Comments on: Graphophobia: The Fear of Writing

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:18:07 +0000

Whenever I’m struggling, I write something that matters less –emails to a friend, inane blog entries that never see the light of day, facebook comments… Just anything that makes me laugh or puts me in a sillier, more creative mindset. I think I am most effective when I take the pressure off and am just enjoying myself.

I think it also helps when the screen that is staring back at me isn’t an empty document. Sometimes I start writing projects in something that just feels less demanding. I’ve written the beginnings of many things in a blank email…

By: Katie Hammel

Katie Hammel — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:30:15 +0000

I end up writing in my head as soon as I try to fall asleep. By then I’m too tired to get up though so I just hope I can hold on to it until the next morning. I usually can’t.

By: Travel-Writers-Exchange.com

Travel-Writers-Exchange.com — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:08:17 +0000

Writer’s block may come and go. Writer’s block is much deeper, something in the psyche or subconscious mind that is holding you back. Most writers and people have a fear of failure or a fear of success. It sounds weird that writers would have a fear of success, but it’s true. When you become a successful writer, you’ll be in demand. You’ll be interviewed and travel the world for an extensive amount of time. This means you’ll be away from family, friends, husbands/wives, life partners, etc…

Face your fears and write anyway. Take the pressure off of writing by going away for a weekend or take the week off to do nothing, travel, or volunteer. Writer’s block is really all in your head.

By: Turner

Turner — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:44:53 +0000

I usually let my assignments from Vagabondish, Matador, and my two blogs pile up until I’m left with a seemingly impossible list of tasks… the words have a hard time flowing then. The only thing that can be done is completely isolation from the internet, other people, loud noises, even good books. But that’s just me. The rain is pelting against the window of my shelter and providing me with some welcome white noise.

By: Julie

Julie — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 02:22:57 +0000

Josh- Really love that Vallejo quote– never seen that before.

By: Joshywashington

Joshywashington — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:03:09 +0000

wonderfully inspiring read, great link Hal!

By: Joshywashington

Joshywashington — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:54:13 +0000

The midnight beer thing I gotta try!

By: Joshywashington

Joshywashington — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:52:31 +0000

I like that! Give yourself a disclaimer… and I like the link, thank you Kristin.
I sometimes forget that rare is the author who types out a first draft that is their complete story…that writing ( to paraphrase Stephen King ) is like painstakingly digging up a dinosaur with little scrapers and brushes, you know you have a bone…but what bone, what species, what era? Carefully the work is “discovered”, unearthed…I get ahead of myself, going goddamn it, this suppose to be a Plesiosaur, not a frickin Trilobite!

By: Joshywashington

Joshywashington — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:46:31 +0000

I have had many similar experiences while running. Something about the hypnotic routine of jogging lets my mind fly. While working on my creative writing major I had to write a short story. While on a jog through a cemetery listening to Led Zep’s Levy Song I looked at a grave and got a complete story rushed instantly in my head. A combination of the name on the head stone ( Charles Ebbinghouse )and the music in my ears wrote a story.
I did manage to get home and get that one out.

By: Carlo

Carlo — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:48:42 +0000

Thanks for that link Hal, great read. Inspiring in its own way.

By: Carlo

Carlo — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:29:43 +0000

Some of my best “writing” comes when I’m riding my bike home from work through the park. But then I get home and try to get those ideas out of my head and it’s never the same. What once might have been coherent thoughts come out as a few random sentences that I can’t make anything out of. So frustrating. Maybe I should invest in a little recorder.

By: Kristin

Kristin — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:26:44 +0000

Blank pages that taunt me always end up beginning with, “This is the beginning of my writing. Don’t hate me if it sucks.”

Once I’ve committed to writing anything, regardless of inspiration or quality and I take the judgment aspect out of it with those two sentences, I remember that I showed up to the job. If the creativity didn’t come that’s not entirely my fault.

Elizabeth Gilbert gave a great TED talk on this: http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

By: neha

neha — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:23:01 +0000

so that’s what it’s called!

By: Heather

Heather — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:23:31 +0000

I don’t force it. If i’m annoyed, distracted, and trying too hard it won’t flow and I find the prospect of writing a 2nd draft from a crappy first draft even less inspiring. If the words for the subject at hand aren’t coming, I write about something else. If I’m not in the mood for writing in general, I go do something else creative like make jewelry, develop a recipe, or work on the potted plant garden. If I’m not in a creative mood at all, I go for a walk or go to the gym. In short, I do something that looks very similar to procrastination but actually serves to recharge my batteries. If all else fails, I pop open a beer and start writing around midnight, giving myself a deadline of 2am. This has somehow been when I’ve most often churned out my best work.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 01:41:26 +0000

Yes, I do find myself grappling with questions like, “Am I putting out something beautiful/unique/beneficial?”…

I love coming back to great writing (like here at Matador!) and reading writing books like Ann Lamott or a book like “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield http://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/0446691437

By: Hal Amen

Hal Amen — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:59:10 +0000

I’m the same way, JoAnna. What a great feeling to get that first draft done! I find the revision process much less stressful than the creative one.

Here’s a piece by Stephen Fry on the subject. In it, he brings up a quote from Thomas Mann: “A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than for other people.”

Great stuff: http://www.stephenfry.com/2009/09/05/emerging-into-the-light/

By: JoAnna

JoAnna — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:33:44 +0000

I don’t normally get writer’s block (*knocks on wood*), but when it happens or if I’m working on something that completely seems to prevent pen from crawling across the paper, I push through … even if it sucks. At least the first draft is done then, and I can always go back to fix it later (luckily the second through I have something to work with).

By: Bridget O'Neill

Bridget O'Neill — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:12:27 +0000

hmm, so it’s a universal condition, eh? I think I’m gonna go write somethin..