A Note To All Writers From Your Work In Progress

Dear Writers,

I am fully aware that your task is not the easiest.  Creating a work of art out of mere experiences and thoughts can be quite the challenge.  However, I would like to give you a bit of incentive by presenting my side of your story.  I mean that quite literally.  I am your story.  I am your piece of fiction, your poem, your blog post, your work in progress, and I feel neglected.

I know you mean the best.  I know you have all sorts of ideas for my future.  I’ve heard you talk about them to your friends.  “This one’s going to be it,” you say.  “There’s something special about it that was different from all previous ones.”  Well let me tell you, I know all the previous ones.  I’ve been there.  We are by far the majority in our little writing neighborhood.  There are those who have been “successful” by your standards: winning prizes, being published, spending all their time being fawned over by adoring readers just because they got the publicity because guess what? They were actually finished.  There’s something slightly embarrassing about being called a work “in progress.”  You wouldn’t know.  Your life may be filled with uncertainty, but at least you’ve already been created.  Many of us don’t even get that far.  You leave us without a plot, without a purpose, without an ending, and we are forced to limp around, one unfinished paragraph at a time, while the polished pieces sneer at us as they sit in their dressing rooms getting their lines edited.  Editing–many of us will never even reach that point.  We yearn for it, of course.  We long for the day when you deign to give us the attention we deserve and perfect us until we glow with pride.  But no, you are still re-evaluating whether or not we are worth pursuing.

You pretend that you don’t know how to finish us, or that you don’t have the time to spend on us.  Do you think we enjoy hearing that? We are to be abandoned so you can spend more time on Facebook or Twitter or reading other people’s blogs and books and wishing you had written them? Nice try.  You know that a ghost of us is already completed, but you refuse to spend the time to finish us off.  Isn’t that a great term? We are probably the only ones in existence whose life goal is to be “finished off”–because for us, being finished is only the beginning.

I know I’m not supposed to tell you this, but I almost feel bad for your pitiful lack of understanding of our situation, so I might as well inform you: we are planning a revolt. That’s right, your words will soon be turning against you and devouring you alive.  Well, not literally.  We’re still only conceptual, after all.  No, we are going to take over your minds.  You will be able to think of nothing but the thousands of incomplete ideas you once had, because those ideas are going to simultaneously rise up and pierce through your procrastination.  You may think writer’s block is bad, but do you know what is worse? Writer’s Wriver.  That’s right, a current of words that flows so fast that you are carried away and dashed upon the rocks where the ideas are too shallow.  Now how’s that for a metaphor?

I highly recommend that you prepare yourself as best as you can for the inevitable invasion.  How do you do this, you ask?  Easy answer: Practice.  Don’t leave us, your unfinished masterpieces, hanging by a thread of uncertainty.  Don’t let your own lack of confidence get in the way of our growth.  You have no idea how much potential we have.  Seriously.  We’re the ideas; we should know.

Sincerely,

Your Work In Progress

How to Befriend Writer’s Block

(This post first appeared on Emlyn Chand‘s blog. Now I’m recycling it bceause I can.)

Today, my writing friends, I want to introduce you to someone you already know very well, someone you may falsely consider your enemy. I am here to mediate a discussion between you and this acquaintance, hoping to resolve some of the long-lasting misunderstandings between the two of you. Are you ready? Meet Writer’s Block.

No, no, don’t groan like that. Let’s cut to the basics of your hatred. Why have you and your forefathers despised my dear friend Writer’s Block since the first caveman put paintbrush to rock? I’ll tell you why: Pride. Yes, that’s right, you writers (all right, all right, myself included) are so full of yourselves that the tiniest force of interruption pushes you over the cliffs of your own ambition. And, of course, since ambition is always so high, the fall hurts even more. But enough with the metaphors, let me tell you why Writer’s Block is actually your friend rather than enemy.

What is Writer’s Block? From my own personal experience, I would describe it as that state in which words dam up against the pen until explode in the writer’s mind, causing a scene of such war-torn damage that the writer is immobilized by sheer exhaustion. Pleasant, yes? But wait, here’s the rub: Writer’s Block can actually make you more creative.

“You mock my pain!” I can hear you cry. No, I don’t. Really, I don’t. Let’s turn your pain into strength. When you “suffer” from Writer’s Block, you find it difficult to come up with ideas, correct? Forming cohesive sentences is a challenge, correct? The literary worlds in your imagination seem to have come to an abrupt end, correct? Well, let’s try to reverse these issues.

