Writer's Block

Hi!

I've always been a bit dismissive of those people that complain of writer's block.  I mean, how hard can it be to pick up your pen and jot some ideas down?  Even if you don't crank out a few hundred pages of a new novella, or a paragraph or two of your dissertation - at least you can write something, surely?

So why has it been so long since I last wrote this blog?

My journal (which I write almost daily btw) is full of to-do lists, and always somewhere on that list is "write new blog post".  I know I want to - it's not like I don't enjoy writing!  I LOVE writing!

So I go to my blog page, and have a look at my last few posts.  I weep silently for a few moments at how few page views my stats report, but console myself with knowing they're genuine views and not just bot-produced junk,

And then I think... "What shall I write about today?"
And then...

Hmm...
What shall I write about today?   (Taps pen against pad reflectively)
What.  Shall.  I.  Write?  (Looks out of window.  I spy with my little eye something beginning with...)

OK, Maybe I'll get some inspiration from my trusty Pinterest?
(Lots of pretty pictures, a few TED talks I've earmarked for later, random adverts for food...)

OK, I admit, there is a genuine case for writer's block!
The thing that always seems to trip me up is wondering "What will my readers want to read?"
I worry that my subject will be boring, uninformative, not very funny.  I spend so long trying to think of a riveting subject, I forget that the joy of writing is to just write.

I always sit down and write my posts straight to the site.  I don't make notes, I don't sit on a draft post and go back to it later - I just write a post in one go - and maybe that's where i go wrong?
A friend who also writes tends to have several draft posts on the go, and also makes notes about things she sees or experiences during the day, going back to her drafts and edits them regularly before she publishes. 

I think I'll try and follow her advice for a bit, and see if I can't improve my own blog writing, and banish the dreaded writer's block for good!

Wish me luck!

Why do you write?

I was originally going to title this post why do I write, but soon changed it because I want to engage you, invite you into this as a discussion, rather than me monologue at you.

Now I know that you're not really going to respond to my questions, so it's going to end up as a monologue anyway, but I really do want to interact - and that word there, interact, is the crux of why I write.

In real life, I talk a lot.  But not often.  No.  I don't "interact" very much at all, because I don't think I'm all that interesting and I get the impression people would rather be doing something else.  I get interrupted a lot. I... Hold on. Bullet points would be better here!

1. I assume I'm boring because:
   a) people I'm talking to let other people interrupt me.
   b) they talk over me as if what I'm saying is unimportant.
   c) they're not listening anyway.
   
2. I can't make "small talk". I'm not really bothered where you bought your margarine, or how much your shoes cost.  I'm not concerned if your 8 year old son is playing netball this weekend.  I want to know why you don't see in five dimensions.  I want to hear your ghost stories.  I want to know where your atoms were before you were born.
   
3. When I speak, it's because I have something to add to a conversation or topic. Not because I need to fill silence and not because I want people to notice me.  If I wanted people to notice me, I'd dye my hair pink - but that would be bad. Very bad... because people would notice me. (For the wrong reasons!)

Whoa! - do you see what happened there??  I started off wanting to talk about me, changed it to talking about you (to be polite, and engage you) but immediately shifted back to talking about me!  How crass!  Sorry.  Where were we?

Oh yes - why do you write? What do you gain from committing your thoughts and inner quandaries to the public domain, the global forum?  Is it some form of catharsis?  Is it like a Catholic priest's confessional? Oh, wow!  Are you some Orator - like Socrates?  Or a Diarist - like Pepys??

What do you want to achieve?  Do you want people to read your words for entertainment? Do you want to inform? Do you want to make the World a better place?  Persuade someone through your clever use of argument to change their opinion? 

Maybe you're not a writer - maybe you prefer to read?  OK - in that case this post is only tenuously linked to you, but you could just substitute write for read, and carry on...

The most important question though, is, Why Are You Here? Are you looking for inspiration? Guidance?

Idle Curiosity? Did you search key-words in Google and click on my link or did you click Next... somewhere and end up here by mistake?  Are you searching for blogging enlightenment?  Are you looking for some inner wisdom?  Did you wake up this morning and think "Hang on a sec... Where DID the iron in my blood come from?"

(I can sort of answer that last one, but it'd have to be another time)

Why, why, WHY do you write?  Do you want to know why I write?  Because of this.  Because you - YOU, whoever you are, wherever you are, are right here... HERE... now.  I have touched your life for the (in the Universe's time-frame) briefest moment, and I have connected with you.  Two human beings coming together for a moment.  That is awesome, don't you think?  I have written something, and you are reading it right this moment!  You could be on the other side of the world in 2018, or on Mars Colony in 2156.  You are  listening to me speaking to you, and I am so happy because of this.  So very happy.

Why do I write?  Because I want to connect.  I just want to reach out and touch another person's mind, albeit briefly, and be there - just for a moment, and for that moment, be alive in their mind. I want to help them think, just for a fraction, about who they are, how they connect with other people - and if, as a result, they send someone a letter, or a text, or an email, and connect - then my writing has done what I hope it would do - inspire someone else to write.

So. Why do you write?

Writing

I’ve always enjoyed writing – I think because the stories have a way of transporting you from this world to any other.  Stories can draw you in, wrap you in an alternative reality and leave you happy, disturbed, afraid, sentimental.

I have written short stories, a full length sci-fi novel (never published, it was way too awful for that!) and blog posts.  I’ve kept a diary, written long, long letters to friends, and I keep a journal which is a cross between a scrapbook, sketchpad, diary, to do list and photo album. 

When my daughter was born 11 years ago, I started a Word document, and I wrote about everything about her – how I felt, how confused I was when she cried for no apparent reason, how tired I felt, how useless I felt.  I would add a new paragraph or two every day, then every week, then each month, and so it grew.

