So as I sat staring at my blank computer screen yesterday I
realized I was going through yet another, yes you guessed it, episode of
writer’s block. It was as scary as much as it was empty. On most days I cannot
stop my thoughts from racing into stories and ideas to write and certainly
during conversations it is hard for others to get a word in edge wise
(listening to others is something I work very hard at mastering). My children
have even caught me talking out loud to myself about something I am going to
write.
So you ask, “What is writer’s block?” I shall tell you.
Webster’s defines writer’s block as a condition of different intensities that
can be trivial or extreme. Basically the mind that never stops going is empty. Wow...
let me tell you for some it can be a very frightening experience and cost them
their careers as they spiral down into an abyss of thoughts that become random
or fragmented and do not measure up to standards created either by the writer
themselves or by outside influences. This is better known as empty thoughts,
thoughts without substance.
On the other hand most writers just lose inspiration on a
temporary level. That level can be for a day, a week or more depending on the
circumstances around the life of the writer. I know I was affected by sheer
exhaustion and practically fell asleep looking at the blank screen desperately
willing a topic to come to me. So this temporary paralysis of the artistic mind
can be caused by many different internal and external influences.
What you ask are internal influences that pressure writers?
Well we all know we have self-esteem and confidence and when those confidences
are broken for some reason or another we are likely to not be able to create.
Artists, which includes writers are sensitive, unless of course you are the
Andy Rooney type and then you are just a curmudgeon with feelings, and we have
spirits that can easily be bruised by our own internal self depreciation. In
other words we do not measure up to our own standards and we beat our selves up
over it and basically stop functioning as a writer. Pretty awful isn’t it? Well
most of us get over this in a day or two and move on and find that one topic
that brings us back to reality or for fiction writers out of reality.
Awesome!!!
But we have not talked about external influences that cause
writers block. Where do I begin the list is so long that ….Ah crap Lisa Anne just
go for it. Okay, first of all there are non- like-minded people that read works
and trash them harshly directly to the writer. With the way we publish on the
web these days it is easy for hurtful, angry people to sit behind their
computer screens and tear a writer to shreds publicly. Click on Post…. damage
done. Not fair if you don’t like it okay not everyone is the same and we get
that just do not be mean. Remember writers are sensitive and this could cause
pressure to change and then “bang” the writer can become blocked from external
emotional hurt.
Some other general external influences can be family and
friends that take up too much creative time and therefore writers lose the
opportunity to write and ideas and stories lines disappear into thin air. Ahh,
you ask for a solution. This writer carries a digital recorder everywhere I go.
Some people have asked me what I am doing or if I am from some authority,
especially when I pick my child up form school and I am standing in the grounds
talking into a little box quietly so no one can hear my ranting or my best work
for that matter. I ask friends and family to be tolerant of my interrupting
conversations and digital recorder issues so that I do not become blocked. Most
of them are very giving in that way.
Well I saved the worst for last. Exhaustion. Have you ever
been so tired that you cannot keep your eyes open but you know you have to
because if you don’t your going to do something that could be of serious
consequence. Sorry, not to be a fatalist or anything like that. Well I have
been that tired, that exhausted and this time it hit me right in the writing
skills. Wa Bang!!!! Like a ton of lead out of know where. I could not do
anything but stare at the blank screen like a zombie with my mind completely
and totally empty. For a writer who relies on continuous thoughts, the rapid
fire of synapses and the miles of myelin of one’s brain, empty, can be a scary
place.
Well apparently I have overcome empty and found inspiration
in that empty. Sometimes it takes that loss of words to jolt us back into
action and remind us that we have the ability to move forward. Writer’s block
does not have to be a permanent “condition”. The village on Wikipedia claims
that some writers never over come this situation. Not so, with a little grace
and some good rest for the mind, body and soul every writer will find
inspiration in or out of the empty. Write on my fellows!!!
