Writers block…Hah! Why worry…

Quite a few bloggers I have read have something to say on the subject…writers block, that is. I’ve often wondered why it bothers them so much. Two thoughts always enter my head when I read that sort of stuff…

First, if you suffer from writers block, to any appreciable extent, then, really, you should be asking yourself, not, ‘what do I write?’, which is the question usually nagging away at you, but, instead, ’why am I writing?’. It seems to me, if you don’t have so much to say that there aren’t enough hours in the day to write it, then, arguably, you shouldn’t be writing at all. My view on writing, and indeed any other pursuit, amateur or professional, is that it should be a natural part of your persona, it should be something you feel compelled to do, at some level, not something that it had occurred to you to do, one day, on the basis that, yeah, I’d like to be able to write, or whatever..

I’m a gigging musician, that’s to say, I play music, to a paying audience, in public places, pubs, clubs, that sort of thing. It’s quite common for audience members to approach me at the end of a show and start a conversation about the performance, or just live music, generally. Quite often, in the course of the conversation, they’ll make remarks along the lines of, ’It must be nice to play an instrument; you’re very lucky, you have the talent. I’ve always wanted to play Piano, myself..’ I’m thinking, ‘Er, no you haven’t, or you’d be doing it’. They just fancy the idea of putting on a bit of a show when the mood takes them. These people are rather like the writers who think it would be nice to write, but don’t really have the need to write, and, accordingly, often find it very difficult to find something worthwhile to say. You see, I don’t play guitar because I’d quite like to, but because I need to..it’s quite simply part of who I am.  I think good, interesting writing generally comes from people who need to write, need to place ideas before the world.            

Second, it always occurs to me that, surely, writers block is a transient thing. It doesn’t last forever. After all, how many people are actually struck dumb, as it were, suddenly, for no reason, after a lifetime of talking? Not many, I’ll wager. Most people are stuck for something to say, at some time in their  lives, (some of us, every day), but it’s generally pretty temporary, and they are back in full flow, in no time. Now, what do you do when you are stuck for a contribution to a conversation? You have two choices. You can say nothing, or you can spout a piece of pointless, meaningless verbalisation. Which is preferable? The former, I believe, that is, say nothing. So, faced with that choice, as a writer, sitting in front of your PC, or word processor, is there any difference? No, I don’t think so, either. Writing something pointless is , well, er, pointless…

Of course, I suppose, if you are a professional writer, faced with a copy drought and a deadline, it’s a different story.. you have to say something. Arguably, though, you wouldn’t be a pro without the need to write, and an endless flow of points of view on almost anything. Those prerequisites would be in you, a part of you. So, we are back to my first point.

If you are simply an amateur, even one with a burning desire to write, why do you need to write something today? Can’t it simply wait, until you do have something worthwhile to say? Ah, you say, but the blog statistics, my blog page hits are falling, I’m not getting the attention I crave, I have to do something! No, you don’t. I’m very emphatic about that, and for a very simple reason. Most people who read blogs, or any other literature, for that matter, want to be informed, advised, or entertained, and preferably all of those, simultaneously… so, if you don’t provide those things, you will lose your audience anyway, and pretty quickly. Quality always out performs quantity, when it comes to an audience, who are looking for something of value to them, in your work. People will always follow you and your work, if they know you will provide the value for which they are looking. Your audience will be patient enough to wait, until you are ready to write for them.

It’s my opinion, that you should never be concerned about writers block, if you are writing from your heart. The words will always come, when they are ready, fully formed, when it truly is their time..

George Bolam