In which I fret to no avail.
BW just emailed me and asked how he could get folks to start reading his new blog. My answer to him:
"Shameless self-promotion: email your good friends and say, 'Hey, I have a blog! Read it!' thus setting yourself up for failure as you forget to write in your blog every day and feel more and more uninspired the guiltier you feel about not writing. See westeringhills.blogspot.com as example."
Argh! What is wrong with me?! I sit in front of the computer for many hours in the day and can come up with absolutely nothing to say. It's the Dreaded Writer's Block and it's the reason I hesitated for so long in starting a blog in the first place. I call myself "a writer" but I feel more like "a sham." I realize with irony that one of the main reasons I decided to plunge headfirst into Blogland was to start the writing process again but instead of a swan dive or even just a normal dive, I feel like I've bellyflopped and everyone in the pool is snickering at me while shaking their heads.
Have I mentioned that I guilt-trip myself a lot? I mean, A LOT. But it doesn't do me any good; in fact, it seems to backfire on me and cause all sorts of self-improvement paralysis. The result is a big fat glass of whine. Anyone got some cheese to go with it?
Does anyone reading this have any tips for me on how to cure writer's block and/or stop feeling the pressure of needing to amuse my audience instead of just writing for myself? I sure would appreciate it.
"Shameless self-promotion: email your good friends and say, 'Hey, I have a blog! Read it!' thus setting yourself up for failure as you forget to write in your blog every day and feel more and more uninspired the guiltier you feel about not writing. See westeringhills.blogspot.com as example."
Argh! What is wrong with me?! I sit in front of the computer for many hours in the day and can come up with absolutely nothing to say. It's the Dreaded Writer's Block and it's the reason I hesitated for so long in starting a blog in the first place. I call myself "a writer" but I feel more like "a sham." I realize with irony that one of the main reasons I decided to plunge headfirst into Blogland was to start the writing process again but instead of a swan dive or even just a normal dive, I feel like I've bellyflopped and everyone in the pool is snickering at me while shaking their heads.
Have I mentioned that I guilt-trip myself a lot? I mean, A LOT. But it doesn't do me any good; in fact, it seems to backfire on me and cause all sorts of self-improvement paralysis. The result is a big fat glass of whine. Anyone got some cheese to go with it?
Does anyone reading this have any tips for me on how to cure writer's block and/or stop feeling the pressure of needing to amuse my audience instead of just writing for myself? I sure would appreciate it.
posted by Shannon @ 11:04 AM
9 Comments:
At 2:31 PM,
pbrchicken said…
I thought that writer's block was illegal in this country! Especially after the wanton beheadings of the late 80's!
Seriously, I've read somewhere that sometimes one approach to coping with writer's block is try and slow down the self-criticism, and just write. The less critical you are of yourself, the more flow you can harness.
A good example of this is, say, bowling. Seems like every time I go bowling with a talented bowler, they get all hard on themselves for not bowling a strike every time that they don't have much fun with it. When they are on, they are amazing.. but when they are off, they want to put the ball down and go home.
Does this analogy make sense? Alla sudden it sounds stoopid. :)
Anyway.
The other idea I've heard about writer's block is interaction. Fleshing out ideas with others is a good way of bringing out your own ideas. That's a tough part of writing.. that it's a solo venture...
Drinx tonite? :D
At 2:53 PM,
Shannon said…
Thanks, pbrchicken!
At 5:18 PM,
Anonymous said…
Okay...CUT-IT-OUT! You are one of the most intellignt and one of the funniest people I know...and I am not saying that because you are my sis. It's the reason I like hanging out with you so much! So just relax, have a glass of WINE, pat the kittenheads, watch some Napolean Dynamite and you'll be fine! GOSH!
CT#2
At 5:19 PM,
Anonymous said…
INTELLIGENT.....that's what I meant to write. Yeah, that's the ticket!
CT#2
At 11:24 PM,
Anonymous said…
I visit your blog and you're waxing about one of my favorite subjects! so I have to respond, except that if I respond I know you're going to read what I write, and have an opinion about it, and suddenly I can't think of what it was I wanted to say. Eeech.
I sympathize with your fretting.
I collect books about writing. I can't remember where this quote comes from (maybe you know) --Writing is easy; all you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until the drops of blood form on your forehead.
R
At 9:29 PM,
annelynn said…
My name is Clown from Venus. I think you are the funniest thing going, and possibly most intellignt...er, intelligent (hat tip, sister) person I've ever met. You are a big giant dork for being so self-critical. Yes, it's a part of the whole, but we can do this thing called writing, I know we can. You and me and my big clown nose. Go, us! Us and our noses and our gigantic brains. And, of course, our huge writing talents.
At 1:56 AM,
b'gina said…
So, what's the URL for your friend's blog? This, too, is a good way to get people to read him.
As for not keeping up your blog, may I say, step back and make way for the queen??? I am so bad about it, with many draft posts that I just never finish. Hey, we're all human here in blogland, so take it easy on yourself.
At 10:49 AM,
Binulatti said…
Y'know the thing about blogging is that it's anything you want it to be. Entertainment, commentary, confessional, artspace, whatever. If people who know you can recognize in your posts the 'shannon' we all know & love, then you're probably on the right track, - if there is such a thing...I mean, we keep coming back, right? :-)
At 6:21 PM,
Shannon said…
B'gina, the friend that I mentioned is also the person who first commented, "pbrchicken." And I think we'll have to fight to see who wears the crown!
Binulatti, you're right, you're right. My self-guilt is going to be the death of me and I need reminders to just chill out, as CT#2 has also said. Thanks!
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