This is a post that I went and written a few yonks back now over on an old blog I used to have, but it is still a very common situation I find myself in, so I thought I'd share ot with you all again.
Writer's block is a weird one. No, really, it is. It's one of those obstacles that only a specific group of people will ever experience. And I just have to be one of them, don't I?
And there's two completely different types of writer's block. There's writer's block, which is a genuine problem that we writers have to overcome, and then there's "writer's block". So, what's the difference I hear you ask... Well, let's take a look at that.
What is Writer's block?
A simple Google search of the term Writer's Block will tell you that it is "the condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing."
Which is very true. To an extent. Coming up with new ideas of your own is hard. I'm not even talking about original ideas, just ideas. Any ideas. So that's the first kind of writer's block.
The second kind is "Writer's Block". "Writer's Block" is the excuse that writers use when they can't be arsed to come up with new ideas, or even continue with ideas they currently have.
I'm currently experiencing the latter.
"Writer's Block" is very common among new and young writers, both of which I am. But I don't use "Writer's Block" to describe what I have. I can be arsed to write, I can. Because it's one of the very few things on this earth that I'm actually good at. Or at least it's one of the very few things on this earth that I think I'm actually good at.
There's not much I love in this world, but writing is one of them. The knowledge that whenever I want I can sit down in front of a blank screen and fill it with an entirely new universe, populated by people no one has ever met before, excites me more than anything.
But I have one very simple problem.
I lack inspiration.
It's a shit excuse, I know, but it's true. I just can't concentrate on anything productive in my room. I just sit there on Facebook, and that's really bad.
Then people say stuff like, 'well why don't you go the library and write there?' And that's a very good idea, until I get there and realised it's filled with annoying people that I hate who talk, and laugh, and generally have fun. I need a quiet room with a good film/TV score for me to actually do something.
As I write this on my phone I'm on the train home (after watching Rogue One (you can tell how long ago I wrote this, lol) listening to Ramin Djawadi's impeccable score to Season 6 of Game of Thrones, and it's going well so far. But a Facebook group chat with my friends from uni is currently "lit" and all I can think about is checking what's going on instead of writing this. But so far I'm winning (sorry, guys).
But what does that have to do with inspiration? Wasting so much time on Facebook means I don't get enough of it. And I truly believe that being inspired to write makes you a better writer.
There's a lot of things that inspire me, most notably watching films and TV Shows I love. Like I said, I've just watched Rogue One and I can't wait to get home so I can work on an outline for, what will hopefully be, my next short film.
But one thing I’ve noticed is that when other people come to me with the same problem I’m currently having I find myself thinking to myself ‘Oh, just shut up, get over it, and feckin’ write”.
So, that's what I'm going to do. I'm shut up, get over it, get of the train, go home, and write.
Wish me luck.
Mr. Dave, signing off.
For now...