I have found for myself that my writing doesn’t get blocked as much as the well sometimes runs dry. Either I am in input or output mode, and if I have been in output mode too long then I run out...
I have found for myself that my writing doesn’t get blocked as much as the well sometimes runs dry. Either I am in input or output mode, and if I have been in output mode too long then I run out of things to say. That’s when I force myself to switch to input mode.
I believe that many writers don’t live fully enough to continually produce writing worth reading. They have their handful of things they like to say and a limited number of ways of saying it. And after a while they run out of ways to combine those few things.
I was a young Hollywood writer. I’d only staged three of my own plays when CAA found me and started my career as a screenwriter. But I was filled with misgivings at 26. It was too easy. The privileged position I’d been given was too important for me to waste it on merely clever or facile stories.
So I stepped back for a few years, convinced that I needed to live before I could offer writing that was worth reading or seeing onscreen. In short, I had no wisdom and nothing worth saying.
Now in my 50s, the experiences and losses I’ve lived through give me far more fuel for my fires and I haven’t had writers block in like 20 years.
I know that reading is commonly given as a solution to writer's block, but I think people underestimate the value of life experience in colouring one's writing.
I know that reading is commonly given as a solution to writer's block, but I think people underestimate the value of life experience in colouring one's writing.
I like this. It’s a refreshing take on the B word, thank you for sharing. I’m also a fan of Flowers’ recommendations for how to avoid giving into that silencing self-doubt in the first place.
I like this. It’s a refreshing take on the B word, thank you for sharing.
I’m also a fan of Flowers’ recommendations for how to avoid giving into that silencing self-doubt in the first place.
I have found for myself that my writing doesn’t get blocked as much as the well sometimes runs dry. Either I am in input or output mode, and if I have been in output mode too long then I run out of things to say. That’s when I force myself to switch to input mode.
I believe that many writers don’t live fully enough to continually produce writing worth reading. They have their handful of things they like to say and a limited number of ways of saying it. And after a while they run out of ways to combine those few things.
I was a young Hollywood writer. I’d only staged three of my own plays when CAA found me and started my career as a screenwriter. But I was filled with misgivings at 26. It was too easy. The privileged position I’d been given was too important for me to waste it on merely clever or facile stories.
So I stepped back for a few years, convinced that I needed to live before I could offer writing that was worth reading or seeing onscreen. In short, I had no wisdom and nothing worth saying.
Now in my 50s, the experiences and losses I’ve lived through give me far more fuel for my fires and I haven’t had writers block in like 20 years.
I know that reading is commonly given as a solution to writer's block, but I think people underestimate the value of life experience in colouring one's writing.
I like this. It’s a refreshing take on the B word, thank you for sharing.
I’m also a fan of Flowers’ recommendations for how to avoid giving into that silencing self-doubt in the first place.