There’s No Such Thing as Writer’s Block
I was an English major in undergrad. I briefly wrote for my college newspaper. After graduation I wrote an essay for an anthology and a few articles for local publications. I also landed an editorial internship / reporter gig. I wrote essays for a few internet magazines. It was all leading up to something: my journey as a writer. But it’s been many years since. I’ve taught students. Performed poetry. Been a featured author or poet at venues. Had poetry featured in journals and magazines. Lived. Laughed. Traveled a lot.
One thing I have continued to hear over the years from various writers is that there are periods where they have “writer’s block.” I always listened attentively about it. There was usually some stressful circumstance surrounding. A bad job. An even worse relationship. Falling out of love with the genre one is writing in. Running out of ideas.
It makes me think about the scene in the Stephen King movie “The Shining” where the main character “Jack” played by Jack Nicholson was feverishly writing his supposed masterpiece everyday on a typewriter, stacking up pages of what his wife believed to be his novel. But when the camera zooms in on his long suffering wife’s view of the pages in the typewriter, all she saw were the words “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” The words were repeated on thousands of pages. You felt a mixture of…
