We've all felt it: that desire, that biological need to write something that will transcend time itself. To write something that will be read through the ages. The piece of writing that will change the very fabric of reality and culture, whether it be a blog post, novel, poem, essay or short story. So we have sat down at our computers ready to conquer the world with our words only to find...
Nothing.
Nothing. No witty or powerful words flying from our fingertips faster than we can type. No coherent thought, just a mantra of oh god oh god running through your head.
Symptoms of Writer's Block may include:
Fifty wildly amazing writing ideas sure to knock the socks off your editor, professor, publisher, etc, but good luck translating those into anything remotely resembling coherent thought and not complete gibberish to your readers.
Staring. Hours and hours of staring at a blank piece of paper, or computer screen, trying to come up with the perfect sentence, and knowing that it is a futile struggle.
Sheer panic the closer it gets to the dreaded deadline and knowing that instead of presenting something beautifully crafted, you are presenting something you pieced together by dumb luck and a hope that the powers that be don't call you out on the load of b.s you're spewing. (Which may or may not be this article on writer's block. I plead the fifth.)
You may experience a drop in confidence in your writing ability. While a perfectly normal symptom, it is good to remind yourself that you are in fact not a bad writer, and that you will find your flow and your inspiration and dare I say it, your muse; however, I know that is not how you are feeling now dear writer so I will not patronize you. (It is not how I am currently feeling either so I share your pain.)
Actually writing something down, convinced that you're finally writing something brilliant only to stop and realize you've written fifty pages that essentially look like this:
When you ask for help with writer's block, people, including published authors, most often tell you to write what you know. Write from the heart. Well, this week to be honest, I feel like what I know is that I have writer's block. A hundred amazing article ideas crowding my brain, each begging to be given voice, begging to enlighten, to raise awareness, to change lives... OK, maybe not that, but you get the idea. There is so much out there. So many stories that want to be told, that need to be told and the truth is, is that it gets overwhelming. There is only one of us, and yet we seem to be tasked with one of the most difficult things out there: spinning words so that they tell the past, present and future about society and what it means to be human, whether those stories are reporting on current events or making them up in our heads. We as writers are Archivists for Humanity. Writer's block well..."That is the sound of inevitability Mr. Anderson."
It is the Universe's cruelest joke played on writers. Especially now, when so many important and historical, social, and political events are happening, both local and non-local, and I can't do anything but sit here and bitch about not being able to write a powerful commentary on. While there are articles all about how to get over writer's block, this is not one of them. This is not a how-to, it is a "Can I get an amen from my fellow writers," article, because the truth is, is that while there are many great suggestions on how to get over writer's block, sometimes you just need to address the elephant in the room. Sometimes you just need to look writer's block and say "I see you. And I will beat you."
