Don't Rest Your Head on the Writer's Block

I don't know about you but I've always felt that words have their own form of inertia. Once they get going they seem to run away with themselves, building pace, taking me down twists and unexpected turns that I never could have foreseen when I first sat down to write. Sometimes it all works out well - the literary ambling and careering can lead me to some places of wonder and beauty. At other times the words plough on thoughtlessly, hurtling themselves into a chasm of incoherence, only possibly redeemed by the spectacular fireball on final impact. Yes, writing's all a bit of a confusing process really but one that can take me down some interesting roads.

Unfortunately the inertia can work both ways: it can make it difficult to stop where you originally intended but it can also make it difficult to start in the first place. For all of us there's a time where we have to stop thinking about what we're going to write and just jolly well write it! Because when you dwell too long the words can strangle themselves with that frustrating paralysis that comes from overanalysis. It's at times like these that we have to remind ourselves not to give in to the despair, not to rest our heads on the writer's block of indecision but to force our fingers into determined action and see what comes out. And, yes, sometimes it's a strain that only results in a jumbled collection of phrases and sounds, but at other times the resulting product can be a refreshingly pleasant surprise.

As a famous green midget once said, 'do or do not, there is no try.' It's good advice that, and not just for aspiring Jedi. So, let's give up trying to act/write/be the best we can and just suck it up and do it. The results may be unpredictable but they're worth the effort.

So, here we go, once more into the twisted byways of wordial investigation and experimentation. Hopefully the inertia will take us in an interesting direction this time... and if not, I'm hoping the fireball will be a particularly pretty one...