Writer's Block

Writer's block is a phenomenon that will at some time or other affect even the most mundane writing tasks.  It can be as simple as not wanting to write because it entails negative news that will not be pleasant to deliver.  It can be as complex as a report, essay, or story, that just simply cannot translate from the mind to the cursor.  Whatever the cause for it, stress for the writer is almost certainly the result.


A few months ago, I had a bad case of writer's block.  I would open a document, sometimes fresh, sometimes a work in progress.  I would sit at the computer and just stare at the cursor, getting lost in the blink.  Inevitably, I would stray from my project onto Facebook or Netflix, among other sites.  It wasn't just at the computer, either.  It was at work or during chores, times when I would generally turn myself on autopilot and let my mind drift to imagine all sorts of things.  I simply could not write.


This went on for a while.  Days turned into weeks, and eventually six of them had gone by without any successful attempts at writing.  It was a devastating time for me.  I wanted desperately to write, but to no avail.  It put me in a sour mood.  I had things to do to get ready to move away that I just put off.  I wasn't having as much fun with friends as I normally would.  Video games just didn't have their same appeal and with music, I couldn't find anything I wanted to listen to.  I became detached from the world just as my ideas had detached from me. 


You know, after re-reading that last paragraph, I realize now that what I described sounds similar to depression.  I guess it was, in a way.  Not being able to write, for somebody with a passion to do so, takes a great amount out of them.  It really is a dreaded feeling that I hope I will never come to again.  So how did I get over my writer's block?  I stopped thinking about it.  Really, I had accepted that I wasn't able to write at that time and stopped trying.  It was while sitting in front of the television I had my "aha" moment.  I had filled my life with too much of it.


The quarter had ended at Columbus State and summer had arrived.  A big change was in front of me.  Instead of filling those extra hours I was no longer utilizing for school with something structured, I let my attention span be consumed by the television.  It had consumed me.  I know my last post was in favor of television, but I am a strong believer that there can be too much of a good thing.  Television had suffocated my creativity, so I turned the power off.  I turned my attention towards getting the things done that needed done and left the remote in its basket.  After a while, when I wasn't thinking about it, I had an idea, a fix, for my novel in progress.  The fountain of inspiration began to build slowly, but it grew until it was like it never happened.


So what am I trying to say?  For me, writer's block was a horrible experience, but I came out of it with a lesson.  I am now wary of excessiveness.  Perhaps you, dear reader, are in a similar situation.  Look and see if there is something, anything, that possibly you are doing in excess and cut back on it.  I'm not saying that there are not other causes for writer's block, but this is the solution that worked for me.  If you have gotten over writer's block in a different way, post a comment explaining your experience.


Certainly, I still watch television.  I still strongly believe in the inspirational side of the drama that takes place on it.  This is not a call to sacrifice the things you care about in order to write.  It is simply an explanation of my ordeal with the subject.  I found a solution and now I can write freely again.  


I wish I could sit and write all the time, but I fear that might just be too much of a good thing.