A blank page, guaranteed to stop inspiration in its tracks, sits accusingly before me.
‘So, you imagine you’re a writer? What’s stopping you?’ it sneers.
Good question. The freedom of choice as to subject matter and style are completely in my hands. No restriction, no rules, other than those I set for myself. So why the tongue tied, word blindness that screams at me to leave the pristine white page unsullied by typeface, words, ideas in embryo? Instead of tumbling and jostling ‘Write me! Pick me first!’, the words back up upon themselves, a dam of jumbled letters, dyslexic heap of detritus, blocking the flow of cohesive thought.
The more Logical Brain rebels, the more Creative Brain baulks at being assaulted in this way; digs deeper holes for words to be buried in as ideas are cremated and crumble to dust.
Who’d have thought I’d be tempted to wax lyrical about a dose of good old writer’s block?! I wonder what all of you do to purge the demon from your systems? All suggestions gratefully accepted, but humorous ones will go to the head of the queue…
grrrrr, don't like that guy!!!!! sometimes i ignore him and he goes away, other times i just force myself to write, whatever nonsense, and that eventually breaks him down...
ReplyDeleteSee - even a blank page gets filled with your wisdom... Stuff the blank page, scribble all over it. Hard!
ReplyDeleteRestrictions, even if self-imposed, always work b etter than total freedom, I have found. Good post, though.
ReplyDeleteJust type in 'blockage removal' in Google. You'd be surprised how many different sorts of blockages exist and how many different ways there are to remove them. If that doesn't inspire you.... ;-)
ReplyDeleteAlso, this is your 13th post in January. I mean... if you are supersticious, the 14th post will no doubt flow from the brain and pen again.
ReplyDeleteJinksy, do what I oft do...just write it down as it comes out and sort it later. Eventually you'll scribe enough bits and bobs and they'll all fit to-gether ;) That, or start in with some limericks :D( which is the second thing I do, come to think of it ). Cheers luv!
ReplyDeleteYou can write so eloquently about not being able to write - I think you just solved your own problem!
ReplyDeleteExcellent post - I have felt those feelings so many times...
Cheers
Holli in Ghana
Jinksy, I'm too lazy to bother with it. I let it be. Sssshhhh. Close the door quietly. Come back later when Writer's Block might be sleeping.
ReplyDeleteLove the, the words back up upon themselves... dyslexic heap of detritus...
xo
erin
jinksy - take a line from a book you love and begin there. then erase the line. steven
ReplyDeleteI've sat staring at the empty comment box for the last little while. I get your point. ;)
ReplyDeleteHello Jinksy,
ReplyDeleteI just pretend I wasn't going to write anything today anyway! Trouble is, that attitude seems to manifest itself into a permanent state. You on the other hand need little encouragement!
I tell myself I can't have a cup of tea till i've written 500 words. I love blank pages- the ones I have trouble with are the ones I've started and need to continue so I use carrot or stick to make me keep going.
ReplyDeleteGreat description of how your brain fights itself.
Writer's block? Well, I think the answer has to be individually tailored, but for me it's this: force myself to write three or four hundred words, no matter if they're any good or not, then leave them and brainstorm and few random ideas, then go and make a cup of hot chocolate, watch some Johnny Depp, and come back to the computer refreshed. ;)
ReplyDeleteWell written piece on a scary topic.
ReplyDeleteI like to workout or run. I try to remove myself from the project for a short time, and let the ideas gradually fall into place.
Nice post about nothing Jinksy!!! I'm usually a person of few words anyway!
ReplyDeleteA.A. Milne, whose birthday was day before yesterday (mind you, he was born in 1882), said, "Ideas may drift into other minds, but they do not drift my way. I have to go and fetch them. I know no work manual or mental to equal the appalling heart-breaking anguish of fetching an idea from nowhere."
ReplyDeleteI usually take the computer apart and give it a good clean - just in case the little devil is contributing!
ReplyDeleteI currently have a VERY clean computer, inside and out ...
I liked Fletch's solution for writer's block. Unfortunately there's no enthusiasm for that today either. I believe I'm standing before a permanent blockade - you know, one made of stone or concrete.
ReplyDeleteVery nicely drafted bunch of words !!
ReplyDeleteJust write gobbledegook Jinksy until the pen begins to make sense. Or get a book you love off the shelf and read a bit - or a poem - relax, make yourself a cup of coffee, sing, listen to the radio, open a packet of biscuits, doodle all down the margin - if all else fails throw your pen up the fire back, tear the paper up and put it in the bin and wait for inspiration to strike anew.
ReplyDeleteYou did write, jinksy.
ReplyDeleteYou wrote about not writing.
That's writing. Voila!
No help coming from me today. I'm dealing with my own piece of blockage:))
ReplyDeleteIt's nature's way of making us take a break.
ReplyDeleteI generally write better late at night or in the morning, sleep deprived. I think that state removes some of my inhibitions and I stop thinking so hard and editing while I write.
ReplyDeleteI used to think of a blank page as having invisible words on, just waiting for me to discover. Obvious creative choices that any good writer would make. For years now I've not been wondering "what would a good writer do?" and just writing what I want to write and believe in.
do you know sumpin???? i don't consider myself to be a writer, i write my thoughts on a blog and someone else says, your writing is good, i don't think so, so i decide to quit writing and then someone else says, you must not stop...so i have 461 blogs covering 4 years and still i don't consider myself a writer, in fact if you looked closesley at the crap i produce, and discount what rhymes with and loren christie say, then i am just a rambling idiot and i couldn't write a poem if my life depended on it, so i think i have done did my swan song on my last post, toodle ooooo...putzy
ReplyDeleteTime to clean the gutters.
ReplyDeleteIf one considers all the trivia of quotidinal
ReplyDeletelife as something to write about then the material is inexhaustible.Poems can be created from anything i.e. cutting toe nails,cleaning out the fridge,peeling wallpaper,check out chicks,doodle bugs,eyebrows,tooth ache,bus queues,cell phones,hairdressers,random thoughts..It's all like the 'Magic Pudding'..
cut and come again!
Well guess what! My mother use to call me that when I was little.Hmmm..spooky eh!
ReplyDeleteReminds me of a story about Sinclair Lewis. Great writer and enthusiastic drunk. Addressing a "creative writing group" he is supposed to have said, before falling over . . "You guys all want to be writers? Then why the hell aren't you all at your desks, writing?"
ReplyDelete