When I was younger I wrote all the time. Short stories, poems, fiction, nonfiction, even something resembling a novel. I loved to write, and I annoyed the people in my life by demanding they take hours out of their busy lives to listen to my young teenage ramblings. English was my favorite class, I had teachers who enjoyed my work and creativity, and many people pushed me to pursue an English degree in college.
And then, over time, it stopped.
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I stopped sitting down to write, and when I tried, I found myself coming up empty. It was frustrating for a few weeks, confusing after months, then ultimately terrifying, and something I refused to acknowledge. I went a different path when I got into college and committed to majors that I ultimately was unhappy with. When I found myself once again looking to pick a new major, a friend suggested I go into English. It was the first time I had to admit that I hadn’t written anything in years.
“It’s just writer’s block,” he told me. “It happens.”
I knew even then that this was beyond writer’s block. I had stopped trying. I loved writing, but I had let it sit for too long, and I was afraid I couldn’t get it back. I committed to an English degree, and then patiently waited for inspiration to fall into my lap.
Surprise! It didn’t.
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A line that kept coming back to me, from professors, writers I admired, and others familiar with the writing process was: write every day. I hated this line. Honestly, I still kind of do. Write every day? Who has time for that? What am I even writing if I don’t have any ideas at all?
I saw the line again recently in Lauren Graham’s book, Talking as Fast as I Can, but this time, it came with a solution. Sit down every day with no distractions—no phone, no internet, no TV, not even a book—with two open documents on your computer. One is for your personal journal, and one is for your “project” (whatever that may be). Set a timer for whatever amount of time you want to dedicate to writing that day, and do not move, no matter what. Graham says it doesn’t matter if you do absolutely nothing but stare at those open documents for the entire time and don’t write a single word. You’re doing it.
I recently employed this technique. The first time I did it I stared at my computer for fifteen minutes and wrote only three words in my journal: This is stupid. For the past week, I’ve kept it up. The first thing I realized was that I haven’t sat alone with myself for that long with nothing to distract me in years. I’d venture to guess that you haven’t either.
I made this my first article for Her Campus to hold myself accountable, and maybe connect to someone out there who’s fighting too. Writing is hard and the constant distractions of everyday life make it harder. I wish I could tell you the struggle is all over now and I have a million genius ideas, but mostly I find myself cataloguing things that annoy me into a (now lengthy) journal entry on my computer. But just a few days ago, I got some words in the project document too. So I guess maybe it isn’t all bad.
HC,
Jade Klosgardner
Photo Sources:
https://www.writing.com/images/getting-started.jpg
http://kut.org/post/how-crush-writers-block