I understand just by reading this title it may turn the average reader of my articles away. Yet for those who read my work weekly (or in recent weeks, once a month), you may have noticed my articles have a common trend: a theatre critique or a music analysis. Nothing controversial, nothing crazy, and nothing offensive. Simple points. And while I admire this platform where I have worked my way from simple to writer to active user, there is one thing that I disdain about this platform: how it feels to be stuck in writer's block.
Recently, my EIC (our Editor-in-Chief for Odyssey) had reached out to me asking, "Do you still want to do be a part of Odyssey?" I know I haven't been consistent as I'd like to be. But I cannot lose a platform I worked years to build. So I kept going and hit a wall. Being a guy on Odyssey, an already diverse platform, it is hard to come up with a topic. I'd love to talk about #MeToo or other controversial topics here, but I get backlash from the community. I try to write theatre pieces, music playlists, and card games articles, but it addresses a minor community and is hard to drive people to relate or the common reader to relate. I try to talk about personal issues, but as I've learned, sometimes it is not always helpful to write it all out for the world to read. So my question becomes, what would you do?
It becomes also difficult to write every week. When you have to juggle an article every week on top of being a student, it becomes very hard to find topics that are appropriate every week with the changing times.
I'd love to write political articles about the issues, but as a college democrat, it is hard for me to combat the critics. I'd love to write articles about trading card strategies, but my friends that understand that topic are a near 1/16th of my friends on Facebook. Can't write about breakups because people read them and I do not want to create trouble. And another piece on "Hamilton?" Who wants to read another one of those?
Writer's block is a real problem. And especially as a college student, it is hard to ultimately juggle writing and school.
The point of this article is to clear up a large problem. For one who has writer's block, it becomes really difficult. And with a stringent amount of topics to write, it becomes even more difficult. So yes, I continue writing to express my thoughts and keep an open head. But it is still one of the most difficult times to write.
But for the sake of my audience, I keep writing.
