© 2013 by Raymond Alexander Kukkee
Writer's block. It's part of the writing life, no doubt about it. At one time I used to think it was a figment of the imagination, just another excuse not to write, like 'too tired', got the kids home from school, 'too busy' or "out of ink, I think."
Not so. It's real. Experience itself, and time, have instructed me that the writing mind does indeed goes blank. No words are forthcoming, the spring is dry, and for how long, we do not know. A genuine
"had-a-nada" comes to mind.
Text. That which we seek, the scribbled note, the golden word, evasive text. It comes in dog-eared dictionaries, as single words. We seek sentences,
soliloquies in the dark, parts, bits and pieces, paragraphs and pages, and it does come when you least expect it. You're back in the groove, it's progress. Good, old-fashioned
progress.
Is progress in writing ever guaranteed? No. Is it Incidental ? Accidental? Fortuitous discovery, destiny? Is it fate, or one of those sudden, turn-on-the-dim-bulb-upstairs events ?
We have all experienced the tilting slowdown, self-doubt, the pause, the screeching dead halt, and that solid brick wall--
the blank mind. We have seen the equally powerless screen, the classic blank sheet of the finest paper, the barren white clay of the
tabula rasa of old.
As writers, we may walk darkly, disturbed, unsure in the night, unless we carry torch or candle. Does the muse herself simply get tired?
To the functioning writer, amazing collections of words can line up like rising stars, brilliance itself; dewdrops sparkling on a single strand of cobweb across the dark path to that dog-eared, coffee-stained copy of
"Thirty-One New Story Ideas for Writer-blocked Dum-dums and How to Write Stuff"
How do you avoid writer's block ? You may not be able to,-- but we go one better, and accept reality. We can plan for it. Can we cleverly plan around, and completely outwit the dearth of ideas? Perhaps not.
Can we ensure some progress?
Yes. Try these logical ideas and actually
plan for writer's block:
- Harvest ideas when they occur--now, not later, so they are not forgotten. Great ideas are easily forgotten in the middle of the night while you're sleepless in Victoria, dreaming, out fishing, or in the middle of a boring business meeting. Write, write write! Point-form and fast if necessary, but write them down.
- When the mind is over- fertile and you are not write-blocked, write all ideas down that occur for future use--even those you may think you will never use. When you have writer's block, a couple of unused ideas may precipitate plan B.
- Record ideas in context--not just miscellaneous words that may be meaningless later. There's nothing quite as frustrating as trying to recall that genius story line, but the one word you scribbled on the bedpost in the dark no longer makes sense.
- Take a notebook wherever you go. Observe people and life around you in the neighborhood, on the street, at sunset in the park, in the elevator, in the supermarket, and at work.
- Listen. People say the strangest things that can not only pique your interest, but precipitate additional great ideas. Pay particular attention to how people speak. Listen to old folks. They are often full of interesting details.
- Read, read and read, not necessarily in that order. Reading spawns new and creative ideas at the strangest times.
- Some of the best ideas come from real events, so pay attention to the world around you. Note strange twists or the unexpected.
- Ask questions. Just as with scientific method, question everything. Details pique the mind, planting seeds. If you're too busy to use the idea, again, write it down.
- Shoebox files of bits of paper and old serviettes are a mess and seldom helpful .Barren minds function even less efficiently with disorder. Use a handy notebook rather than scraps of paper. Organize ideas when they occur instead of losing them. Time-hopping notes -even those in chronological order can reveal interesting details when you have adequate time to evaluate them.
All of the above are 'preparation, or planning', but is it progress? If you have a notebook crammed with interesting ideas, observations, and concepts when you run into writer's block,
you've already got it beat. You've made progress. Pick and choose.
Now all you have to do is write it.
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Is that Incoming I hear?
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About Raymond Alexander Kukkee
A published author and freelance writing professional, Raymond lives and writes in Northwestern Ontario.
This is very sound advice, Raymond. I particularly like the idea of harvesting ideas now and in context. How many times have I read scribbled notes, with no energy to remember what I could possibly have been thinking about them…yes, that’s a good point indeed!
Thanks, M.J. ……this has happened to me. Scribble a word or two in the middle of the night, and three days later, wonder what it was about. I must learn to practice this logic myself, I’ll read this article again…haha!
And the notebook too…napkins just don’t cut it anymore…especially those thin ones so many places are using these days, right?!
Oh, yes, M.J.,, those napkins just don’t work well at all, especially all wrinkled. “:)
I rarely have writers block. Writer’s blockhead, well…Great advice, raymond!
Thanks, Too funny, Mac, I have both writer’s block and writer’s blockhead. That’s why I wrote this fine article to remind myself how to remedy it…Thanks for commenting, bud! .”:)
Okay, I almost spit my drink on that one, but it’s only because I know you both! hahaha too funny, guys!
M.J, you need a nice serviette to wipe the coffee off of the screen and keyboard. haha!
Coffee?! It’s after 10 pm. I’m not drinking coffee at this hour!
Drinking coffee after 10:00 pm saves toothpicks.
did you say writer’s block? well i often suffer from writer’s blockage; a massive beaver’s dam across the smooth flowing mind creek…all these napkin notes jamming the clear stream..
especially the scribbled ones from some midnight train..and i had the arrogance to believe that i would be able to decipher these brilliant nuggets of observation –sometimes years later–very interesting but, no, never works.
and every successive move, continent or country leaves a trail of mysterious words. i am indeed swimming in a beaver pond right now, rather enjoying the interrupted flow of leaves from the past.
writer’s block? if ever, i just need to have the impetus to scan pocket notebooks or pages and every single prompt from the 3 AM muse.
thanks for the writer’s kick in the prompt..ns
Hi Nadine, I guess everyone suffers writer’s block differently–I imagine with moving you have quite a collection of important old notes, indecipherable, strange, unique….I hope you know how to interpolate them. Mysterious words–can lead to mysterious places. Ah, sometimes the writer’s kick in the prompt does work too! “:)
I am a weed. My writer’s block is very different. It is a thought crowd. Instead of being stymied for what to write, I am stymied as to which direction to take it. The ideas are all there, napkins notwithstanding. Choosing the better path is what gets me. It leads to a lot of stuff hitting the editing floor.
Red, that kind of writer’s block is a blessing–at least you get to pick and choose and can take any direction you like. You do that quite often in M3 it seems–and it’s not a bad thing at all–weed or not, you choose well! “:)
Red, that kind of writer’s block has to be better than a barren mind. It does seem you have many directions to go at times, but you do seem to choose right turns regularly..haha.. not a bad thing, weed or not! “:)