Philip Palmer
Writer's block is a curse, and a blessing. Earlier in my career I went through long patches of not being able to write. Since I wasn't being paid to write, it was easy to despair and think about giving up, and taking up my backup career of traffic warden.
But over the years I've learned that the Block can be a way in which the subconscious tells the conscious mind Stop! You're going down the wrong road! Now I trust my instincts, and if it's not 'flowing' I take a break. For days even. I just avoid confronting the blank page and find other stuff to do. Until suddenly it's 'there'.
It makes my life adrenalin-rich because sometimes I let my mind lie fallow for so long I bump up against deadlines. Scary scary deadlines. But so far - touch wood, he says, knocking his own thick cranium - inspiration always hits in the nick of time.
But over the years I've learned that the Block can be a way in which the subconscious tells the conscious mind Stop! You're going down the wrong road! Now I trust my instincts, and if it's not 'flowing' I take a break. For days even. I just avoid confronting the blank page and find other stuff to do. Until suddenly it's 'there'.
It makes my life adrenalin-rich because sometimes I let my mind lie fallow for so long I bump up against deadlines. Scary scary deadlines. But so far - touch wood, he says, knocking his own thick cranium - inspiration always hits in the nick of time.
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