{"id":317,"date":"2014-03-19T20:25:40","date_gmt":"2014-03-20T03:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/?p=317"},"modified":"2014-03-19T20:25:40","modified_gmt":"2014-03-20T03:25:40","slug":"its-not-a-writers-block","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/?p=317","title":{"rendered":"It’s Not a Writer’s Block"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m not going to post my March count right now, because it’s too embarrassing. \u00a0Maybe this weekend.<\/p>\n

I should be working on my fantasy novel, but I’m struggling. \u00a0A chapter header is staring at me, and I’m finding it difficult to push forward. \u00a0I’m not going to call it “writer’s block” because I have too many friends that say that writer’s block doesn’t exist. \u00a0Instead, I’ll deal with my not-writing by composing this blog post.<\/p>\n

Writer’s Mana<\/strong><\/p>\n

If a wizard requires a single resource called “mana” in order to power his spells, a writer (specifically me) draws on three resources: time, energy, and courage.<\/p>\n

Notice I didn’t mention anything about imagination or story ideas. \u00a0I think that if you’re writing, you already have those in abundance. \u00a0And if you’re not writing, well, you probably still have those in abundance. \u00a0I think anyone can write if they have enough time, energy, and courage.<\/p>\n

Lauren Sapala describes time and energy<\/a>\u00a0in the same breath, but I want to keep them separate for now. \u00a0I want to talk about each resource, and the ways in which I’m struggling with each.<\/p>\n

Time<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have a full time job, a family, and other commitments, such as the community band I perform with and the Computer Club I run at my kids’ school. \u00a0These all require time. \u00a0Mondays in particular are filled to the rafters, but the rest of the days are busy, too. \u00a0When I try to budget my time on a calendar, I become very uncomfortable. \u00a0There aren’t a lot of places to carve out blocks of writing time.<\/p>\n

It’s a solvable problem, though. \u00a0I have dedicated Wednesday evenings to writing, and that’s been fantastic. \u00a0I’ve stolen lunches at work to write a few hundred words several times. \u00a0Occasionally, I get out of the house on a weekend and find some place with fewer distractions, and steal time for my passion. \u00a0We all have time, as long as we are willing to trim some of the fat, as Lauren described in the article I linked above.<\/p>\n

Energy<\/strong><\/p>\n

For me, energy is my capacity to make decisions. \u00a0I expend a great deal of energy at work, creating software. \u00a0I expend a fair amount teaching Computer Club. \u00a0I spend energy in the form of focus, when I play with the band. \u00a0Energy is mind fuel, and sometimes my tank runs dry.<\/p>\n

That’s what I’m struggling with the most right now. \u00a0We just changed offices at work, and I’m wasting so much energy fretting over the longer commute that I don’t have much left in the tank to do my job, or write my story.<\/p>\n

As to the question of how to get more energy, I don’t have perfect answers. \u00a0I think it helps to do things you enjoy, but not everything I enjoy is free. \u00a0For example, I enjoy writing, but it costs me something to do it. \u00a0Some games I play also have a mental cost involved. \u00a0Getting a good night’s sleep helps with the energy levels. \u00a0Different people recharge differently. \u00a0For me, it’s about finding some place quiet and participating in some activity in which I don’t have to make a lot of decisions.<\/p>\n

Courage<\/strong><\/p>\n

In regards to writing, courage is the capacity to overcome fear. \u00a0As a writer, I have a ton of fears to contend with. \u00a0I’m afraid of starting a chapter. \u00a0I’m afraid my writing will be terrible. \u00a0I’m afraid that my work will be rejected. \u00a0I’m afraid I won’t finish what I’ve started. \u00a0I’m afraid that I’m just a parrot of the people I admire, and that someday, someone is going to see through my writing and see…<\/p>\n

We all have fears. \u00a0Some of us have the same fears, and some of us have some that are unique to our personal experience.<\/p>\n

I don’t think writing is about eradicating your fears. \u00a0I think it’s about finding the courage to overcome them. \u00a0Some fears may go away, but I think others will always be there. \u00a0We each have to find it within ourselves to step up to the ledge and take the leap, and know that we’ll be able to fly.<\/p>\n

That’s one of the things I’m struggling with tonight. \u00a0I have a blank, empty chapter in front of me, and I’m having a difficult time gathering up the courage to take the next leap.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, I know some ways to build up courage. \u00a0One way is to tackle smaller problems, building up a reserve of confidence, which translates directly into courage. \u00a0Having trouble writing a novel? \u00a0Write a short story. \u00a0Having trouble with the short story? \u00a0Write a paragraph. \u00a0Or write a sentence. \u00a0Set goals that you can achieve, and then do it again, and again. \u00a0In my case, I’m struggling with writing a story, so I’m writing a blog post.<\/p>\n

Another way to find courage is distraction. \u00a0This doesn’t always work for me, but it does work sometimes. \u00a0The idea is to get so wrapped up in something else that you forget to be afraid for a few minutes. \u00a0Before you know it, you’re into the work, and fear is no longer an option. \u00a0Since writing for me is a mental exercise, \u00a0the only distractions that have worked for me have been emotional ones.<\/p>\n

Finally, courage can be faked through what I like to think of as constructive apathy. \u00a0This resembles desperation, and it works the same way. \u00a0I convince myself that I don’t care about the consequences, and then push forward.<\/p>\n

Constructive apathy is dangerous, and I don’t think it’s necessarily healthy. \u00a0I started to list some examples I’ve used, and I when I realized how terrible they sounded, I deleted them. \u00a0If you’re desperate enough, it is an answer. \u00a0It just isn’t a good one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m not going to post my March count right now, because it’s too embarrassing. \u00a0Maybe this weekend. I should be working on my fantasy novel, but I’m struggling. \u00a0A chapter header is staring at me, and I’m finding it difficult to push forward. \u00a0I’m not going to call it “writer’s block” because I have too […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=317"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":318,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317\/revisions\/318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}