“Writing only happens when thoughts are written down” Herb Wharton
Are you a writer with writer’s block?
There is a solution to writer’s block and it is easy.
Write and give yourself opportunities to write. This can be done anywhere, anyhow, anytime? Carry a notepad and pen with you and when you get a smell moment scribble your thoughts down.
Why? Because writing is about transferring the inner talk of the mind’s thoughts into written words on a page, whether it be a paper page or digital file. It doesn’t matter as long as you write and it doesn’t even matter what you write about.
You may be two thirds through writing a potentially award winning book and get writer’s block. Then it’s best to stop and write something else or just step away. It could be any style or topic but what matters is that you continue the practice of writing your thoughts because when you get your next big idea for your novel could come at anytime and if you aren’t ready then you may miss the opportunity being presented.
So right now I sat down at my computer and thought, “I ought to write something… but Ive got nothing to write about sooooo….. I’ll write about writers block”
And now, here we are standing in water up to our knees.
As a creative, I don’t just write. I draw, sing, dance and play music and if I don’t have the inspiration to write then there are many other creative outlets. I guess this is why as a single man, I don’t get bored with my own company. Instead of using other people’s creative content to entertain myself, which is not super productive, I would rather create something in which the process of creation brings me joy but which I can also sell as an artist to enable me to keep creating and doing what I love.
I also enjoy drawing and exercise as well as writing poetry but there are times when I might not draw for months and other times where I will draw for weeks. However when I am not drawing, I don’t consider myself as having artist’s block because I will be creating something else like a poster, piece of furniture, T-shirt design, publishing a book or organising an event.
Back to topic….. In 2019 there were days where I would write 3 or more poems everyday but now I might only write one every day or so. But I don’t consider it as writers block. because I am doing other things.
If any thing, I suffer from procrastination as well as poor planning and execution which is the current focus of my personal development. That’s what I am working on and I’ll let you know how it is going in another blog post titled something like:
“Stop scrolling and get to work.”
The other option that I like to use in addressing writers block is the recording app on my phone. This is especially useful in a car driving and you can dictate what you want to write and then use a transcription voice to text app to put your spoken word into written form at a later time.
(It’s now 4 hours later) I got writers block writing about writers block so I got up went for a walk, had some dinner, chatted with friends, generally took myself far away from the computer. I went did something else totally different, fully trusting that when I came back to write that I would know what to write.
I recently read a great little book by the English comedian John Cleese “creativity: A short and cheerful guide” in which he wrote about trusting your subconscious to foment the words and thoughts in your down time. I find for me it is when my thoughts become unfocused away from what I am writing, especially when I am tired, then it is the best time to step away. Some days stepping away involves walking outside and standing in the sun for 10 minutes, then I will stretch a little and return to the task. Other days I will go on a longer break then sit down and continue.
The main reason that I love writing poetry is that it enables a deftness and succinctness in that it can express profound ideas with a variety of vocabulary , syntax and form. Plus it can often be written in one sitting and finished. However editing is often required to make a good poem fantastic.
Last week I wrote a quick poem of six lines and it was only the next day when I decided to publish it as an 8 page children’s book that I added the final two lines. That poem is titled: Johno the Cool Cat and was originally written on a piece of paper with a calligraphy pen and ink. I then took the poem, made a collage and printed it. (Each A3 coloured sheet cost me $1 to print and I sell them for $3 of which $1 profit comes to me and $1 profit goes to the Thundercloud Repairian Forest Fund to assist in forest regeneration and everyone benefits)
This is why I began the post by suggesting giving yourself opportunities to write. An opportunity to write can be a desk top, laptop, phone, notepad, or a piece of plain paper with a pencil or the back of a toilet door and photographed and posted on instagram. The point is, just write your thoughts down as Herb Wharton said in the quote at the top of this post.
I became a writer by writing and allowing the words in my head to flow out my hands and that’s pretty much it so being able to publish and sell my writing helps me to be able to continue writing.
I like writing because my writing makes me smile just like my dancing and playing music makes me smile and that also make other people smile. In my opinion there should be more smiling in the world, with dancing and giggles and tickles and wiggles and hugs.
One last thing. This blog post was not written in one go. It was written and honed in 6 different sessions over a period of one an a half days and Johno the Cool Cat was written over two days and the book took another day so in total there are about 12 hours of work to get this blog post to completion. I began Johno on Wednesday and will hit the publish button on Sunday……. Here goes (and I just reedited it for spelling and punctuation once again)
Johno the cool cat
Johno was a cool cat who like to have fun.
In the middle of the night he’d go for a run,
All around town, on the fences, in the parks.
Johno was a cool cat who loved wearing Clarks,
Desert boots and shorts with cool Hawaiian shirts.
Johno would go dancing until his feet hurt.
He’d sneak home in the dawn and the morning light
Then he’d sleep all day and go dancing all night
Thundercloud Repairian 