A Stay At Home Mom's Journal To Becoming A Writer - Entry Four - Writer's Block

Hmm... To write or not to write; if you have writer's block than you probably chose the 'not to write' part. Writer's block is the bane of any writers existence. It is the ungodly fear that hides within our hearts when we first start out on the path to becoming a writer. Writer's block reminds me of stepping stones; except that it causes huge spaces in between the stones and you could fall right through and into some murky water.

 

I just completed two exercises that walked me through writer's block. These were really great exercises because I have run into my old friend writer's block several times. I can't say that our reunions were friendly; yes there was confrontation and I may have walked away with a few bruises but I also walked away with some ideas and writer's block decided to leave town for a while. Let me preface all of this by saying that my nearly three month old son decided to wake up during these exercises and voice, rather vocally, that he was NOT happy and wanted to be fed immediately. This was followed by several hours of nonstop holding because he didn't want to be put down under any circumstances...but I digress.

 

The first exercise I did had me recognize writer's block as fear. I never really thought of writer's block as fear. I always thought that it happened because I would run into a dead end and simply be out of ideas or my imagination ran dry. But then it all started to make sense after these exercises. There were several fears I had that I had denied for many years: Are my ideas worth pursuing? What will readers think of me and my books? Can I really do this? Am I going to fail? The first important step is recognizing that writer's block was fear in disguise. The second important step was to realize that there are ways to overcome it. With the first exercise I approached my fears as a person. What would this person look like? What would their personality be like? What strategies would Fear use to keep me from writing? In my perspective fear was a woman. I gave her a name: Eagla, it's Gaelic for fear. She was uncommonly light from head to toe. Her hair is made of spun gold and she has unnaturally bright blue eyes. Her body is lithe and seems to sway with her very breath. Her body is covered in a shear fabric that leaves nothing to the imagination. Her intention is clear by the malevolence in her eyes. Her only goal is to steal my imagination and block inspiration. She is invisible to the human eye and she stands over my shoulder and whispers into my ear of my failures. Eagla can feel her power growing every time she is successful at causing writer's block. When I start to feel desperation overwhelm me and I feel failure looming around the corner, this is when Eagla is at her most powerful. She can feel her body swelling with the intoxicating feel of triumph... As you can see my personification of fear may be slightly different than yours. The purpose of this exercise is attaching a personality to your fear, you can even imagine what that fear would like look like and what it's name would be. This will give you the ability to recognize writer's block in the future.

 

The second exercise had me observe a routine that I do every week and use sensory imagining to write a paragraph about it. Because at the time this exercise seemed slightly pointless I chose to write about my gym routine. Now that I look back over this exercise it was helpful to simply write about something; even if it had nothing to do with my book. It really helped to incorporate the five senses. I chose to write about my gym routine because all of the senses were involved completely. The feel of the cold metal of the handles on the elliptical. The sound of the music beating loudly in my ears and pumping out a rhythm that my feet pounded to. The smell of the sweat coming off the guy next to me. The TV in front of me playing this week's news... You get the picture.

 

If you have ever had writer's block and felt alone and that you were the only person in this world this happen to... Have no fear for you are not alone. Writer's block happens to every writer at least once in their career. The thing to remember is recognize what is causing your block, fear. Then beat back fear with a really large stick!

 

If you find yourself at a loss for words, walk away for a little bit. Engross yourself in something that is mindless or physical or anything that can simply take you away from writing for a bit. You never know, you may find what you're looking for in the mundane.