Fact or Fallacy

You want to write but you can't. You have this piece you
desperately want to get out, but, every time you sit down
to it, you totally freeze. Or you can only write....um crap.

Or maybe you're the opposite -- you've always been prolific, your fecundity’s impressive, churning out one piece after another but now, just at the point where everything should be flowing mellifluously, it seems as though the well of ideas has dried up.

Many stories and books have been written about it, plays and movies been made on the subject too, but are there any real reasons behind it or are they just at variance with the truth, and that it is just a myth. This "syndrome", people, is the " Writer's Block ".

Now tell me how many of you apt and able WRITERs out there who’ve experienced similar periods of percolation, (to quote science fiction writer Spider Robinson, "you ARE writing, you're just not TYPING yet") bouts of barrenness or your brains simply went bust ….because mine did. Believe you me, for the longest time, mine did! Although I do not necessarily deign myself as a writer but I do write poems.

I was in the most turbulent relationship in history of the known world and it halted and altered my mental acuity to the point where I turned into an intellectual mush much of the time. I became an introverted extrovert ( Yes, Mr Kenny Mah, if you're reading this, you'd know why I've described myself as such ) But I’m on the mend literarily, ergo this blog.

But this post isn’t about me, so lets get back on track here, what I’m most intrigued by is the attributing factors to a writer’s block WITHOUT the involvement of another living, breathing entity.

Could the causes be time (or the lack of it ), ailments of the body or mind or just plain rhythm? The natural rhythm that even prolific professional writers sporadically experience, I think. Numerous writers ( i.e. Diana Tamblyn, Woody Allen ) have their own take on it and one of them is Rowena Murray who has the subject covered in her book.

An extract from Ms. Murray's book from the excerpt featured on Guardian Unlimited;
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Writer's block is a specific problem often identified by name. Whatever meanings different writers attach to it, it is a term we recognize.

Anecdotally, it seems to be the term most often used for the most acute problems with generating text. It is also the one that is most feared - by any writer - and, perhaps, the most difficult to resolve.

In fact, the term 'writer's block' may be a term that people latch on to in order to try and explain why they are not writing; in the absence of a more precise definition, they resort to this term as a kind of catch-all. It certainly identifies the problem, even if it does not account for it. [Link to full article]

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I do believe that this condition isn't uncommon an affliction of writers and such but it is up to the individual to find solutions to overcome the impediment and increase one's productivity.

This quote, I think, of Mr Dave Taylor who's also a writer says it all;

"You're writer, and your task is to type, to put words down, to produce. Writer's block is for writers and hobbyists who enjoy the anguish and angst of "the creative process". One of the very best things I ever learned about writing was from professor Peter Elbow's books, that WRITERS WRITE".

So yes, you able writers out there, what's your take on it?

“ummmmmmmmmmmmmm...sure”
~ Oscar Wilde on Writer's Block

“Okay, so they get in the ship... and...”
~ Stephen King on Writer's Block

“I guess I'll write that thing where the man tries to catch a fish...”
~ Ernest Hemingway on Writer's Block