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March 22, 2012

Waiting

Some writers use helpers to trigger an end to what they refer to as their block, they read books that give them writing suggestions or work their way through lists of writing assignments.  I prefer to wait.

Writer's block is the bane of most writer's existance.  It sneaks up unexpectedly and suddenly you find yourself cleaning the bathroom instead of typing away.  Now, anyone knows that cleaning the bathroom is the last thing you want to do but sometimes it's preferable to sitting in front of a screen or with pen in hand and just staring.

I prefer to think of writer's block, though, in terms of the growing season. (Yeah, I know, I've lived in a rural county too long.)  Everyone, no matter what their profession, has the fertile summer, the time when ideas come shooting out of your ears and you can't implement them fast enough.  But we also have times when the beer and the Yankees take over and we sit, like mindless blobs in front of the television with no productive time in sight.

Instead of trying to force productivity during those times, I liken them to the winter.  Oh, I know, winter is so bleak.  But we can't force it to become spring.  Nature doesn't run on our timetable.  We have to wait it out.  Even though we can't see what is happening below the surface there are seeds germinating.  We impatient humans just have to wait.

So until the words come, I will write in my blog, sit in front of my spinning wheel as the fiber turns to yarn, watch the Yankees and clean the bathroom.  Something is germinating.  I just have to wait.

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