Staring at a blank page is very intimidating. You’ve been having so many ideas run around in your head for the past week and then when it comes to sit down and put pen to paper, your mind turns blank.
This is what happens to me most days. I’m usually filled with hundreds of thoughts and ideas and then when I go to write, nothing comes out. Or if it does, it’s garbage.
I don’t even know where to start. Sometimes I just know a scene or I know how something will end and just write it out, but then it takes me (what feels like) forever and a day to work my way up to that ending. I find that whenever I get stuck like this, I usually gravitate to finding a book or watching a show to get my mind off the funk I’m in. Sometimes it works and halfway through reading/watching I grab my notebook or laptop and just start writing.
I hate it when I get writers block, because I feel incompetent. Sometimes I feel like I shouldn’t be a writer if I’m always running out of ideas or my ideas aren’t good enough. Those days I find myself in what my husband calls it “a mood” and I’m wrapped up in a blanket and curled up on the couch all day.
It’s great having my dog with me because she forces me off the couch to go outside or play with her. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have her. This blog is helping me a lot, too. If I’m having trouble writing, I can just write about it. I hope I don’t do it often and this is the only “I’m having writer’s block” post I’ll ever do.
Right now, I’m stuck on a couple short story ideas. I’m having difficulty expressing what I want to write about and I think it’s also performance anxiety. I’m doing this so I can show you all what a great writer I am. But in doing this, I’m also pressuring myself to be a great writer. I know that I don’t have to post perfect material; I’m doing this get better at writing and to get feedback, but it doesn’t hurt to hit the ball out of the park on the first swing!
Anyway, now that I’ve written out my difficulties, I’m going to try to get back and start writing some content for you to read.
Thanks for reading.
-Emi