The other day I discovered I was suffering from type 2 (see below) writer's block. I could get through any scene in my latest novel, or any blog subject, but I could not write a love scene to save my life. So I came back to this article, I read over my reviews where people said my love scenes were good or well crafted. And I complained to anyone who would listen and give me sympathy. I guess it worked because I wrote a full scene with absolutely no problems a couple days ago. I'm not so sure it's over yet though. When I finally make it through three easily I will relax a bit.So, what do you do when you have writer’s block? You write about writer’s block of course!
In all of the time I have been writing there are two kinds of blocks I've run into. Type 1 is where you just plain and simple can’t write anything. Even a subject to write about escapes you. Type 2 is when you have everything you need to put a great piece together but the words just won't come out right.
I guess for me, my latest episode of writer’s block leans more toward Type 1. I had a subject six hours ago when I started working on this blog post but decided early on that it was a subject better left until we know each other a bit better. So I was back to square one. Usually I can pull a subject out of thin air and go with it, but not this time. I sat there for 5.5 hours with nothing. Not one damn idea. Then I started to laugh because it was all so ridiculous that I was sitting there acting like a crazy woman for five and a half hours trying to decide what ideas and words to put on paper. That is when it hit me, this blog post that I was trying so hard to write would be about the ridiculousness of writer’s block.
I sit there on any given day and think of 20 or 30 different subjects I might want to write about. If I can, I write them down and if not, I pray that I can remember them when I need to. Then comes time to write, and all of the subjects I wrote down don’t appeal to me anymore so I am stuck trying to pull these other ideas out of my brain which frankly doesn’t work quite as well as it did before I had five kids. Seriously, pregnancy brain never truly disappears, it just morphs into mommy brain. Times five for me which equals MUSH.
Okay, so once I have determined that I have writer’s block, I try to find out why. Am I over stressed? Do I have too many mundane things on my mind? Are the kids bothering me? Am I on a deadline because of an appointment or previous commitment? If one of these applies, then I try to solve the problem. If I can’t, then I try other things. I’ve meditated, prayed and tried a change of scenery. Deep Breathing has sometimes helped too. If all goes well, I start writing and don’t stop until I choose to. If not, it is time to smack my head with my pen, or my cell phone, or my hand. And if that doesn’t work, I give it a break for awhile.
Yes, writers block can be so stressful and I guess smacking myself about the head is a bit extreme, but I’ve known and read about people who have really gone all out to end this awful state of mind.
I heard of one woman who would go bungee jumping or skydiving to try to cure her block. That is something I would never ever do. Not because I don’t want to do those things (because I do) but because with my luck I would have that best selling idea on the way down and then crash to the earth where the awesome idea would die with me.
I knew someone who would sit in a chair with their legs on the back and their head hanging down to the floor. I could see where that might make the ideas flow to the brain better, but again I would never do that because I would have that best selling idea and then I would pass out cold never to remember the idea again. Part of my ‘brokenness’ is migraines/sinuses/dizziness and I really don’t need to add to that if at all possible.
Now swimming is a writers block cure that I could get into. For me swimming can cure just about anything that ails me. But then I don’t have a pool, the city/rec center charges way too much, I don’t do bathing suits in public and I don’t have a baby sitter for the little ones on a moments notice. So in the end I will just have to whack myself upside the head in times of blockage emergency and hope that it doesn’t add to the brain mushiness that I have thanks to my five wonderful children.
Until next time…here is wishing you easy recovery from whatever ails you. <3
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