Every day this week when I have tried to sit down and write, my mind draws a blank. Even with so many different events happening all over the world, I've been left speechless. I take the opportunity I have to share my thoughts with pride. In so many countries women don't have the privilege of freedom of speech. And here I sit with all the rights—but unable to form words.
For instance, there were many lives taken carelessly in France, and they no longer can express themselves through words. Yet, I still have the ability, and I can't find the words in my head to help. Police officers were gunned down in Dallas last week with their families still grieving, and I feel like I can't write anything to ease the pain. How can so many tragic occurrences not stir the writer within me? I can tell you. Two words: writer's block.
The bane of all writers' existence. Those two dreaded words. I know every highly published author and journalist have all gone through this. Yet I feel like it's impossible to talk to others to help you get out of it. It's a funk that takes over all of your thoughts and completely drains them of creativity. It feels like a cloud follows you around everywhere and down pours on you every time you try to write. Every idea I get is immediately forgotten and wasted.
It is an unsettling thing. One day you can write and write with no problems. The next, you are stuck in a rut and feel like it is impossible to bang out work. I will never understand what causes this—how a switch in your brain could be switched that quickly. Is it a thought, occurrence, or something completely different that causes this flip? And how do you get yourself out of it? Many people have been able to, but what steps can the rest of us take to get free of writer's block?
Can we just try to write enough to break it? Or can we read our way through it? I don't think there is one answer to this question. We all have different creative mind sets, so we must all have a different set of tools to help us. Some might be able to spark a thought and just write the whole thing down. Maybe you have the ability to read other writer's work and find the inspiration you need. More power to you for finding what works for you. I found a solution in writing about the problem itself. When I first started writing, my words felt forced. By the end, though, my thoughts are easily translated into sentences and this article took shape.
My advice to anyone who is battling writer's block comes down to this: breathe. Breathe because we all go through it, and sometimes facing the problem is all you need to cure it.
