I adopt a head-in-the-sand approach to pretty much everything. If I’m angry with someone, I’ll let it brew rather than talk about it. If someone has really upset me, I’ll pretend they no longer exist. And if I’m suffering from acute writer’s block, I’ll just stop writing.
Three weeks ago I blogged about the utter crapness of writer’s block (update: I’ve still got it). Since then I’ve been the lucky recipient of much helpful advice and I’ve used that to formulate a little plan. So, once I’ve had some breakfast and changed out of my pyjamas here’s what I’ll be doing:
1. Start a diary. For some time I thought a blog was the same as a diary – a place to scribble about my thoughts, feelings etc. But I need something that isn’t censored for an audience. I expect it to include the indescribably boring (“The tube was a bit crowded today”), evil things I wouldn’t dare say in a public forum and general emotional gubbins I don’t like talking about. Obviously I won’t show it to a soul.
2. Write. And write. And write. Most of the advice I’ve been given is to worry about quality later and just concentrate on getting the words out. So I’ll be aiming to write every day, no matter how disheartening and horrible it feels to see the crap that’s coming out. Even if these are words that nobody ever sees, it’ll be good to get back in the habit of forming sentences and paragraphs and things.
3. Get feedback. Thankfully I have very understanding editors who are happy to check over my work and give me constructive criticism. Honestly, I don’t know why I didn’t speak to them about it sooner.
Hopefully my little plan will get me back on track. Not to say that I was a fantastic writer before this writer’s block kicked in. Far from it. But it was something that I enjoyed. And I really want to get that feeling back.
