Good Morning Adventurers, and what a good morning it is. The trees are starting to lose their leaves, the nights are getting colder, and we are slowly drifting from summer to fall. I think this morning, let me take some time to talk about the struggles of trying to write everyday. A bit of writer’s block, imposter syndrome, and good ole’fashion procrastination.
So there isn’t a real decent way to title off each of the sections for this topic, I’m just going to dive right on into them. I think the first struggle that I’m sure many people can relate to is the feeling of Imposter Syndrome. Like that feeling of no matter what I am doing, I’ll never measure up to the most average of writers, let alone the greats. That feeling of doubt that always sits in the back of your mind as you work on a project of any kind…yeah, you know the feeling.
I know that I’m at least a decent/average writer. I’m not the best, but I don’t live in a fantasy that says that “I’m the best that ever is!” No, I understand that my mediocre kind of writing is for the people that just enjoy a simple kind of story. I’m not that elaborate of writer, and I don’t really write deep, complex prose. Heck, sometimes I think I need to go back and take another kind of college class just to refresh myself on writing structure, character, and grammar. Then to any who have been reading this consistently, will understand that I don’t go back and edit these posts(though I really should). I just write these posts at the wee hours of the morning, hopped up on coffee, and just type.
I say that, and the viewer count isn’t really that high at all, but that’s ok. These posts are meant to be a journal to track my progress and work. That still doesn’t prevent that doubt from creeping on in and saying, “look at all the work that no one will ever see…” So, yeah, it’s there and it really does bring me down from time to time. However, my bigger enemy during these times is not actually doubt, but rather the writers block that comes with it. When that doubt kicks in the creative part of my mind tends to just shut down.
It’s almost as if the creative dam that is always flowing just seals off it’s flow the moment I pick up a pencil or sit down in front of my computer. I can sit down and watch a movie, read a book, play a video game, or have a simple conversation and all of these ideas will just flow right into my mind. Then disappear the moment I try to write them down. Sometimes internet art trends or writer ideas help fix plot holes that I’ve been stuck on, and then keep me stuck in my problem because I lose the train of thought upon sitting down.
Maybe this happens because I haven’t been writing for fun as of lately. Which is something that I need to get back to doing. Between work, rugby, and just finding a moment to relax, I often push writing off to the side and forget about it. Yet that’s how it often begins, the distractions that I use to help myself relax after a busy day or find comfort is…easy to get into.
It’s so much easier to just sit down, turn on whatever show/movie that I want to see, and forget about everything else. The same thing goes for video games, a good book, or just the vortex that is the internet. That is so much easier than sitting down and writing, putting my mind to work after having just spent all day trying to keep kids in line, grading papers, and teaching them the very things that I need to use when writing a story. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, however it isn’t any less mentally taxing than any other job out there. Then if you want to throw on the other aspects of life, it can be easy to just sit down and find the comforts of life help you get through each day.
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