“Keep a small can of WD-40 on your desk—away from any open flames—to remind yourself that if you don’t write daily, you will get rusty.”
—George Singleton
It is a good advice.
Like most bloggers, once in a while I experience “writer’s block” or as the French would say, “le syndrome de la page blanche », the condition of being unable to think about what to write.
Writing, if you must know is an addiction and it is like any other craving. If you don’t indulge, you will feel restless, fidgety, cranky.
To get a fix, you MUST write. About nothing and everything.
As the saying goes, “It is not because you have nothing to say that we must keep your mouth shut.”
Just like jogging, you must continue writing in order to keep your mind fit.
My best personal medicine to relieve this curse is a long solitary walk, letting your mind wander like an off leash dog. The creative process is a lonely activity that does not suffer companionship. It is probably similar to a hen laying an egg. I surmise that to do this she must concentrate and not gossip with another hen.
Contrarily to what you might think, sleep does not stop the creative process. I have often awakened in the middle of the night to jot down some idea that came to me during my beauty sleep.
“I always start writing with a clean piece of paper and a dirty mind.”—Patrick Dennis
Another good piece of advice.
A dirty/naughty mind is necessary to titillate one’s libido and make your writing a little more entertaining.
To resonate with your audience, you must write about what you have experienced. Bad and good. Clean and naughty. These last few weeks as you have probably noticed, I have indulged in the naughty: stinking politics.
To my everlasting sorrow, it seems that good guys often finishes second. But politics is often akin to a marathon. A triumphant start does not necessarily augur a victorious finish.
Neville (“peace for our time”) Chamberlain had a good start and a much less brilliant finish.
Thank you for reading a Seinfeld-like story “about nothing”.
Alain