Tuesday's Opinions: Writer's Block

It's Tuesday!  And this week's opinion: Writer's Block.

I confess I was totally stumped on what to write about today.  My brain feels officially fried.  I spent the past two weeks creating a new blog for my dance students (Dance Away! A Blog For Ballroom Dancers, in case you were wondering), and the amount of research and decision-making put into the blog was mentally exhausting.  This morning, I've just been sitting and staring blankly at this post's draft page, wondering what the hell I was going to write about.  So I figured I'd just write about my current problem: the dreaded writer's block.

I hate writer's block.  There's this feeling you get when you have it, like you know there's a room full of writing inspiration and creativity in the back of your brain, but the door to it is currently shut and locked, and you've misplaced the key.  And while you are desperately searching under the metaphoric couch cushions and deep inside the metaphoric black hole of a purse, there's your writing deadline; you must finish writing by the end of the day, or else your day is a total failure.

They say when you have writer's block should go for a walk, or just write about anything and everything.  I find that rarely works for me.  If I go for walk, then my mind just goes off somewhere else and thinks about random things that makes me wonder whether I have ADD or something.  I start daydreaming about what I would do if I won a million dollars, or of being a famous dancer on TV, and by the time I've come back to my desk, I discover I've still got nothing.  And if I just randomly start writing, I might get something really cool....just not for the thing I'm supposed to write about.

I've pulled all-nighters in the past because I can't figure out what to write for school papers.  Many times I thought I could be an author, but then my creativity would fizzle out by the time I figured out the first paragraph.  Apparently I have a creativity block when it comes to writing (kind of ironic considering I have blog now, right?).

Do I have my solution to writer's block?  Not really.  My best results usually come from have a good night's rest or from reading a book or article that relates somewhat to what I'm supposed to write about.  That frequently seems to help.  Motivation is a huge factor as well.  If I really don't want to write about a topic, my room of inspiration becomes deadbolted and barricaded with heaps of furniture and walls of cement, that even the world's biggest metaphorical battering ram can't break down (hence the all-nighters in college).  Sometimes, just finding the motivation to write is all I need to overcome the block.

In the end, writer's block can be dealt with, it's just a matter of when and how.  Such as today.  This morning I had no idea what to write about, but it seems that I've managed to wring something out of my tired brain.  Now I can shut my eyes and yawn, and then maybe take a nap. 




Note to self for the future: jot down some writing ideas for Tuesday's Opinions before Tuesday!

This has been a (short) posting from your local dancing bookworm.