Writer's Block

After an incredibly busy week, I finally found some time to relax.  One of my ways of relaxing is to write, so I start up my laptop…..and my mind goes completely blank.  Nothing.  No words.  No ideas.  No strong feelings to invoke writing ideas.  Mind you, I felt at peace and my surroundings were calm.  I was relaxed, well, at least as relaxed as I ever am.  But when trying to write, nothing means no words.  After staring at the screen for a few minutes, I realize I must be suffering from writer’s block, and attempting to write something would be a waste of time.

For a writer, writer’s block is a serious problem, especially for someone who makes a living writing.  Fortunately, my day job is as a research scientist.  Even so, it is disconcerting not to come up with an idea for a piece, an article, or a poem.  When thinking about the reasons why I might have writer’s block, I realize that I have been intensely focused on work.  I have put a lot of pressure on myself to help further our research and develop new products to counter a competitive threat.  Although exhilarating, it has been stressful.  A high degree of creativity is required to be successful in research.  And I have focused my mind on attempting to come up with new ideas, yet mining ideas is not something you can force your mind to do.  In fact, the best thing to do is to relax, keep your mind clear and open, and often the very idea you need pops into your head.  So how is this different from writing?  Well, it isn’t any different.  So could the fact that I am focusing my creative self on work be keeping me from coming up with writing ideas?  Or are the long hours and intensity at work requiring me to find different forms of relaxation?  I imagine both are true.  So besides potentially not having an original piece for my blog this week, my writer’s block is merely a minor annoyance, not a catastrophe.

Sometimes writing ideas can be really subtle.  Perhaps if I divert my mind off of work and the other demands on my life for just a short time and attempt to still my mind, those elusive writing ideas will come flooding through.  And my writer’s block will be cured.  Until then, I will attempt not to worry about it and enjoy some of the other things I enjoy doing.

 

photo credit: HurwiczRocks (Wikimedia Commons)