Creative Writing - Asian English Language Teachers' Creative Writing Project - Topic of the month 2 ('What stops me from writing')

What stops me from writing (Alan Maley)

What stops me from writing. (Alan Maley) (updated on 11 July 2013)

Some of us have already written about ‘Why I write’ - but the other side to this coin is what stops us from writing. So I am sharing a few of the things that come between me and the act of making marks on paper, as well as a few ideas for overcoming them. Perhaps you will recognise some of them as true for you too. That should be a consolation – for both of us.

Distraction.

By this, I mean real distraction (not procrastination). All too often there are competing demands for my attention: doing my tax returns, cooking dinner, finishing a report to meet a deadline, preparing Power Point slides for a lecture, wasting time on line to get a good deal on an air ticket, and many more. All of these things always take longer than we expect. And somehow, the immediate demand always takes priority over the important piece of creative writing we planned to do.

Procrastination.

This is one of the most lethal obstructions to my writing. Perhaps I have thought about what I want to write, I even have some notes and jottings. I have cleared a morning, or an evening, or even a few days to get on with my writing. But somehow, I find myself checking the e-mails or following up a reference that interested me, or making a phone call to my sister to ask how her husband is. And then, suddenly it’s 11 o’clock, so I go to make a cup of coffee. While I am doing that, I start to read something interesting in the newspaper. By now, it’s 12.30 and time for lunch. Goodbye writing for this morning.

No time.

This is the classic excuse we all make when there is something slightly uncomfortable to be done. ‘I’m just too busy. I never have time for writing…etc.’ Of course, it is a pathetic, rubbish excuse. I have just as much time as anyone else – 24 hours a day of it, to be precise. So it’s not that I don’t have time: it’s just that I don’t use the time I have in the right way. And I kick myself for it! Every time. And then I make the same excuse next time…

No ideas / writer’s block.

It happens sometimes that I feel I have nothing to write about. Nothing comes to my mind, or nothing that anyone would be interested in. My mind is a blank. I get frustrated. I feel miserable. I wonder if I will ever find anything to write about ever again. The world is black and hopeless. I feel wretched and depressed at my inadequacy – and that makes things worse.

Self-doubt, insecurity, fear.

‘I am my own worst enemy. I usually beat myself.’ (Timothy Gallwey). It is that hypercritical, judgemental self that sits on my shoulder and tells me I will never write anything worth reading that saps my will to write. Like many other people, I feel unable to expose my self, fearing that my writing will not be good enough, that people will criticise it, that it is worthless. All these feelings combine to switch off the creative current and condemn me to silence.

Perfectionism.

Or perhaps more accurately, a false sense of perfectionism. I often feel that I cannot possibly write to the standard I imagine is required. I envisage the disapproving faces of those to whom it is addressed as they turn up their noses at it. So, because I cannot produce the perfect masterwork, I produce nothing at all. Stupid really, isn’t it? What I have to convince myself is that my best will be good enough. And then do the best I can possibly do.

What can we do about it.

There is no secret formula for getting over the obstructions standing in the way of our writing creatively. But here are a few ideas, none of them new:

Do nothing.

I have learned to wait. Things may look bad today. By tomorrow they may have changed for the better. I realise that I cannot force myself to create something original if the moment is not right. While I am waiting, I know that a lot is going on in my subconscious mind, and that, in its good time, it will come bubbling to the surface. So I let it marinate and ferment.

Go for a walk.

Sometimes it helps just to get out of the house and do something physical that has no connection with thinking or writing. I prefer to go for long walks by the lake or the river. You might prefer gardening, or fishing, or swimming … or sky diving. Anything will do as long as it takes your mind off what is bothering it.

Read.

I often just pick up a book at random, and start to read it. Any book will do. Just reading words someone else has written helps me get into the flow of my own writing. We tend to unconsciously accumulate a lot of skill and know-how about writing from the residue of our own reading. And when I read in this random sort of way, I nearly always end up with some new ideas sparked by what I have read. At the very least, it helps me to take my mind off the problem. Some people (including me) will also watch a film in much the same way.

Talk to someone.

Sometimes I find it helps to talk (or e-mail) about the problem with someone I know well. Very often, they will find good things in my writing which I had failed to notice. Or they may spot flaws which I had missed. (We are always better at seeing other people’s flaws than our own!) Or sometimes it is just good to unload our frustration into a sympathetic ear. But beware! It is all too easy to talk about what you are going to write, and all the bright ideas connected with it. If you are not careful, this becomes a substitute for the actual writing. Don’t forget that what writers do is to write, not just talk about writing. I remind myself that I write with my pen, not with my tongue.

Kick-start the writing.

Sometimes I find it helps to force myself to write something…anything, just to get the wheels turning again. I might just pick a theme word and do some free-writing based on it, without stopping to think or to correct. Other times I might take a writing exercise and do that. For example, I might write down all the words that rhyme with a word, like ‘nice’, then write a poem using as many as possible as end rhymes. Or I might take a text from a foreign language I know well, and translate it. You might compare this kind of thing with going to the gym. The writing you do may not be spectacular but it will have helped you re-start your dynamo and toned up your writing muscles.

Be kind to yourself.

When I am stuck I my writing, it is all too easy to beat myself over the head – to blame myself for not being able to do it, to feel guilty and useless and sorry for myself. But if I allow myself to feel this way, it makes things worse, not better. We all need to be compassionate towards our own failings. I remind myself that it is not a sin if I can’t write today. No one will punish me – except myself. So what’s the point of making myself miserable for something so relatively unimportant? It’s better to forget about it, open a bottle of good wine, and enjoy the moment!

Topic of the month 2 ('What stops me from writing')

Topic of the month 2 ('What stops me from writing')

What stops me from writing (Alan Maley)

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What stops me from writing? (Vishnu Rai)

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What stops me from writing? (Jayashree Mohanraj)

What stops me from writing (Meng Tian)

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