Long ago, when the initial form of this blog was first conceived back sometime in 2010, I experienced my first bad bout of writer’s block. Before that, writing stories had been fairly effortless for me. I seemed to always have an idea and any chance I got I managed to scribble something down in a notebook. Poetry, short stories, dialogues, plays, all were poured forth without reservation.
But something happened. Be it my continuing education poisoning my imaginative spirit or my own developing skill sets forcing me to reconsile with the limits of my creativitiy, I began to double guess my every idea and every word written. It got to the point where novel-length texts would be routinely trashed and I would go weeks or even months without writing a word outside of my assigned studies.
So thus, I created the original “Demolishing The Block” (a now-since defunct Blogger blog… or is it?)
The Ten Year Itch
Reading that first post written almost ten years ago decrying about the lack of progress made during the previous ten years is… not a great motivator. In fact, I believe the term is: deflating. I’d like to be the type of person to say that I’m now more motivated than ever to accomplish my goals and fufill my dreams, but aging up has only added more cynicism into my makeup.
That being said, I won’t say that the last ten years have been for naught. I have been living my life, growing and learning, writing and deleting and writing more, getting better and more confident.
But the block is definitely still there. Even if it is a little different now. The block has grown and evolved along with me. The block is what tells me I’ll never be good enough to be published. It’s what forces me to backtrack and delete written words. It’s the excuse-ridden procrastinator that tells me that I must do A before completing B before attempting C.
The block is me and I am the block.
All Blocks Must Go
It’s not about demolishing “just” writer’s block anymore (if that is indeed a thing which I really don’t think it is). It’s not even necessarily about writing anymore. I want this to be a space for confronting all the various blocks in my life. I want this to be a space for anyone who wishes to demolish any blocks currently confining them in any capacity.
Of course, I’ll still probably continue posting on writing-related topics, on my thoughts regarding the craft and my exploration into the publishing realm once the mythical day of draft completion is met.
I’d like to expand the scope of this blog. I’d like to talk more about my real-life experiences, about the other, non-writing areas of my life that I am attempting to improve. And I’d like to invite others to join me in demolishing their personal blocks, whatever they may be.
Overcoming other blocks in life sound like a great prospect indeed. Am looking forward to seeing how you do that, and to read the accompanying stories and lessons that result. Thanks for this post!