Yes it is dreadful. I am suffering with a phase that I thought would ever come into my writing career. It's a very hazy circumstance known as the Writer's Block. As much peculiar it sounds, it is very funny for me. Gone are the days with the wind when my mind oozed with numerous ideas to write upon, to explore and to read further to fill up my blogs. Still there are ideas that peck at the doorstep. But somehow, they are not able to make it to the finale.
Before telling you about my apathy any further, let me explain what this calamity is.
Writer's Block is when you realise a stoppage on the flow of creative juices. I think it's more than a creative slowdown but like a breakdown. Believe me, I have been struck by it very hard. My survivor story is pretty similar to a Hurricane Katrina or a Tsunami victim.
In the days of yore, I was known as a preacher, a born scribbler. Agreeing not to show off but this is how I have seen myself doing all the way long until now. Getting along with words and penning down things in an incredibly articulate manner was my speciality. My work was admired as soon as it left my table top.
This is my first writer's block that has struck me specially when I have reached the middle ages of my career which is so important for me.
Yikes! I am struggling to even write a page!
However, a smart move would be to find out the real type of block and not get overwhelmed by the situation.
Ideas don't come up: Many times I find the urge to write a magnificent piece. But I am left hesitant to write even single sentence. The itch to write only good words keeps the procrastination go on. As soon as I open up a blank page, very soon I realise that it has remained the same. Then boredom sneaks in and I evidently see Farmville 2 scores and levels going high. Literally, I go clueless as to what to write, where to start from and what story I want to tell. I am finished even before I start.
Just like I said before that there are ideas swarming into my mind. It's the execution that goes south everytime. To defend this it is advisable to keep the frustration aside and do tons of writing exercises. There are lots of them available on the internet.
It is recommended to keep "churning those wheels" inside and write about anything that encourages you to write. It need not be a biopic or an autobiography but a description of the last night's dream, a meeting with a friend or a scene of a movie that you watched that day to start with. If it still doesn't work, simply write a paragraph from a book or newspaper but just write. Don't let go of a single day without writing something that could satisfy you of writing something. Fire up your imagination and write the way you feel like. Gradually it becomes fine with time.
Ideas come but somehow fade out: Even if ideas come within it's hard for you to commit to any one of them completely. Now this can really become a bit harder and irritating when it is impossible to do something that you really want to do. Even though you start writing onto an idea as a short novel it ebbs and flows into an article.
Anyhow this is the time when your creative juices don't flow at the right gush. But don't forget that this is why we are discussing this issue. The biggest solution is to keep on writing whatever you can. In my opinion, it's the best time for a writer with writer's block to hibernate.
Polar bears hibernate until the snow melts. They live off their fat reserves in their body. During this they conserve their energy until summer approaches for them to have the right kill and feed themselves. This is a similar situation. Think yourself as a polar bear who is hibernating and storing all ideas as snippets of story lines now. Later when your creative motors are revved up then you can stretch out onto those ideas into full length articles or stories.
You might not get the traction very soon. But when you do, you will be glad that you did not trash all those ideas out. Either write them out onto loose sheets, save them as a soft copy on your computer and maybe after an year or so, you or somebody else would be able to tackle them.
Even an outline does not work: There are people who are comfortable in writing without thinking or planning much. They simply enjoy it as they reach all twists and turns to reach the destination. I am a writer with this kind of a preference. However, there are those who start to write after making an outline. Some broadly chalked out points work as milestones for their whole story. Still, with a writer's block in between they face difficulties into doing justice to their literary work. Either they suddenly find point B to be so boring after writing about A or they find no logic once they reach to write about point B. Whatever be the reason, it becomes hard for them to reach point C.
So when you reach a tangent like this, there is no need to worry or to think about it so much to make it cumbersome for you to finish the story. How would you consider the idea to take a small detour? That's ok. Start writing on the idea that has come first to your mind to connect the rest of the dots. Maybe you need to avoid mentioning a cool moment at this point and write about it a little later. And let me tell you, being a writer it is never difficult for you to mould a story line to insert as many cooler moments you want only if it's adding some value and sense with logic to the whole work.
Whatever you write is going to be criticised: Undoubtedly, you are a writer. But being scared before you even start writing is a big spoiler. In real terms, it creates a paralysing effect affecting your writing skills because if you will not write in the first hand, you will never make any mistakes. And if you don't make any mistakes, then you will learn the right ways and techniques to be a master of your trade. There are no external critics but only the inner critic which is your conscious.
Once you have struck a deal with your inner critic nobody else matters. Your darkest fears are only about what if you are unable to justify or satisfy yourself. It is you who can scorn you or appreciate you. However, chances are that your written piece is not so bad after all. There have been many great writers before who were honoured later but criticised when they wrote those literary masterpieces.
Before publishing, you can always rewrite and fix a draft. Always keep a scope of making several drafts. Rewrite, rewrite and rewrite until it become convincing enough for you to finalise it. Rewriting is a good habit to inculcate and make several drafts to escape even uncommon errors.
In my opinion, rewriting is the best tool to be confident. You will never be free or idle to not to start writing but finish an earlier draft. It's the best way to keep yourself occupied before starting on a new project.
These were some of my doubts and the ways described to deal those situations. If you have also faced something similar in nature, feel free to share it with me. Please be generous with your comments.
