A Reading Technique to Eliminate Writer’s Block
People often talk about flow in writing. When the flow is flowing, creativity is available in full force. Writing feels good and happens naturally. Time passes quickly. Meals and restroom breaks are forgotten. Excessive force isn’t necessary.
Sentences are pieced together almost unconsciously; meaning drips from each written syllable. Things process smoothly. There is a predictable rhythm and regularity to the sound of the keyboard.
How satisfying it is to be in a writing flow.
But remaining in this flow is another story. Usually we fall out of it more often than fall into it. It usually happens quickly; it always happens at the worst possible time.
The flow can turn viscous, a sludge-like substance lacking both speed and direction. Words fail to materialize. Each sentence feels like running a marathon with cast-iron shoes and a backpack full of rocks. Hitting keys on the keyboard isn’t as easy.
To write a single sentence, the writer may have to wring their sapped brain out like a sponge. Even then there are no guarantees.
This phenomenon — this bane to writers — is writer’s block. It is infamous and inevitable.
From high school students writing essays to professional novelists penning bestsellers, everyone encounters writer’s block.
We stare at a blank page, waiting for our genius to reveal itself to the world but instead we’re left with a headache and frustration.
Even the best writers have trouble maneuvering this impasse. Some people pace back and forth. Some people eat. Some people exercise. The remedies vary.
There is one technique I’ve found that works best.
Despite all the articles on writer’s block, I have never read a single article on reader’s block. Even in our least productive moments, we don’t lack the creative juice to read. We can always read.
There is no such thing as reader’s block.
0 Comments