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Friday, November 4, 2011

Writer's Block


What do you do when you can’t write? Someone asked me this question recently and I gave her a long list of ideas to help her get back into writing again. As I was driving around this afternoon I realized that the plain and simple truth to absolve writer’s block is simply to write. I have certainly had “writer’s block” many times and really what that means for me is that I start to write and then I critique it or think it’s bad writing and then I simply stop. I dreamily await some inspiration to come and visit me with hopes that I’ll then write something simply amazing that the world has been waiting for! But, usually that “inspiration” doesn’t come and then I get frustrated.

Lately, I’ve been making a lot of art and I’ve come to understand that if I wait for inspiration to come I will never make art. Writing is a practice, something that you show up for and have to put the time into, at least that’s been my experience. On the rare occasion a wonderful burst of writing will seemingly come out of nowhere, but for the most part I must show up to the page, listen, write, and keep the words flowing. You write your way through writer’s block.


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