I’ve passed off my lack of inspiration over the past couple of weeks as being busy and a bad case of burnout, but this new week I see the truth: I have writer’s block. Ah, the block. It’s the bane of a writer’s life, and puts us in a perpetually peevish mood.
Advice abounds on overcoming it. Some say to push on through and write anything, even if it’s trash that nobody reads. Others encourage a break, since it’s an obvious sign of burnout. This is the route I might have taken a few years ago, but I’ve had a realization during my recent meditations: if you’ve got a block that won’t break, then you might as well build something with it.
I followed this idea, and realized that I'm in a rut with my writing and reading. Duality is a refreshing break from my norm and I would like to expand back into writing mystery, but my scifi writing has settled into a regurgitation of the same old plots, themes, and ideas as I’ve been working on Broken Time. I suppose it makes sense. That novel has required a lot of planning and research, so naturally it’s stuck in the brain. I noticed that over the weekend as I looked back over the short stories I’ve written over the past few months and realized that wow, I really do need to branch out. It's the same with my reading: nothing looks good because it all looks the same. If I’m “taking up more space” as they urge in meditation and yoga, then my creativity should as well. It seems I need help in this area, and I finally had a great idea last week: join reader groups on Goodreads and Facebook. Maybe other people could show me what I'm missing and give me suggestions to build something different than the same old things that I read and write all the time.
I know, this blog is supposed to be about how real life inspires writing. It does, but the thing about the relief of the day to day routine is that it's inspiration is limiting. A single perspective gets limited anyway and you have to branch out and hear from others to expand your space and find new perspective. I haven’t had any amazing breakthroughs yet, but I feel good about this approach and enjoy the interactions. It's going to take time and patience to see where this leads. Ah patience, that unappreciated virtue that solves most woes. It’s not easy, but I shall endeavor to embrace this space and build what I can in it.
I'll finish and publish my works in progress, but I realize that these are bookends in this season of my writing: Broken Time will wrap up the theme of redefining through grief and loss, and Duality is launching a new season of incorporating an element of discovery that, I hope, will launch new themes and concepts in my future work. It's time to move on. Here's hoping this writer's block is the cornerstone of this new season of life manifesting in amazing creative work in the future.
That’s all today. Take care, and have a great week.
Bye!
Advice abounds on overcoming it. Some say to push on through and write anything, even if it’s trash that nobody reads. Others encourage a break, since it’s an obvious sign of burnout. This is the route I might have taken a few years ago, but I’ve had a realization during my recent meditations: if you’ve got a block that won’t break, then you might as well build something with it.
I followed this idea, and realized that I'm in a rut with my writing and reading. Duality is a refreshing break from my norm and I would like to expand back into writing mystery, but my scifi writing has settled into a regurgitation of the same old plots, themes, and ideas as I’ve been working on Broken Time. I suppose it makes sense. That novel has required a lot of planning and research, so naturally it’s stuck in the brain. I noticed that over the weekend as I looked back over the short stories I’ve written over the past few months and realized that wow, I really do need to branch out. It's the same with my reading: nothing looks good because it all looks the same. If I’m “taking up more space” as they urge in meditation and yoga, then my creativity should as well. It seems I need help in this area, and I finally had a great idea last week: join reader groups on Goodreads and Facebook. Maybe other people could show me what I'm missing and give me suggestions to build something different than the same old things that I read and write all the time.
I know, this blog is supposed to be about how real life inspires writing. It does, but the thing about the relief of the day to day routine is that it's inspiration is limiting. A single perspective gets limited anyway and you have to branch out and hear from others to expand your space and find new perspective. I haven’t had any amazing breakthroughs yet, but I feel good about this approach and enjoy the interactions. It's going to take time and patience to see where this leads. Ah patience, that unappreciated virtue that solves most woes. It’s not easy, but I shall endeavor to embrace this space and build what I can in it.
I'll finish and publish my works in progress, but I realize that these are bookends in this season of my writing: Broken Time will wrap up the theme of redefining through grief and loss, and Duality is launching a new season of incorporating an element of discovery that, I hope, will launch new themes and concepts in my future work. It's time to move on. Here's hoping this writer's block is the cornerstone of this new season of life manifesting in amazing creative work in the future.
That’s all today. Take care, and have a great week.
Bye!
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