The late Robert B. Parker once said there's no such thing as writer's block. Writing is hard. But if your toilet is clogged and you call the plumber, you don't want him to say, "I can't come today. I have plumber's block."
In complete agreement. If something is stuck or doesn't work, just set it aside. I love how the mind does its fixing and stitching in the background. I'm always amazed when that untangling suddenly happens. I don't want to know how that works. It's like magic, better left alone.
"Give the problem to your subconscious." Great advice! Most of my writing problems are solved by walking away from that particular piece/passage for a while. When I return, I'm usually bursting with of useful epiphanies.
Thanks. I have often found that walking my dogs helps me get unstuck. My attention is completely on them and the environment and it's also doing something physical. Back before the dog attack, I also found that riding my bike worked wonders. Of course, there's always retail therapy.... :-)
I've never experienced writer's block, just failures of imagination. Freewriting or taking a shower lets my subconscious mind come to the surface with the answer.
I think it both relaxes us and stimulates some part or parts of the brain involved in writing. PS: Just looked it up. "Writing is an extraordinary process that requires a complex interplay of many brain regions. Seven areas of the brain are involved: the frontal lobe, hippocampus, Broca's area, Wernicke's area, visual cortex, motor area and the caudate nucleus."
I suspect that anyone who does complicated creative work reaches a point where the idea or its execution isn't working out as imagined. Painter's block? Get that pallet knife. Singer's block? Practice those scales. Creative work is challenging, so we shouldn't be surprised when we hit a wall for a while. I always trusted my mind to sort things out during a period of rest.
If I feel stuck working on a song I got back to a different voice lesson I've recorded or re-read my voice journal....or just let it go and figure out that my teacher will help me work it out.
The late Robert B. Parker once said there's no such thing as writer's block. Writing is hard. But if your toilet is clogged and you call the plumber, you don't want him to say, "I can't come today. I have plumber's block."
I love that! There was some satirist, maybe Peter DeVries, who had a character complaining "My writer's block is so bad I can't even sign a check."
Ha ha ha, good one!
I think it was in "Slouching to Kalamazoo" which I must've read 30+ years ago.....
In complete agreement. If something is stuck or doesn't work, just set it aside. I love how the mind does its fixing and stitching in the background. I'm always amazed when that untangling suddenly happens. I don't want to know how that works. It's like magic, better left alone.
Absolutely. Creativity is magical and so is untangling when you're in the middle of it.
"Give the problem to your subconscious." Great advice! Most of my writing problems are solved by walking away from that particular piece/passage for a while. When I return, I'm usually bursting with of useful epiphanies.
Thanks. I have often found that walking my dogs helps me get unstuck. My attention is completely on them and the environment and it's also doing something physical. Back before the dog attack, I also found that riding my bike worked wonders. Of course, there's always retail therapy.... :-)
I've never experienced writer's block, just failures of imagination. Freewriting or taking a shower lets my subconscious mind come to the surface with the answer.
I find myself writing in my head in the shower, often unexpectedly, either actual lines, or suddenly thinking of ideas for an essay or story.
It's amazing how well the shower works for this purpose!
I think it both relaxes us and stimulates some part or parts of the brain involved in writing. PS: Just looked it up. "Writing is an extraordinary process that requires a complex interplay of many brain regions. Seven areas of the brain are involved: the frontal lobe, hippocampus, Broca's area, Wernicke's area, visual cortex, motor area and the caudate nucleus."
Several of these brain areas I’ve never heard of!
I suspect that anyone who does complicated creative work reaches a point where the idea or its execution isn't working out as imagined. Painter's block? Get that pallet knife. Singer's block? Practice those scales. Creative work is challenging, so we shouldn't be surprised when we hit a wall for a while. I always trusted my mind to sort things out during a period of rest.
If I feel stuck working on a song I got back to a different voice lesson I've recorded or re-read my voice journal....or just let it go and figure out that my teacher will help me work it out.