When Writing Feels Impossible: My Personal Anecdote.

Writer’s block is like looking at a blank wall, you stare and it stares back at one, everything seems to evaporate, the mind feels empty and you wonder where all of one's inspiration had been coming from before. You start questioning yourself as your fingers become stuff and your mind fails to bring anything up, the you wonder if you had really been a writer at first, you wonder if maybe you've lost it, or maybe since there's an end to everything, then maybe this is just an end to your writing. But I have come to know and understand that writer’s block is not a sign of failure, it’s just that we are human.

Believe me when I say I've been there many times. There are times I sit, ready to write something profound, something that will shake minds and touch souls, and then my brain will just decide to go on vacation, I would try hard, but still, ideas and thoughts that were there the other minute would suddenly just refuse to form. I would be left thinking a lot....maybe I’m not as good as I thought, maybe my last piece was just luck, maybe I should give up. But then, its life, and that it's also a phase, it will definitely pass.

So, how do I cope and make it pass faster.

Firstly, I stop forcing it. Creativity is like a stubborn goat, the more you pull, the more it resists. So instead of me trying to wrestle with an empty mind, I just step away. There are times I do things that have nothing to do with writing, but can help writing..... I watch people, listen to conversations, visit parks, pay attention to the small details of life. Other times, I go outside to get reminded of things people are facing and are still pushing through, with that, I get to assure myself that I can survive it too. Sometimes, I call my friends, gist about random things, and also, there are times I just sit alone, in silence and observe. With all that, I just find out that ideas are sneaking up back.

Secondly, I write nonsense, yes you heard that right. I just, go to my note app and write the most ridiculous, senseless things, its true my brain says "I have nothing to write, ideas are stucked", but then I respond it with" then let's write about having nothing to write", and before I know it, I would have written a whole paragraph, just that it will be about my frustrations and all, and when I decide to read over, I found out that what I wrote out of nothing to write actually is real, at first it might look like trash, but then it all starts to sum up back together, and then it's meaningful.

Sometimes, we seem to get stuck because we expect ideas to come in grand, dramatic ways, whereas, inspirations are in the small things...It’s in the heartbreak you haven’t written about, its in that childhood memories you buried, its in that situation you have long went through, its in the challenge you are facing, its in those tiny details of life that we often ignore. Don't just wait for inspiration to come find you, go out to find it too.

And then, this would definitely help too, and thats "silencing the fear of judgment", there are times its not about knowing what to write, there are times its about being scared that what we want to write won’t be good enough, that people won’t like it, we wonder it won’t get enough likes, shares, or engagement, we wonder if it wont sound stupid. I have come to understand that writing is not about pleasing people, but about expressing, about releasing, about being honest. So, I tell myself that even if its just only one person that connects with my writing, that’s enough, and if no one does, then, I wrote for myself, and it's still a win.

Writers block is proof that writing is deep and human. There are times the words will flow effortlessly, and in some days, it will be nowhere to be seen. But one thing is sure, if you keep showing up, if you keep observing, if you don't give up, if you keep writing even when it feels pointless, the ideas, words will always return. If you are like me, then you will agree that writing is who we are, and that is why it hits us hard when ideas seems to go on break, but its alright to experience such, don't lose it, writing is not just what we do, it’s who we are, and those blocks are temporary m, they can't take who we are away.

All pictures are mine, the second i s a screenshot of my note app.

There are various entries organized by @leogrowth.
This post is in collaboration with the @hive-naija community and an entry to day 26 of #marchinleo in #inleo,I am inviting you to also check it out,so as to partake in various interesting writing prompts.

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