes.

4. Lean on your community

If you don't have one, find one! Be present. Read. Engage. Let the Brownian motion of creativity bounce you around in the crucible. Pan for a catalyst, and when the chain reaction begins, seize on it.

5. Spontaneity

Stay open and awake to inspiration. Then, if at all possible, when an idea does strike, strike back. While the iron is good and hot. Don't table it. Don't wait. Don't put a pin in it, unless to skewer it to a page.

6. Just write.

Even if it hurts. Even if it's shit. Even if you don't show it to anyone. Especially if you don't have time and most especially if you think you can't. Something. Anything.

Worthwhile note

None of these remedies work all of the time. Lilly reminds us that, just as different things make us happy, or bored, different things could nudge us into a less creative state.

Equally - there are many different things that inspire me, bore me, or bring me joy. Why shouldn't the resolution depend on the individual?

It follows that for each of us, there will be several different things that precipitate a block as well - and surely the remedy will be different depending on the cause. Do we even know the cause, or does it blindside us? And if that is the case, should we even be surprised that we flounder and can't pull ourselves out?

Know your enemy, then. But not one half so well as you know yourself.

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My questions to you -

1. Do you experience writer's block?

2. Do you wait for it to pass, or you do actively tackle it? (and how?) Neither is wrong by the way, I'm just nosy.

3. Do you notice early signs of it - what are they?

4. Have you been able to pinpoint a cause?

5. How long does it last? What was your longest spell of it (if you don't mind saying) - and how long is "too long" for you?

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Thank you for reading! I appreciate your honest and thoughtful engagement, and I do my level best to reciprocate. If you enjoyed this mothersucker, the very best compliment you can give me is to pop your eyeballs on another one.