It's frustrating finding myself in front of my laptop and staring at a blank word document. I start to type words, doing my best to formulate a complete sentence that sounds interesting and worthwhile. I often wind up highlighting what I just wrote and with an exasperated sigh, hitting <delete>. After having done this a few more times, I am usually about ready to pull what is left of my hair out. Writer's block sucks. There's no other way to put it.
I had a very interesting Tweet session yesterday with Matt Pocock about writer's block. It was extremely revealing to me and forced me to be a bit more honest with myself. Matt's view of writer's block is that there is really no such thing as writer's block (there is no spoon), and after speaking with him I am convinced he is correct.
(You can view Matt's blog here.)
"Writer's block" can be attributed to many different things but there really is no such thing as running out of material. Many people call it writer's block when they are actually being lazy about their writing, not being open enough in their writing, or simply not looking hard enough. Writing is a skill of discipline and an activity of thought. Without these two items, any writer is bound to find themselves in a rut.
I am a musician. I also do freelance writing, but primarily my writing skills are put in play by writing songs. As I learned yesterday (not for the first time), I often cut myself short by not allowing myself to write about what is really on my heart. As any artist will tell you, I am my own worst critic, and rather than put myself in the place of having to critique myself too harshly, I usually shy away from a subject I have hashed and rehashed seemingly continuously.
The thing is that if it is still on my heart, there must be a reason. I haven't said everything I need to say about whatever topic, but for some reason I keep pleading with myself "do we have to talk about this AGAIN?" For me, these topics are typically about love and hurt. Both of these are usually directly connected. They are also the two most talked about subjects in the history of music. I wonder why. It couldn't possibly be because they are the two deepest emotions that make us human?! (Hear the sarcasm?)
My point is that if you have something on your mind, speak it. Be brutally honest. Don't hold back in your writings. There is most likely some one out there that needs to hear what you have to say and you are doing that person a great injustice by not getting it out there. Don't second guess yourself. A person's first instinct is usually correct.
Sometimes it is difficult for me to fully realize in words what is on my mind. This is when I become a frenzied list maker. Get something to write on and something to write with. I don't care if it's crayon and the back of the person closest to you...although they might. In all honesty, I like to stray from typical mediums. Pen and paper is so boring, but if it has to be paper, try to find something a little less typical. I once had stacks of rejected card stock that a friend in the printing business handed down to me...all sorts of colors and weights! I had so much fun!
Start scribbling down anything and everything that comes to mind, regardless of whether it makes sense or not. I've never really been into drugs, but boy-howdy have I come up with some lists that would have easily landed me in rehab or the mental hospital. Eventually, you will start to see a link between most of what you have written in your list. Once you've gotten your "crazed" writing out in the open, you should be better prepared to get back to the serious stuff...the legitimate work.
Simple brainstorming is an excellent way to get back on track with your writing.
Distraction and laziness (perhaps one in the same thing) are my second biggest foes. For me, writing with the television on is one the worst traps I can fall into. Lately, it has been attempting to write with Twitter running in the background. I love <alt> <tab>-ing between my screens to see what everyone else in the world is up to. Unfortunately, it is so easy for me to get engaged in a conversation when I had a perfectly good piece of work flowing for me.
Distraction usually leads to laziness. "Oh, I can come back to my song any time I please." "Maybe playing this game will give me inspiration!" Before I know it, five hours have flown by and I haven't gotten a new sentence into my document, or come up with a new lyric, or whatever the case may be. Does any of this sound familiar? As I said, writing is a skill of discipline. Stay on task and the writer's block will usually disappear just as quickly as you can tweet "I gotta get back to work".
Hi. My name is Jason and I am the president of the Block Head Society.
Are you a block head?
I had a very interesting Tweet session yesterday with Matt Pocock about writer's block. It was extremely revealing to me and forced me to be a bit more honest with myself. Matt's view of writer's block is that there is really no such thing as writer's block (there is no spoon), and after speaking with him I am convinced he is correct.
(You can view Matt's blog here.)
