I consider myself a recovering inspiration addict. For a long time I sat around waiting and waiting for lighting to strike, for a poem to come slap me in the face, for magic to happen. I wrote next to nothing across a span of about two years, blaming “writer’s block” before I admitted that the reason I wasn‘t writing anything was that I wasn’t writing anything.
I have since dedicated myself to more consistent writing. I want to hold myself accountable to show up to the table and write - even if I don’t immediately like what I’m writing. I still love when inspiration hits, but I am learning to write without it.
After all, the muse makes no appointments.
I have always loved this quote on the creative process by Chuck Close. He was a painter, not a poet, but I still think what he has to say applies to us as writers.
“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightening to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself.”
I think sometimes we get inspired, maybe we hear something in a song, or we're walking around and something pops into our brains, but I think waiting for it is futile.
On the other hand, sitting down and writing exercises is always a good idea. Whilst not always producing your best work, nevertheless it can certainly hone your skills.
There are so many ideas available to us for writing prompts or writing exercises that I think there is no excuse to have writers block.
I find the best way to approach writers block is to take a page out of the Ancient Greek’s book and their Genius mythology!
I got his from a ted talk the I will leave below.
https://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_your_elusive_creative_genius/transcript?language=en
I agree with what you said, Matt. I think writers get fooled to believe that "writer's block" is a mental issue. As if something so benign could control their ability to write. It is all a myth.
"Writer's Block" is a conundrum solely based on a placebo effect. If a writer believes that they cannot write because inspiration is nigh existent when they sit down to write, they will think they cannot write anything. However, what if a person were to oppose such a mental construct instead?
The placebo goes both ways, like a teeter-totter. Instead of throwing all your apples to one side, consider for a second that you can write something regardless of not having the perfect words to say. Start small, and I'm confident a person will create a snowball effect in no time at all. Even if it is a simple sentence that may or may not even make sense at the moment, pick out some interesting words to describe said sentence. Then include each word in a separate sentence of its own. Soon enough, you will have a stanza, and then eventually an entire poem!
As you said, Matt, the action of writing has more value than sitting and staring at a blank screen screaming at yourself that you can't think of what to write. Even if that means writing about your pet curled up on your bed, the racket outside of your home, objects on your wall, or even that empty screen in front of your face. Anything is better than nothing at all.