Writing Into the Void

In Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw is often seen staring out of her apartment window, contemplating where to take her writing piece. Her computer cursor blinks off and on, waiting. George Orwell once described writing a book as “a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness,” in Why I Write. But whether you imagine yourself sitting with your computer or crumpling up papers, there isn’t one writer I haven’t stumbled upon who hasn’t experienced writer’s block. 

I believe writer’s block is a formative step in the writing process — it’s our ability to overcome this seemingly unmovable block and discover new ways to express our thoughts. 

However, recently it feels like this block is in front of a massive black hole. A void. 

The gig economy has brought forth an abundance of creativity: allowing people to use work within the creative commons, make it their own, share it with others, and collaborate together. Paired with the rise of social media, anyone can post practically anything, anywhere. There has been growing concern for many industries, especially for journalism and the print media industry, because of the quickness and ability for anyone to be a writer. So, what can someone add to an already oversaturated market? 

This is something I struggle with constantly.

This is something I struggle with constantly. 

Am I able to bring a fresh angle to a topic that feels picked over a hundred times already? Am I just writing into an abyss, filled with thousands of other people fighting to be heard and acknowledged? 

One thing I have noticed with this feeling: it goes away when I find something I’m truly passionate about. 

When I write because I have to write, I add to a void that feels inescapable and punishing. But when I write because I want to, I feel like I’m adding to a resource pool. The oversaturated market becomes something I can negotiate with, not something that towers over me. I can lower the volume on the voices screaming into the void and navigate my ways towards others who share similar ideas or want to start conversations around the topics I write about. 

Philosopher John Stuart Mills believed in the market place of ideas. A view that open discourse, regardless of your perspective, matters because it’s through talking and writing with one another that we discover world truths. In a more modern sense, you don’t have to write to discover truths to make your voice matter. You don’t have to worry about shouting louder than anyone else in the void, you just have to write. 

I don’t know if this feeling will ever go away based on the amount of stuff being published everyday and everywhere, but I do know it’s now become part of my writing process. Before jumping the writer’s block hurdle, I know I must jump over the void hurdle — make myself remember why I write. I do not write to add to the void or online clutter. I write to express myself. I write to investigate topics, glue ongoing discourse for such topics, and try to bring a new perspective to the table. I write because I love it. 

If you struggle with this feeling too, why do you write? What are your reasons for seeing past the void? It’s not always easy, but sometimes you just need to push yourself into the void and trust you will find your way through.

• #inspiration
• #life
• #writersblock
• #writing
• #writingprocess