Writer's Block - The Journey Within

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Writer’s Block

 

The phrase sounds relatable.

 

It’s not just a phrase. It’s a state of mind.

 

Every writer encounters this state some-time or the other in their writing journey.

No one can escape it.

 

And even if somebody succeeds in escaping it, they wouldn’t be able to call themselves a writer in the real sense. Because unless you have gone through this state zillions of times, you won’t understand, beyond just concept or belief, what exactly it is. And unless you understand what it is, it is almost next to impossible to find a way out of it.

 

It’s not just a journey of overcoming a barrier in your writing process. It’s also a journey of withdrawing your mind’s energies and gathering them at one point of concentration. It’s not just a battle of words, it’s a battle of concentrating your mind.

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“Writer’s block” pops up as a challenge to be solved. To solve this challenge, the writer needs to delve into their deepest self and look through this block to realize that it’s, in fact, not real, but just a shadow. The goal of this shadow is to keep the writer frozen and hesitant. And if the writer is a tad bit scared, the shadow will keep them frozen for years and years.

 

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The more you run away from it, the more vigorously it will follow you.

 

To live in a persistent state of “writer’s block” is like living in a haunted house, except that it’s not a building that is haunted, it’s your own head.

 

Many people think that this so-called “writer’s block” is a lack of ideas or inspiration. But that’s an incorrect perspective to look at this state.

 

This state of mind, called “Writer’s Block” is a paradox. It isn’t an absence of ideas or inspiration. Rather, it’s an influx, so overwhelming that the ideas keep on whirling and hovering in the space of your head, and you can’t seem to figure out which one to pick first and which one to store for later.

 

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The state doesn’t need to be fixed, just understood.

 

While meditating and reflecting upon this state of “writer’s block,” I came across some ideas that can help a writer cross this state and step into what lies beyond.

 

To begin with,

Write down everything. Just everything. Random thoughts. Gibberish. No matter how scattered it appears right now. If there are some stories which are there but blurry in your head, write about the non-blurry parts and soon they’ll reveal to you the entire story, crystal clear. Fill up documents or notebooks. Just don’t think. Let them scatter and spill out of your brain.

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The goal, here, is to empty the head and lay down the thoughts in front your eyes like wafers drying in the sun. Once they are in front of your eyes and you can externalize them as objects, it becomes easier to do something about them. If they keep rumbling and circulating in your head, it’s difficult to actually use them or do something about them. 

 

So, first tip is, write down “everything.”

 

The second tip is, once you write down everything, step away from it and do something entirely different. Create “distance.”

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If you are standing amidst a cloud of buzzing bees, you won’t be able to distinguish one bee from the other. But once you step away and look at the cloud from a distance, you’ll be able to discriminate between different bees and what is the purpose of each individual bee. This one is orange and this wants honey. This one is yellow and it just needs to tell a story. This one is black and it needs a place to rest.

 

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Once the distance is created, the cloud, the jumble of thoughts a.k.a. “writer’s block” untangles itself and reveals to you what needs to be done. Five short stories, check. Two poetry books, check. Three novels, check. One short film script and one video, check. A list of little writing projects, check.

 

Problem solved. 

Credit: Gemini pundit