A Brief Word on Writer's Block

Ever wake up one morning, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, butterflies are flying, children are playing, unicorns prance through the street, rainbows spread off in every direction.

You lift your head up off the pillow and stretch upward as happiness and joy over take you.

"Good morning world and all who inhabit it!" you shout as you bound out of bed. "To be alive is a wonderful thing!" It's as if you were handpicked to be in a Disney movie.

Today, it seems, is a wonderful day to write.

You sit down, open up your document you put your fingers to the keys and - kaput. Nothing. Nadda. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Complete brain meltdown.

You type a few words, then delete them. You check to see what Twitter and Facebook have to offer, maybe play a game or 5 of Solitaire. You go back to what you were writing and stare at it for a very long, long time.

You know exactly what your story is about. You know exactly what your characters are going to do, what they're going say, how they overcome every challenge that they're going to face. But what you can't do is get it all down.

Writer's block is a necessary evil. Even though I hate it with every fiber of my being, after I get through a stint of writer's block and I write and I write and I write, damn do I feel accomplished. I feel like I could take on the world after I've knocked down a wall that's kept me from writing.

Anything worth doing is only worth it if it's a challenge, right? So, while writer's block does bring me down, I take it head on. I'll repeatedly slam my head against the keyboard, stare at the screen for hours without typing anything, get up and walk around for a while to let my brain cool off.

And always try to write something. Even if you write just one sentence, sentences add up - just like pennies. My mother once bought a car entirely with change. I am a firm believer that every little bit counts, even in writing.

And if you're easily distracted - lord knows I am, check out this article. I could definitely do some of the stuff I read in it but, I'm a slacker and the thought of going without internet and not being able to tweet or text at all times terrifies me.

Fair Thee Well,
April