What Writer's Block Taught Me

I discovered a few things recently, but before I come to that, let me recapitulate slightly.

Since the second week of November I found myself unable to write a single word. People have termed this malady writer’s block. I found myself staring at blank pages, wanting to stain them with digitized ink, but failing to do so. Then I realised the reason I was blocked. You see the reason I was blocked was because I’d felt that my blog needed to meet some sort of a standard which needed to be maintained. I suppose you could say that I wanted a little consistency about what I wrote.

This was a near fatal mistake. I blog frequently, but I don’t really think I am consistent when it comes to writing. I write whatever I want to write and when I get valued feedback, I try to incorporate it into my writing. However, each piece I have produced has been unique in its own ways.

This particular thought process absolutely destroyed me and my writing capabilities. Now, we proceed on with the tale of my block. As I mentioned above, I discovered something recently, in December.

Expectations kill.

Think of it this way. You have an exam to face in a month’s time. You expect to top, but end up hitting rock bottom. That is what happened with me. I expected something from my writing which took away the whole fun of writing from me. I might go so far as to say that it was the reason behind my block and I would be right.

Therefore, I stopped expecting things and decided to let my writing go on unhindered by the weight of expectations. The results were instantaneous. I can write now. I do not plan to stop.

PS- New short story coming up around Christmas time!

The Bilge Master