Posts Tagged "writer’s block"

Just another post about Writer’s Block

Posted by talda on Nov 3, 2011 in Everyday | 3 comments

I have about six different posts in various stages of incomplete thoughts. Some are more thought out than most, but really, the only differences between the majority of them is the number of sentences (or even words in some select cases) in the draft. It’s kind of disheartening and frustrating.

I’ve documented my bouts with Writer’s block before and while I’m not ready to cop to another round of it, I know there is something blocking my ability to fully form my thoughts into coherent sentences.

So what do I have in my draft file?

1) My reactions to my mom saying things going back to normal after my sister and the BF returned home following my graduation. Yes, way back in May. I was going to write about my desire for creating a new normal but just couldn’t flesh out the idea.

2) My job search progress. I started this a few months ago to ruminate on my current processes and wondering where I’m going wrong. I started it and then abandoned it when I simply lost interest in the topic. As a quick update, I did have an interview last week though haven’t heard back. Bummer. The job was sooo perfect for me!

3) That weird spot between deciding you want to marry your significant other and actually getting engaged. It’s kind of awkward floating in “engagement purgatory,” especially when there are some extenuating circumstances (long distance, jobs, you know, the usual ) keeping you in a prolonged holding pattern. This was really a hot topic in my head but when I started to write, I just kept getting confused and lost steam.

4) Why I don’t think I want to start my own business. I get calls all the time about starting my own business, whether it’s to sell my crafts or to plan parties and while I think it could eventually become a nice little side job, I just don’t have any real desire to make it happen.

5) My primary care doctors and why I’m secretly in platonic love with one of them. Hint: It’s his clothes.

6) What I would splurge on if I did, in fact, splurge.

So there, that’s what I have in the pipeline for the blog. But with the depth of material, sometimes I wonder if I’m really dedicated to continue blogging. Is this something I really want to do? Because if it was, I’d have no problem blogging. Is it because I usually don’t get comments? Comments are motivating pieces of crack since you know for sure that people read and possibly enjoyed what you wrote, but do I write commentable posts? Do I make you think? Is that really my goal? To make you think? Or is it just a little space for a quick, breezy read that hopefully makes you at least chuckle? Maybe I should go back to stream of consciousness writing? Nah, I don’t want to go back there. while it was easy to get a post written practically everyday, my earlier writings are so unfocused and comical that it’s kind of hard to go back and read them and I don’t think I really want to go back there.

Huh, that last paragraph was a little stream of consciousness writing. That wasn’t so bad. Maybe I should try it out more often.

But in the end, isn’t it funny how I always seem to have no problem writing about my Writer’s Block? What is that all about? #Irony.

I could use a ghost writer right about now

Posted by talda on Sep 13, 2011 in Everyday | Comments Off

Or at least a swift push in the right direction.

Sometimes the most frustrating thing about writing is wanting to write but not knowing what to write. I’ve been struggling with this inane “Writer’s block” for a while, which would explain the obvious lack of posts in the past year. I want desperately to write but for the most part, have been feeling generally uninspired once I pull up my blog editor.

I’ve noticed that I’ve been treating my blog as if I were writing a paper for class: have a general idea of what I want to write about, open my blog, write a sentence, delete the sentence, write another one, check Facebook, then my email, then ModCloth, Twitter, my other email, Twitter, and then I need to Google “how to pronounce Siobhan” [it's not "See-ob-han" in case you're wondering]. And then, the next thing I know, it’s an hour later and I have nothing. Except for that random period that somehow survived the mass deletion the first time around. Erasing fail.

So what’s exactly the cause of this apparent writer’s malaise? I suspect it’s probably a combination of many factors but mainly the pressure to produce a witty, insightful and interesting post and the perception of not having anything worthwhile to blog about. Which is really stupid since I have actually done stuff worth writing about, like how I pushed myself past my own comfort zone and socialized with strangers. By myself. Or the day I spent with the SFFD. Or the lovely revelations I had during my most recent visit with the bf. There are plenty of things to talk about, not only from my own life, but from the world in general.

Which begs the question: if there is plenty of content that I can draw from, what is the issue? Deep down, I suspect that I’m not worthy of writing anything because I’m not working. If that’s so, when did my entire identity become dependent upon one singular aspect of my life?

I know I’m more than my job. I have other things to contribute to the world besides working. And it’s not like I ever really wrote about my job in detail on the blog anyway so why am I so hung up on that? That sounds like fodder for another post. But the pressure of writing is very real. It happens and it can be incredibly crippling. I constantly try to remind myself that while I may not write as hilariously as Jenny at The Bloggess or as eloquently as Jose at The Jose Vilson, it’s okay. All I can be is me. Sometimes I’m hilarious and sometimes I’m eloquent but I know I’m not like that all the time. Way too exhausting. But I can weave my fair share of fantastical tales and have my own distinct voice that is definitely worthy of being heard.

So how do I combat this severe writer’s block? I plan on writing for the sake of writing in an attempt to remember that I actually LOVE writing and that writing isn’t a chore but a pleasure. I’ve come to realize that Academic writing has killed my soul. But all is not lost though; I do still get the overwhelming urge to write something so at least it’s not all dead. Just mostly dead. But you can totally come back from being mostly dead.

Right, Wesley?