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Underground eXperts United File 411
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Underground eXperts United
Presents...
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[ Writer's Block ] [ By The GNN ]
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WRITER'S BLOCK
by THE GNN/DualCrew-Shining/uXu
or... 'a generally quite boring conceptual analysis of a luXurious
problem strictly limited to the interest of a few.'
People who write on a regular basis now and then experience a problem that,
despite its temporary character, is highly annoying. Roughly speaking, this
is the inability to write. One day, when the writer sits in front of the
word processor, typewriter or pen to nail the latest thoughts down, nothing
happens. If the writer is experienced, he or she will understand that this
has nothing to do with her ability, but is merely a psychological block.
This insight, however, is not very helpful. A writer wants to write. If she
cannot do what she wants, she will despair. It is therefore not surprising
to find historical examples of writers who has been abusers of various
stimulants, desperately trying to overcome the periods of writer's block.
Writing requires two main things: inspiration and experience.
Inspiration is needed for the ideas, experience for getting the ideas down
on paper in an acceptable manner. A regular writer seldom needs any more
than one single (and often quite simple) idea to be able to write a short
story or novel. The rest - characters, places, history, disposition - comes
automatically, thanks to the experience. Someone who is inexperienced must
weigh every sentence, every person and place, during the writing process. I
believe the reason for this is the fact that what separates regular writers
from the rest is the ability to build a whole world inside one's mind.
This world is then transported through the hands down on paper.
Inexperienced writers cannot perfectly build this world in their minds, and
must therefore check every word to see if it is in correspondence with the
world they are trying to build.
When the writer is not in a state of block, the process of writing is
simple. She gets an idea, and types it down. That is all, actually. In
fact, the fictional world is constructed in her mind the very second she
gets the idea. She just has to sit down and let her hands do the work. When
a writer claims that she does not know what constitutes the writing
process, this only means that she works without knowing that she knows what
constitutes the writing process.
Then one day the writer will notice that the writing process is not all
that easy anymore. She has to actually think of how to write. This is the
first stage of the block. When she gets an idea, she cannot just sit down
and type. She has to actively create the world she is about to deal with.
It does not build itself anymore. The tempo slows down. If the writer was
able to fill ten pages every day, she will now notice that she is unable to
fill more than five. The ideas are still there, and she wants to be able to
write ten, but it is just impossible. And she does not really know why.
Time will pass, and the amount of written material will decline. The
writer will despair as she suddenly is unable to write a single sentence.
Still, she's got all the fine ideas, but they will just not write
themselves anymore. The final stage of the block is when the ideas leave
her. No ideas, no writing, nothing. She just sits by the wordprocessor,
typewriter or pen and wait. And this she must do. A fully developed block
cannot be forced away. After a while, the ideas come back, but not the
writing. When some more time has passed, the writing comes back, slowly at
first, then back to a normal pace again. The block has passed. Until next
time.
How long does a block last? It depends on the person. Personally, I have
discovered that mine comes once a year, and it lasts for about one to two
months. I really hate this period, as I always believe that I will not be
able to write again. Other writers I have discussed this matter with say
the same thing. I no longer believe that I will not be able to write again
when I am in a state of block; but I am tormented by the ideas that pop
into my mind. They are good, and I love them, but I cannot write them down.
I just have to accept that they will never be written. It is no use to take
notes for the future, because the ideas must be written down the very
moment they appear, otherwise they lose their substance.
The moment I feel that my block is on its way to pass, I rush to the
computer and type, type, type. The more I type, the better I feel. I would
not claim that I actually WRITE anything, I just type. This file was not
written, it was typed for pure therapeutic reasons - something the quality
and content probably reveal.
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uXu #411 Underground eXperts United 1998 uXu #411
ftp://ftp.lysator.liu.se/pub/texts/uxu
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