Just a few thoughts about writer’s block …
I was standing in the gentle rain next to my ancient glinting American limousine outside my rented cottage in the heart of once-merry Ol’ England. The cottage has stood for 400 years next to a lake where owls screech at 3am.
I was having a cigarette. And I was a bit drunk.
We were about to head off again into the mad wild blue horizons of Europe – France, Spain and Portugal. Time to dump the brokenness of Britain once more. Too expensive, too depressing, too racist and too violent.
And it was then as I listened to the loneliness of owls, I realised something about writer’s block …
I’d been suffering from it for three weeks and it felt like my career as a professional writer was collapsing like an old castle inside my head…
… lost deadlines loomed, badly written commissions, misspelt posts, poorly articulated broadcasts…
It had happened to me before of course, but my editors had been experienced enough to not kick up a fuss if my prose became a bit pedestrian for a few days.
It had happened to them too. Editors are writers and amongst the best.
But for a new writer, earning or amateur, writer’s block can be a head shot. It’s like your brain has gone dead.
I pulled on my cigarette and watched the moon go sailing by.
It had been a rough few weeks, our limo had finally given up the ghost and needed open-heart surgery, some relatives had been pains, some friends had been just too demanding, I’d had a couple of health problems – there’d been legal stuff to sort out – a house to sell, furniture to auction, editors to deal with, a new ‘show’ in Hollywood.
And escape plans to make.
I watched the beacon of the moon scurry through the blackness of the clouds.
And then it struck me.. I wasn’t short of words or ideas at all! I just had too much to say and right now I just couldn’t dig out the right words to say it all.
I wasn’t seeing clearly enough, that’s all, a wind storm of images, thoughts, emotions, dreams, humour….
And I’d forgotten that it’s my job to take take this storm of thoughts and control it. Control the whirlwind of my mind.
I’m a writer, after all, and it is my commitment to the world of literature to find exactly the words I need to get some kind of message across. I wasn’t blocked, I was thinking!
Writer’s block – it’s brilliant! It is the most positive thing any writer can have!
All you are actually doing is sitting there thinking in the gentle rain under the moon and the screech of owls waiting for the right train of thought to pull up in front of you.
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