"Writer's block" can be attributed to many different things but there really is no such thing as running out of material. Many people call it writer's block when they are actually being lazy about their writing, not being open enough in their writing, or simply not looking hard enough. Writing is a skill of discipline and an activity of thought. Without these two items, any writer is bound to find themselves in a rut.
I am a musician. I also do freelance writing, but primarily my writing skills are put in play by writing songs. As I learned yesterday (not for the first time), I often cut myself short by not allowing myself to write about what is really on my heart. As any artist will tell you, I am my own worst critic, and rather than put myself in the place of having to critique myself too harshly, I usually shy away from a subject I have hashed and rehashed seemingly continuously.
The thing is that if it is still on my heart, there must be a reason. I haven't said everything I need to say about whatever topic, but for some reason I keep pleading with myself "do we have to talk about this AGAIN?" For me, these topics are typically about love and hurt. Both of these are usually directly connected. They are also the two most talked about subjects in the history of music. I wonder why. It couldn't possibly be because they are the two deepest emotions that make us human?! (Hear the sarcasm?)
My point is that if you have something on your mind, speak it. Be brutally honest. Don't hold back in your writings. There is most likely some one out there that needs to hear what you have to say and you are doing that person a great injustice by not getting it out there. Don't second guess yourself. A person's first instinct is usually correct.
Sometimes it is difficult for me to fully realize in words what is on my mind. This is when I become a frenzied list maker. Get something to write on and something to write with. I don't care if it's crayon and the back of the person closest to you...although they might. In all honesty, I like to stray from typical mediums. Pen and paper is so boring, but if it has to be paper, try to find something a little less typical. I once had stacks of rejected card stock that a friend in the printing business handed down to me...all sorts of colors and weights! I had so much fun!
Start scribbling down anything and everything that comes to mind, regardless of whether it makes sense or not. I've never really been into drugs, but boy-howdy have I come up with some lists that would have easily landed me in rehab or the mental hospital. Eventually, you will start to see a link between most of what you have written in your list. Once you've gotten your "crazed" writing out in the open, you should be better prepared to get back to the serious stuff...the legitimate work.
Simple brainstorming is an excellent way to get back on track with your writing.
Distraction and laziness (perhaps one in the same thing) are my second biggest foes. For me, writing with the television on is one the worst traps I can fall into. Lately, it has been attempting to write with Twitter running in the background. I love <alt> <tab>-ing between my screens to see what everyone else in the world is up to. Unfortunately, it is so easy for me to get engaged in a conversation when I had a perfectly good piece of work flowing for me.
Distraction usually leads to laziness. "Oh, I can come back to my song any time I please." "Maybe playing this game will give me inspiration!" Before I know it, five hours have flown by and I haven't gotten a new sentence into my document, or come up with a new lyric, or whatever the case may be. Does any of this sound familiar? As I said, writing is a skill of discipline. Stay on task and the writer's block will usually disappear just as quickly as you can tweet "I gotta get back to work".
Hi. My name is Jason and I am the president of the Block Head Society.
Are you a block head?
I can completely relate, I am like a gerbil on crack since Twitter! However, ironically... Twitter has led to a broader audience. Balance, whatever that is... I find that I also must read. If I don't read, I don't feed my imagination, enlarge my vocabulary, or plant seeds. BTW... your music is wonderful, quit putting quarters in the butt kicking machine!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the encouragement. You are an inspiring person. Are you aware of that?
ReplyDeleteYes, Twitter is a double-edged sword. It's great for networking. I wouldn't be communicating with you had it not been for our tweet-exchanges a couple of days ago. I've also gotten a lot of ideas from reading other people's tweets. The flip side is that is so damned addicting! I've had to force myself to stay away from it for most of today.
See you soon!
I walked, scratch that, dragged myself away last night and have been working on some serious stuff and have come up with some, I think, great ideas! LOL! It's killing me... I want to look, but if I look I'll stay. Must... keep... working(in my best Capt Kirk voice)!
ReplyDeleteAnd no I didn't, thank you for saying so. So are you, this blog dragged my butt away from Twitter to work on the stuff I'm working on now. So, thank you!