As I walk I wonder and often think about my writing.
Lately, I came to consider writer’s block.
For many people writer’s block is staring at a blank sheet or screen having no idea what to write. They want to write. Maybe they enjoy reading and want to write as a result, and aren’t sure how to start. Maybe they took writing and English courses or even an MFA and want to share what they learned, but haven’t put their finger on the right story to tell.
This isn’t my issue with writer’s block. For me, I write because I have something to say and my issue is finding the right way to tell the story I feel the need to tell.
Recognizing this came to me piece by piece. I had been working on a non-fiction project. When I made pretty significant progress – I had a draft, revised the concept, thought I had it right, revised it again, felt better and then decided if it was going to truly be good I had to hone my writing skills.
In order to do that I took up fiction writing. I believed if I could write better fiction it would greatly improve my non-fiction writing.
I learned a lot about craft and what I liked and wanted to do with my writing. Most important was that I couldn’t just write a story without being passionate about what I wanted to say. My stories fell back to personal experiences and the messages from them that I wanted to share.
I found that I really enjoyed Creative Non-Fiction and while I could write fiction, I did it best when those themes that I had to share shone through. My writing that didn’t do this fell flat or didn’t get finished. It taught me to not write for the sake of writing, but to write to say something, and if I had nothing to say – don’t write.
This led me to understand where writer’s block comes from and that is wanting to write but not having anything to say.
For me at least, I learned it is not worth my time and I don’t get the satisfaction at this stage of life in writing unless I have something to say.
And yet, when writing with meaning, I found there were still times when I still got stuck.
I find on days when I’m not writing a lot, and I write every day, are the ones when I’m unclear on how to say what I want to say.
I only realized this recently, hence this post.
When I struggle to write I now know to pull back and consider how I’m saying it and reconsider it, because my struggle is my subconscious telling me what I am doing is wrong.
By wrong, I mean there is a better way. It is like having in your mind the ideal you are trying to achieve and knowing the direction won’t get you there.
At this point don’t try to forge ahead, pull back, take a break and reconsider. Maybe work on something else or read. It will work itself out as you work out the right way to present it, and once you do the writing will start to flow again.
My learning this week, then, is to avoid writer’s block by having something to say and when that gets blocked figure out the right way to write it by stepping away and letting it breathe. The right approach will come to you. Its there. It only needs some time to present itself.
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