Writer's Block

I typed in a few words on my laptop's keyboard. I stopped for a couple of seconds, stared at the screen blankly. Then I hit on the Backspace key as I let my right finger lingered on it for a few seconds. I retyped the same words I deleted earlier, starred at it for a minute or two, then reached for the Backspace key again and pressed it about a hundred times until the sentences became a phrase, the phrase became a word, and the word became few letters, until finally, the letters were all gone and I could only stare at the bright blank whiteness in front of me. Writer's block! How would you explain that?

I held the base of my laptop with both hands. I put it down on top of my pillow, and leaned back on the hard cemented wall. The wall that separated us from the neighboring tenants felt so unfriendly against my back bones. It felt like crushing my bones and muscles altogether. So, I reached for another pillow and propped it in between my back and the wall. I leaned comfortably and wandered into my own universe. Things started whirling in my imagination and ideas appeared and disappeared like smoke coming from a lit match stick. My mind started to get busy as kaleidoscopic thoughts started to pop up one by one.

I reached for my laptop again with full of eagerness to write everything I have had in mind at the moment, but as I started to work my fingers on their way to the keyboard of alphabets, I seemed to lose the right words to say in my article. I couldn't move my fingers to the rhythm of my mind's pace and creativity. I seemed to be lost in translations. I pushed my body back until I was lying on my back against the hard bed. I felt frustrated that I couldn't write anything. I felt disappointed that I could never release the writer in me at such critical moment.

That's when I realized what's embedded in the deepest part of my mind. I felt distracted with a certain thought, so distracted that I found it so hard to utter words and ideas before I set it free. A thought that I wouldn't want to entertain at that moment, but couldn't help not to.

I had already all the ideas gathered in my mind. I had plans on arranging them in my story in a systematic order, but the certain thought kept invading the peacefulness in my brain as I tried to shut it away. I tried... I tried... and lastly, I tried again, but to no avail. Ironic it may seen, but the more I tried to forget about it, the more I even think of it.

I gave it a shot. I closed my eyes for a few minutes, and let my mind traveled to where it hoped to go. Undoubtedly, it revived the thought that I was thinking all along. I just savored the moment instead of avoiding it, as I thought of the person and how the problem evolved into something humongous and unfriendly, and thought even more how I got into such a big mess.

The more I thought and discern about it, the more words slowly came out of my mind in a decipherable pattern. As I released these tensions I was feeling inside, it gave my heart its great freedom. This freedom also set my mind free... free from this writer's block I'm facing.

Check out these books to help you understand more about writer's block and fight against it:

Improv for Writers, 10 Secrets to Help Novelists and Screenwriters Bypass Writer's Block and Generate Infinite Ideas by Jorjeana Marie

Around the Writer's Block by Rosanne Bane

Winning the War Against Writer's Block by Allison Spooner

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