As she grew I wrote about her first word, her first laugh, her favourite foods, her favourite TV programme, and her favourite toys.  Then about the things that became important to her, school, friendships, sports, talents, aspirations.

I only stopped writing it last year, because she’s began to keep a diary of her own.  She’s old enough to remember her milestone moments herself now.

I love writing.  I love the idea that someone, somewhere, could be reading this and getting a fresh idea for a project of their own – that I might be reaching across countless miles and touching, albeit briefly, another life out there.

When I began this blog, I had the fanciful notion that it would be read all over the world – that I would attract followers keen to read the next insightful, quippy observation.  I dreamed of people leaving me comments, feedback, encouragement – I thought a community would develop and grow.  Sadly nothing of that sort has happened.  I was excited when I saw a post had 22 views.  Now I’m lucky if I get 3! 

So, help me out here, casual visitor to this page – please leave me a comment or two and answer this – is my writing boring?  What is it lacking? Where am I going wrong?   Don’t get me wrong – this isn’t some self-pity plea.  I still want that dream to come true – but as with most things, you need some critique to develop skills past their infancy.    Thank you!

Getting the Balance Right

Hello!
Where to start?

I want to talk about balance today, not the physical, teetering on a gymnastics beam type balance, but the "getting stuff done vs taking it easy" type.

I mention this because I notice my last post was in August last year! No, I haven't been doing nothing all this time, but I have not been managing my time very well.  I've had days where I have been wall-to-wall busy, and I've had days when I just CBA (Can't Be Arsed).

I found out last September that I was very ill - the sort of ill that needs radiotherapy for 6 weeks, and months of recovery.  I felt physically drained and emotionally wrung out - so some might say I've had a good reason to neglect the blog, but to be honest, I haven't.

It's very easy to let things slide though.  I like to keep busy, I help my wife with the chores, I cook our meals, I help her with her business, I make scale model armoured vehicles, I write a journal daily, do some gardening, and so on.  My days are filled - and yet I've avoided some things like the plague!

I've not written this blog, I have not posted any pictures or updates to my other military model making blog, I have not updated or maintained the two websites I made for local business friends.  It's like my heart just isn't in it - and yet these things have just as much importance, if not more, as checking Facebook, or looking at Pinterest.

It's all about time management really, and having effective To Do lists. Making sure the small details are not forgotten, and taking the time to get the balance right.

So, the next time I'm flicking through the myriad of Sky channels bemoaning the fact that there's nothing worth watching on TV, I shall be popping by here to share another thought or two with you!

Balance - maybe it is a physical thing after all?

You might also like:
http://collywobs.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/the-turning-world.html

Out of Sight, Out of Mind...

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned.
It's been two months and three days since my last post!

It's so easy to forget to do devote the time to writing when there are other things going on.  Work, cooking, helping my wife with her business, gardening, shopping, watching TV.

But there's no real excuse for letting your discipline slide.  It's not laziness.  It's distraction, and a little bit of forgetfulness, with a smidgen of dreaded "what should I write about?" thrown in for good measure.

But I really like writing.  Even if what I write is never seen by another soul (although I'd much prefer it if it were) I write it anyway.

I keep a journal - A5 plain paper notebook (nu: elite) and in it I write how I'm feeling, what I'm doing, To Do lists, I paste in tickets and labels of things I like - wine and whiskey mainly!  I'll add pictures that inspire me, quotes and my own doodles, drawings and sketches.  The occasional photograph, stamps, a bit of ribbon or a luggage label, Post-It note, whatever.

The only person likely to ever read it is my (currently 10 years old) daughter - when she's older.  So I write it for her I suppose.  A constant record of who I am, what I like,how I feel about my home, my family, my work, my life.

My parents died when I was 6 - A part of me wishes I knew them better.  Not something my daughter will ever have to worry about!  My Journals, my Blog, My Facebook account.  I created her an email account when she was a few years old so that I could create her a FB account (so that we can tag her to stuff, build up her timeline), and so I email her every now and then - just to say I love you, or I'm thinking about you, or maybe some fatherly advice.

She doesn't have access to it yet, nor can she log into her Facebook account yet.  It's all there for when she's older.

I have also kept a Word document going since she was born - an ongoing diary of being a first time parent - but it records everything.  Her first clap, first laugh, first word, first steps.  Her likes and dislikes, what she's reading, watching on TV Her favourite foods, toys, friends. And how I feel - happy, sad, exhausted, frustrated, confused, ecstatic, proud, elated.  I'm sure she'll find it handy when she has her first child?

As I said, I really like writing.  I might never get published, or read outside of a very small audience, but I don't write for recognition or fame or wealth.  I write because I enjoy it.
Full stop.
Three Hail Mary's and I'll be fine.

Thank you for reading this!  You might also like:
http://collywobs.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/writing.html

Creativity, Journals and the Blank Page

Is it just me, or is there something magical about The BlankPage?
I see a new notebook, I open the cover and for a single moment I'm wondering... What Will I See?
Will it be blank or lined?  Thick drawing paper or thin writing paper?
Is it spiral bound, book bound or stapled?
Does it cry out for penmanship, art or stuff to be cut out and glued in?

I love journals and diaries!  I cannot resist them.  To me they shout creativity.  They invite comment, demand action, desire design.

"Can you put something interesting, compelling to read on my front page?"
"Will what you create, write, draw make the reader want to turn to the second page?"

Many of mine start well, but then the inspiration dwindles, they get put aside, and then - horror of horrors - I find a new journal, a pristine blank notebook, a must have scrapbook experience and a new adventure begins.

Diary, Journal, Scrapbook, Facebook, Website, Twitter, Blog
Is there no end to my desire to fill The Blank Page?