Writer’s Block

I ran out of words the other day, while writing in my journal. Why does that happen? What dries up my word pool? I don’t know. I do know that when that happens, the best thing I can do is just force words out into this journal. It won’t turn out to be anything readable, usually, but it will force me to write. The best cure for writer’s block is to write. So it’s crap. So what? A lot of what I write is crap and that’s all there is to it. Everything I write is crap. My journal is full of crap. It’s what you do with the crap that is important, not the crap itself.

Sometimes you can’t do anything about it. Sometimes crap is just crap. Then there are the times when crap is more like clay that we can mold into something else, something new and different. That’s what we hope for when we shove the words out through writer’s block. It doesn’t always happen, but when it does, we feel vindicated for our perseverance. We feel good. Feeling good about things you have done, or even just thought is good for us. We need to feel good about ourselves.

My journal is also full of things that grew out of crap. Maybe they aren’t Pulitzer material, but they aren’t crap either. Some may see the light of the published day someday; others will languish in the shadows. The crap will stay in the deep dark and never see light at all. That’s a good place for it, but you should never just abandon the crap. Get the crap out and then tweak it. Sometimes there are seeds in the crap.

I guess my point is that everyone gets writer’s block. It comes to us all. There’s no escape. If you write, you will get writer’s block. Some people write happily, hit that section of dammed up words, and stop. They give up. Writer’s block is more than a block; it’s the feeling that you will never be any good at writing so why bother. Some people just give into the feeling.

The real writers don’t give in to it. They wrestle with the words to get them out into the world. They fight, sweat, and struggle. Eventually, they win and the block crumbles letting the words flow again. Real writers have a drive to write. They will write come hell, high water, or damned up words. We are writers and nothing will get in the way of our drive to get the words out. Even if it is crap, just get the words out. Then sift through the crap for any gems that might have slid out with the crap. Eventually the words will flow again. Eventually, the crap becomes something beautiful. Sometimes crap can be useful. Sometimes crap is fertilizer.

This blog was written as a way out of writer’s block. That’s why it’s important just to keep going. Even when you have no words to say anything, just spew out the words, forced as they may be. You never know what you could end up with, crap or a blog.

About pebblepup

I am not one who is comfortable talking about myself but here goes. I enjoy writing, family history, and reading. I decided to do this blog because I wanted to try something new. I decided to make it a weekly blog because I wasn't sure that I could keep up with a daily one, and monthly seemed like I was writing a magazine. I think I did ok with my choices. You'll notice that there are not a lot of graphics on my site. That's because there are graphics plastered everywhere on the Internet and those sites sometimes take forever to load. This blog is a place where you can kick back, relax and be ready to be amused. At least I hope I willbamuse you. This blog is on a variety of subjects from my ficitional cat agency, the FFL, which is monthly, to instructional blogs to editorials, which are my opinions only. I admit that I don't know everything and could be wrong -- I frequently am. Now, stop reading about me and read what I have to say!