Reflections on writer's block

All during my writing career I’ve often heard about “The Writer’s Block.” So, that’s what we are going to talk about today. Among other things, of course. So, from this point on, all restrictions are off, which allows you to jump in at any time with your opinion. And, if you really want to be heard you can send your “two cents worth” to the editor of the press, bearing in mind the conditions set forth in the paper’s submissions guidelines. I hate to think about how many years I’ve been writing, usually as a bi-vocation. If I told you how long that would be, you’d know how old I might be and I surely don’t want to venture into that admission. But in so saying, I’m pointing out the fact that, with all this writing, I’ve never had a chronic case of writer’s block. Whatever it is. I don’t know whether it’s psychological or just philosophic or maybe neither. Let’s, see – I bet “Google” knows. “Writer’s block—wanting to write and not writing—is a persistent problem that every writer (yes, every writer), deals with, and one that has ended far too many writing careers.” There you have it, Google says every writer deals with the “Writer’s Block.” Maybe, since I only write about what I want to write about, (usually) it is not a chronic problem. Whereas a writer writing for a living may have special conditions and circumstances. If I have fought writer’s block, I wouldn’t describe it as a block but more like a distraction. And, I declare that distractions are my major writing blocks. Distractions, the major opposition to dedicated focus. Life is so full of distractions, not just for writers but to every creative attempt that requires concentration, dedication and focus. Yet, I know so many writers who can write thousands of words about almost any subject. To them, it’s a matter of picking out a subject, maybe only a few words, and away they go. I guess I would put them into the category of “Word Merchants”, that is, writers who sell their work by the word count and the more words they use, well $$$. Not a trait that I could ever master. But, believe it or not, the writer usually learns more during the writing than does the reader during the reading. The answer to that is simple, every good writer does a lot of research before the first word goes onto the paper. And, to me that is the most exciting part of writing, I love the research. Which is very time consuming. So, if a guy like me is writing a one thousand word column, several to many hours of research has already taken place. If you don’t like research, don’t write, it’ll just be garbage. While on the other hand, good and thoughtful writing my be the tool that will help shape some struggling soul. There are many important subjects to write about, not just contemporary but historical as well, that could be important to your readers. History of the world, history of our country, history of a great person, history of something or some event that you uniquely know about. These would be important to me. You could also write about current events, such as how things are going at city hall, or what’s being taught at the local schools, projects that the local, state or federal government should undertake or even the hundreds of things that are going on about us. Then, there are personalities to write about – Someone you know, someone you know about that has made great contributions to make a better world or community. Or even about yourself if you think someone would read it. Family connections and events is always a good option. But, unless you have a concrete constitution, don’t write about Church, Religion, or Politics. It seems this is an area of discussion where you will find no compromise or agreement. It’s really “Fritical.” I’ll explain its meaning some other time. But, no matter what you say or how you say it, even if the reader agrees with you 90% of the time they will attack you savagely over the 10%. I don’t know, it’s just the way we are. If you have a need to write, whether for a personal need or otherwise, write for the enjoyment of writing. No matter what anyone else thinks of what you wrote, if you think it’s important and you want others to know what you’ve got to say, there will be a substantial number of people who will think as you do and will thank you for having the concern to write it down. Now, I haven’t always written a column. Although that is most of it. I wrote a book one time Me and Ole Blue. , “Seeds of my Field”. The few reviews I got on it indicated that it really suited someone’s fancy. It was a book made up of a little truth and a lot of extrapolation about my early years. Not an autobiography by any means, but some things from my memory embellished to make them interesting and laced with some life values when appropriate. It turned out to be about one hundred thousand words long, not a long read, at least not long for a novel, but yet, one lady who read it said that she was unable to stop reading and read all night. I would hate for it to effect everyone that way. It seems to still be available at all of the major online book sellers and I also retain a few. Try “High Lonesome Books”, soft or hardback.

“And That’s My Opinion”