AP Photo: Bricks
I’m working on a new novel – one that I love and can’t wait to see completed. The storyline, the protagonist, and the primary subject of the book all enthrall me, and I’ve had so much fun writing so far. So why am I in the middle of one of the worst writer’s block I’ve had in a long time? I wish I knew the answer to that question. Then I could fix it and get back to writing. But it’s not that easy for me. Hundreds of articles have been written on ways to get rid of writer’s block, tested tips and tried and true methods that will cure the block quickly and get me back to the writing fool that I am.
Here’s the problem: writer’s block isn’t always just the inability to write another word. For me, it’s every doubt I have about my ability as a writer coming together and forming the biggest avalanche of defeatism the world has ever known. Before I even see it coming, I’ve been mowed down, every bone in my body broken and the wind completely knocked out of me. As I lay there, deflated and entirely pessimistic about my future, every good word I’ve ever penned dances in front of my black eyes and then Mambo’s away, taking with it every original thought in my head.
I’ve tried the tips. Freewriting. This involves sitting down and just letting your thoughts explode onto paper, no matter how random, how absurd, how ludicrous they may sound. It was a great exercise of seeing on paper how depressed I really was and dug me further into my black hole. Writing someplace new. Most of my writing is done in front of the window in my living room. So I tried the couch, the deck, the park, the coffee shop. Now I looked completely dumbfounded in front of strangers, instead of just in front of me. Still no words. Write a different part of the book, like the ending. My mind is completely stuck on chapter eight, where I am stalled and my characters are walking around asking themselves if she’s ever going to get on with it. Writing the ending seems preposterous, and my fingers refuse to play along.
So what do I do? Anne Lamott, in her book, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, gives what I think is the most pertinent advice. “The problem is acceptance, which is something we’re taught not to do. We’re taught to improve uncomfortable situations, to change things, alleviate unpleasant feelings. But if you accept the reality that you have been given – that you are not in a productive creative period – you free yourself to begin filling up again.” She goes on. “Then I decide to read Wallace Stevens for the rest of the morning or go to the beach or just really participate in ordinary life. And of these will begin the process of filling me back up with observations, flavors, ideas, vision, memories.”
Sometimes this happens quickly or sometimes it comes slowly, softly creeping into your brain, surprising you with new characters or plot lines, taking your story places you never thought possible. Go with it. Embrace your block and then let it go. I think I’ll go take a walk.
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