✧ Writer’s Block ✧

I know I’m not the only one here when I say. . . writer’s block sucks! And I can prove it. These very words you’re reading are the result of the crude, uncivilized thing known as writer’s block. Call it a passion project, call it desperation to contribute a verse to this website, call it boredom because I’ve been sitting at a desk two long and am one tick tock of time away from going bonkers! The question remains however, in this world of non-stop entertainment possibilities, what causes unexplainable deflation of character and purpose? What I mean is why do we get writer’s block? Do you know? Yes, you. The person across the screen who of every potential chance and circumstance is here today. Tonight. In the starlight. Oh, wherever you find yourself merry and bright! Ha ha!

But enough of the Riddler talk, I’ve never understood nor accepted the excuse of boredom to stop productivity, after all how can such a trivial minor thing with the littlest authority to be present in modern man’s life, take up so much of Father Time’s hours. It’s an injustice really, not just writer’s block, all delaying feelings and emotions, just think of it this way. On average a regular person will spend approximately one third of their life, dreaming instead of getting out in the world and doing. I’m not here to criticize the All-Mighty’s inner construction of life, after all everyone needs their beauty sleep and if I don’t get at least eight hours of rest each night I awake awfully cranky, but the point is what in our brain causes writer’s block?

Is it a simple disinterest of topic, perhaps, or a chemical imbalance in the head, maybe. I looked to find all the answers on the great wide web. And what I found disappointed me in the greatest respect- rejections from literary journals, disagreements with book publishers, a lack of time and resources, author perfectionism. Our. You. Serious! With my train of thinking, I was expecting Steven Hawking type answers, not this rubbish. No, I’m not saying these answers are invalid and I do believe them, but surely with the complicity of the human mind that can conjure rocket science and astrophysics, scientists would’ve done some more digging. Whelp guess this is my punishment for trusting in a corporation like Google who has the same colors and sophistication as the McDonalds fast food chain. But then sulking in my chair at my lack of information, it’s as if a fairy heard my subconscious commands and poofed exactly my kind of answer on the computer. “Scientifically, the two sensations correlate with brain activity. Research shows that individuals experiencing writer’s block have less activity in the frontal lobe, while their temporal lobe is hyperactive. Your writer’s block isn’t purely mental, it’s physical too.”

So yes my instincts were right, about it having to do with brain activity but I didn’t anticipate the physical aspect. Curiosity killed the cat and I peeked at methods to do away this writing curse and of course I got the usual. Enhance your workspace, plan a time and make a habit, read, write yourself out, don’t give your work a name, try a writing prompt, and except the fact it’s okay to be flawed in your writing. This would be a difficult procedure for me because I have bad OCD and I am a obbsessor over fifty percent of what I do, but can understand why it’s a method as just thinking something through can set you free. If only it were that easy for all people and writing good came as naturally as breathing, but if we did we’d all be living Shakespeare’s and as they say once everyone’s good at something no one is. What actually killed the cat however was like I said the physical part.

I’ve always been a believer that our environment can build you up or break you down and not just those around you, yes they factor in but I’ll bet money you could live with the kindest people known to man but if you rise in a drab, dark, dank, space you’re going to want to dig yourself a hole and die after a long enough stay in such a setting. And this can not just be disheartening, it can become literal torment. In prison, inmates can be put in isolation, in which they’re separated from all human contact for the most part, in a small room, and inmates can attest it is a horrible thing indeed. In fact there’s even a worse version called the “white rooms” where everything is white and you get to stay there for days on end and it’s been commonplace for prisoners in such confinement to lose their grasp on reality and slip into madness if they don’t get out by a certain period. How would you enjoy living in a dark cage with nothing to satisfy your boredom, nowhere to go and no one to talk to. Would you voluntarily sign up? Don’t think so. Forget mind over matter, those results showed that as creatures we need a nice place to be to feel truly exuberated and enthusiastic to do a task like writing willingly and fulfilling.

And don’t think this paper is asking you to move out of your house into a mansion at the Bahamas(although I wouldn’t protest) to cure writer’s block I’m merely distributing the advise our friend the internet has to offer. When you’re feeling writer’s block, get out and clear your mind. Sometimes our head is so full with poor ideas and discouragement, the only healthy way to flush it out is by doing something that makes you happy, in your personal happy place, no matter where that be. It could be at the beach, on your phone, or in the loving, warm, accepting, supportive embrace of a loved one. Writer’s block is a nuisance but it is not a terminal illness. It can be cured if you put enough effort into it and if you can’t that proves it’s not writer’s block holding you back but something else I can’t help you with, only you can. If you have the initiative, drive, and goal in place, you will have every essential tool you need to keep moving forward in action and less in the dark entropy of setback. Mix things up your kind of way and live without the threat of. . . . . .umm . . . uhhhhh . . . .ah writer’s block!