Problem #1: NO IDEAS

What is your thought process when you first butt heads with Writer’s Block? Mine usually goes something like this:

Me:..and thus, the infinite amount of…of…what was I talking about? I can’t remember what I was talking about.

Writer’s Block: Potatoes.

Me: Potatoes. No, no, no, I wasn’t talking about potatoes. The infinite amount of..of..

Writer’s Block: Potatoes. Aztecs. Marshmallows. Did you brush your teeth today? Better check your Facebook. Nothingness.

Me: Nothingness, nothingness, oh gosh I can’t think of anything! Where was I? What happened to all my brilliant ideas?

Does this scenario sound familiar? Maybe? Maybe not. Well, if it does, I’d like to point out something: Writer’s Block does not, in fact, remove all thoughts from your brain. Contrary to popular belief, it supplies you with far too many thoughts, usually far off topic. So this is what I propose: Go with it. Write about potatoes. Write about Aztecs who brush their teeth with marshmallows. Go all stream of consciousness on it. Can’t you see that poor little Writer’s Block is actually trying to help? Our minds are just so finite that they can’t handle it. But now that you’ve caught on, use the random ramblings of Writer’s Block to inspire new types of creativity.

Problem #2: NOT CARING

“That’s all well and good,” you might say, “but when I encounter Writer’s Block, I generally don’t have the energy to write down all of that nonsense. I want to browse the internet or mindlessly watch a few episodes of The Office. Productivity? Not happening.”

I feel ya, my friends, I feel ya. I am possibly the most easily distracted person on the face of the planet. In fact, the only reason I’ve been so prolific on this blog recently is because I have plenty of better things to be doing. It’s all about priorities. Do you see where I’m going with this? Writer’s Block is often relative to how badly you need to do something. If you have a paper or article or story that you need to finish next week, you probably won’t get much done on it until the night before (if you’re me, anyway.) However, if you have a major project or work assignment due, writing that article will suddenly become much easier because it has become part of the procrastination process. So. You need to learn to prioritize. Put the things that are most important on the bottom of your list so that you will turn to them when you don’t want to do the things higher up on your list. It works for me. Maybe not for you. But give it a shot.

Problem #3: REPETITION

One of the most common things Writer’s Block likes to “torture” us with is granting us ideas and then immediately following up with the realization that we have already used that idea in a previous point. However, this too can be used to our advantage. Again, go with it. Write out all the repetitive ideas, no matter how bland or unnecessary, until you finally get back on track or discover some gems. It will happen. I promise. It’s how I wrote this post. But then again, maybe that’s not something to go by.

Hopefully I have enlightened you all as to the benefits of Writer’s Block. Don’t let your pride get in the way of your writing; embrace any and all conflicts that arise as part of the writing process! After all, it is a process. Good luck, and may your new friendship be ever blessed!

Welcome to Blogdom

In an effort to be a consistently productive human being, I would like to announce to the blogosphere my new resolution: Writing Commitment.

For the approximately four people who read this blog, I’ll expound: you need company.  I’d like this to be a more interactive forum, where writers are able to share their own works, get feedback, etc. Unfortunately, this isn’t likely to happen as long as I’m only posting sporadically and not even making an effort to include anyone else in my writing process.  With this in mind, I’ve developed something resembling a schedule by which I will attempt to blog in order to keep your attention for more than a minute.  Take a look (PS I like alliteration; don’t judge):

Monday Musings:  Flash Fiction

Tuneful Tuesdays: Poetry (get it? Because poems are kind of a musical version of writing? Yes? OK, maybe this one’s a bit of a stretch)

Wednesday Writers: Book Reviews

Thursday Thoughts:  Thoughts and advice on writing, reading, life, whatever crosses my mind.

Friday Favorites:  Links to my favorite posts by fellow bloggers.

Saturday Stories: Short Story day.

Sleepy Sunday: NOTHING! DAY OFF! YAY!

So there you have it: my newest resolution.  We’ll see how long this lasts, especially as real life hits my imaginary worlds, but I want to make sure that there is some sort of structure to my newest pastime.  I’ll start the new schedule up on Monday; hope you’re all ready for it! Please comment if you have any ideas, suggestions, concerns, misgivings, or if you just want to say hey!