Following The Fleeting Muse aka Writer’s Block
Posted on | September 10, 2009 | No Comments
Arising from a deep slumber, I encircle my body with a warm robe to ward off the morning chill and race to the laptop in the next room. The sentences are dancing in my head as I shuffle across the floor and open the computer. But ah — the muse has teased me once again — whispering lovely thoughts and sending vivid images into my brain — luring me to open my eyes and engage in the word-painting. Alas, as the soft and silken laughter ripples in my brain, she is gone and so are those words and pictures. Harumph!!!
After staring at the screen for awhile, wracking my brain to try and tease those fleeting thoughts back into my consciousness, the sound of the magpies singing outside and the cat’s sinus-y snoring beside me have effectively wiped it all away.
Coffee — that’s it! I must need a strong latte and a piece of toast! Then I resettle myself on the couch with the laptop and wait, and wait, and wait. And there are many days when, in spite of all best intentions and fabulous awakenings, the muse has flown and nothing wishes to flow from my fingers onto the screen.
The list of dedicated writers over the centuries who have freely acknowledged facing the classic barrier known as writer’s block is too numerous to detail. For the most part, we may now stare at a blank computer screen, but the sight of a blank page whilst holding pen in hand was no less daunting to our predecessors.
How strange it was then to read an article online this week that claimed that there was not really any such thing as a writer’s block. I beg to differ. And the ghosts of thousands of authors over the decades would rise up behind me in support.
For those of us who have faced this dilemma, it has nothing to do with a lack of motivation, a list of household things to do, how long the piece is meant to be, some internal struggle to be released, or some question that needs answering while waiting in “relaxed patience” for the solution. Those might be reasons in themselves on some occasions, but there are many times when it is what it is — a cessation of flow, a muddying of the previously clear waters of inspiration, a damn damming of the fountain of words, a BLOCK — plain and simple.
The brain does what the brain does and there are moments when the scene is clear but the words fail to coalesce into any semblance of what we ‘see’ in our minds. Staring at the screen and writing, then deleting, feels like an exercise in futility. We may have tried all of the tricks and solutions such as take three words and write for five minutes about something — anything. But if list making and mind mapping and take-three-words simply makes you want to toss the laptop out of the window, then yes-indeedy-do, a block has settled upon you and it may well be that you just need to walk away for awhile and return with a fresh mind on another day.
The writer of the article in question may not believe there IS such a thing as a block, but at least we are in agreement with the walking-away strategy. And it certainly saves on the repair bills!
So tonight I will fall asleep on sun-dried pillowcases, hope the husband doesn’t awaken me with his snoring, and chase the lovely muse again in the morning.
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Deborah Harmes, Ph.D.
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