Writer’s Block

Oh my goodness, I could rant about this ALL DAY LONG.

Every writer has had writer’s block at one point or another and it is debilitating. Why? Because it’s a stupid cycle that never seems to end, that makes you feel as if you’ve failed as a writer and will never get anywhere.

Well, I’m here to tell you that this debilitating, awful phenomena, disease, whatever you wanna call it, DOESN’T EXIST.

Half of you are probably enraged at me right now, especially if you’ve felt the pains of Writer’s Block. Others might just be in utter shock. Still others might be leaping for joy at what this might mean. And I applaud those who are leaping for joy, because that’s what ALL of you SHOULD be doing.

What do I mean by Writer’s Block doesn’t exist? I mean that it’s all in your head. You keep telling yourself “I just don’t feel like writing”, “I just can’t think of any ideas”, “I just don’t know how to continue”, etc. But those are all silly, yet quite common, EXCUSES.

Writing is a passion, yes. It’s something thrilling and exciting and leaves both the writer and reader often brimming with joy, but like all good things, it comes with HARD WORK, work that’s worthwhile.

So, when you’re feeling like you can’t write and giving all these excuses, push past it and WRITE. It can be great writing, or awful writing. It can be complex or simple, intricate or messy, the next bestseller or a project left to collect dust bunnies and cobwebs of all sorts.

Nonetheless, Writer’s Block is an excuse we create as writers to give up, to quit at our dreams. But this isn’t the way to deal with hardship in anything, let alone something that fuels some of our innermost desires.

In conclusion, WRITE when your inspired and can’t seem to put the pen down, WRITE when everyone hates your work but you know it’s worthwhile, WRITE when your brain feels useless and incapable of thought, WRITE.

Now, some of you maybe thinking, “Ok, that’s great, but what do I write? If I have no ideas, how am I supposed to even begin?” My first answer is that you can literally write about ANYTHING. You can choose something as simple as the first things you lay your eyes on.

Here, I’ll prove it. The first thing I saw was an… eraser. Ok, so this eraser, his name is Gerald Smith. He lives in the 2nd grade classroom on the third floor of Primrose Elementary School. But little Gerald is quite sad, for the pencil cup is right next to him, and all the pencils already have erasers on their heads. They taunt him day in and day out about how they’re used consistently and no child ever thinks to take the extra time and grab him. But then one day, the pencils’ erasers begin to run down. The children have used them all up in erasing Math problems and the like. Finally, Gerald has a chance to shine. He is the children’s LAST hope, in some ways more important than the easily accessible pencil tops. And thus, the story ends with Gerald happy to have fulfilled his purpose.

Now, this story isn’t the most interesting in the world, but it DOES get your creative juices flowing. Look at the underlying theme. A character feels useless because others are preferred to him, but in the end, he is the most important piece of the story, the resolution to the children’s problems. Now, couldn’t that theme be used in a much deeper story? YES!

One last way to write without ideas is to look up STORY PROMPTS. They can give you themes, words, or quotes to build a whole story off of, just as I did with Gerald the eraser.

Now, no more excuses, fellow writers!! Write like there’s no tomorrow! Let me know in the comments below of the sort of intriguing stories you may now have begun to come up with, and don’t forget to like this entry if you enjoyed it.