Once Around the Writer’s Block

A blank: That is what the mind draws when faced with the prospect of finishing a new book. Your outline is clear, and your characters have developed into something you treasure, but then, what next? That all too familiar mogwai sneaking into the kitchen at night and spawning a billion little gremlins of self-doubt after getting wet in the sink. Trashing a comma, disparaging a semi-colon, flipping a bird towards a word: writers tend to be harder on themselves than their worst critic can ever be. So, from one writer to the next, go easy on yourself. The story will unfold in due time, right now what matters most is your peace of mind. Go out there and give yourself permission to enjoy life; find the silver linings which pave the roads in our journey through it all. Appreciating our sympathies and the unknowns of tomorrow even if we still find ourselves struggling through the toughest of times. A positive thought in the midst of a variety of negative ones can cut through the malaise with the intensity of the moonlight shimmering in the night.

Look up at the sky and realize how awe inspiring and vast the universe can be, and how we happened to have existed through it all. Through a chance encounter within a couple of gas clouds and nebulas forming interstellar systems, and billions of years later, we are here as a species. Serendipitous our history has been, with hopes and dreams swirling around the tail end of this spiral galaxy of ours. So, the next time you are thinking about doubting your own worth and are making your way around that writer’s block for the thousandth time, think about how far we all have made it. Tell that little gremlin of self-doubt to go fuck itself as you humbly refuse to take yourself for granted ever again.