I attended a talk on Careers and Publishing in the Union last week, and someone brought up a very interesting question: How do you get through writer’s block? Do you think writer’s block exists?
One of the speakers who was focused on prose, mentioned doing exercises such as writing a new scene from a new perspective or introducing new characters, which I think are very valid forms of getting through writer’s block – exercising your creative muscles in different ways can help when you’re feeling creatively sapped.
Another speaker mentioned keeping a notebook full of potential ideas that he liked to turn to for inspiration during times of creative drought – I do the same with my poetry; sometimes single lines just come to mind and I keep them all in one place just in case I want to come back to them later.
But then one of the speakers brought up something I found very interesting. He said sometimes inspiration doesn’t strike, that sometimes the best thing to do when you’re faced with a scene or an idea that’s just not working, maybe one option to consider is to just walk away and try something new. Especially with poetry, he said, sometimes you need to scorch the field once in a while to make sure you’re not writing the same thing over and over again. I’ve never really considered this before – to me, writer’s block and periods of not writing has always felt like failure. But everyone needs rest once in while, and maybe a bit of a break would be good for refreshing my creativity.
I learned something important that day, one that I started learning when I first began to write, and one I will always be learning – writer’s block isn’t your fault, and it’s not failing. Sometimes inspiration just doesn’t strike, and it’s okay to be kind to yourself and step away from the page for a while before trying again.
The most important thing when it comes to writing, is don’t give up. The struggle is always worth it, in the end.