The Writer's Block- My Experience.

I first heard about this term from my wife when I was struggling with the writing process of my first novel about five years back. I had not yet written anything to be considered a writer but still what I had was a writer’s block, I was told. Second time when I experienced the block was when I started writing the first draft of my second book. And now, I am experiencing again after finishing my second book. So, if you ask me, the writer’s block does exist, and is very frustrating.

Some say its not real, just a state of mind. One article said that it was all in the mind of a writer and not a real block as such. I agree partially. Yes, it is a state of mind because in creative writing, everything is in the mind of the writer. The plot, story, characters, conversations, dialogues etc. When the writer is not able to move forward with these ideas, it is a Writer’s Block.

How does it feel? I felt as if the characters refused to speak to me. When I tried to put them in to different situations and observe how they would behave, to my frustration, they refused to respond. I felt as if I was trying to move forward, but stuck against an invisible wall. No matter how hard I tried, I was not able to move forward.

At first I denied its existence, then felt frustrated and angry, later depressed and now, I feel relieved to have finally typed a few hundred words. Yes, this article is my attempt to restart my writing routine after a break of almost two months. So, I am not worried about the quality of this article but just the fun and love of juggling a few words and sentences together.

Why does this happen? It may be due to a change in routine, or a seemingly harmless break which got a bit too extended, or the lack of energy to start a new project after draining out all the energy in to the last project, or just an inability to write for no known reason. In my case, it was a combination of all these factors. I got busy with my clinic work, a two weeks break to concentrate there got extended to two months. The fact that I had finished and secured publishing contract for second novel did add to the complacency.

Finally, when I decided to restart again I realised that I was not able to sit in front of my table for even five minutes. I tried to get up early, to stay awake late night, to write in between clinic breaks, listened to motivational videos and quotes, but nothing worked. Yesterday, I came across a quote which said, “Excuses sound best to the person who make them.”

I decided to try again. I tried to write yesterday night but, failed again. I woke up today morning at 6:00 am and tried again. Finally, I could write a few words; the result is this article. I know that I am bound to have many more such episodes, hopefully someone or something from within or outside will keep me motivated to continue.

Please do share your experiences about any such episodic block, not just creative but in any field so that we can help each other to be motivated and move forward.