Okay. Blog post. Let’s do this. The laptop’s fired up. My text editor of choice is ready to go. And my generic brand diet soda is at the ready.
Blog post. Blog. Post. Bloggy blog, blog, blog. Sigh. If you’re a writer, or if you only dream of “joining the club” and haven’t yet put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, you’re familiar with writer’s block. That dreaded, intangible entity that prevents you from pushing that Next Big Thing out of your brain like salty red fries from a Play-Doh factory. If you’re not familiar with this and writing comes easily to you every time, feel free to briefly switch to another tab so my burning jealousy doesn’t melt your screen. Sometimes writer’s block decides to put in a little extra effort, and it digs a moat around your Castle of Future Fame and Accomplishment by slipping your brain a handy list of reasons to not even bother with sitting in front of the computer. You’ve had a long day at work, and you deserve to stop brain-ing for the evening. You’d sit to write, but the household chores have piled up and you really ought to get to those. Or maybe you’re just wondering whether or not that guy in the new Marvel series is the guy from Downton Abbey (spoiler alert: he is). I struggle with this daily. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say that I don’t struggle with it, and I tend to simply roll over and play dead while my archenemy happily sets fire to my productivity before it’s even had a chance to be born. That’s not melodrama, by the way—procrastination and writer’s block are standing directly in the path of one of the single deepest desires of my heart. If it were a person intentionally preventing me from achieving that which I desire most to achieve in my lifetime, archenemy would sound a little less ridiculous, wouldn’t it? This is serious business. And it has to stop. But how? There are countless blogs and articles and musings online and in print to help you tackle this exact problem. But I’ve got my own take on the matter. I can sum up the approach in two simple words. Stop it. Not the writing, wise guy, I’m specifically referring to the not writing. You know all those valid-sounding reasons you do something else instead of writing? It’s garbage. I’m not saying that your kids don’t need you to pack their lunches for tomorrow or that you haven’t had a hard day working a full-time job. I’m not saying that those other things aren’t important or valuable. I’m saying that you doing those things in place of your passion is garbage. If you leave this post with nothing else holding onto the space in your brain between amusing movie quotes and a craving for ice cream, please hold onto this: If something is important to you, you will make time in your life for it. This goes for everything of value in your life. Your job. Your family. Your writing. I tend to be worn out by the time I am free to write. I can finally set my full-time job aside for the day, the kids are in bed, and the house is good enough to last until tomorrow. Do I want to write? Well… I want to say that I wrote, but I also want to blah with video games or Netflix. BFF, thy name is Instant Gratification. Tomorrow. Definitely tomorrow. But this is garbage! One day leads to the next, which leads to the next, and if you don’t stop the insanity, nothing changes. Listen to your buddy Daron on this. I know what I’m talking about. Are you hopelessly addicted to the Internet? Disconnect from your internet connection so you can focus a while. Are your eyes glued to your phone? Set it on the counter somewhere. If you have to be available for calls or texts, leave your ringer on so you’ll hear it if it happens. But get it out of your hand and out of reach. Do you have kids crawling over you constantly? See about getting your significant other or a friend or a babysitter to watch the kiddos, if only for a small writing break. I know it’s not easy and I understand the guilt or the fear that comes with leaning on other folks to pursue what is a desperate goal for you and sometimes viewed as non-essential by others. They may not understand, but I get it. I’m one of you. You’re one of us. But ask anyway. You may find them more willing or available than you think. The point is that if you don’t try to do what you can, then you’ve already given up. And you mustn’t ever, ever give up on this. I’m only saying this because I love you. Because I want to read what you’ve written. I want to see what you’ve created, and shower praise upon you not only for your brilliance and creativity but also because I know how damned hard it can be to make it happen. You’ve got this. Now close your browser and get going. * Contributing Blogger: Daron Shrode is an American author, who lives in San Antonio with his wife and daughters. He considers himself a fan of creativity in all its various forms, and he enjoys exploring it from multiple angles – from writing fiction, to composing and performing music, to software development. He may be reached at the following links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/DaronShrode Facebook Writer’s page: www.facebook.com/AuthorDaronShrode Website: www.daronshrode.wordpress.com
3 Comments
Miranda
2/14/2017 07:45:25 pm
Best line: "I understand the guilt or the fear that comes with leaning on other folks to pursue what is a desperate goal for you and sometimes viewed as non-essential by others."
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Iuliana Foos
2/16/2017 08:33:10 am
We all have our own struggles when it comes to writing. I could have never write while I was working full time, so everyone who is doing it, has my utmost respect.
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K.A. Botello
2/17/2017 12:21:45 pm
This is an inspiring post. It can be so easy to be distracted. Why is it so hard to do the thing you want more than anything else? You're right that procrastination and writer's block are the same stumbling block in slightly different guises. I never thought of them that way before, but they are both traps I must avoid in order to be productive.
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