How I Get Over The Never Ending Writer’s Block

Every writer out there, big or small has at least once experienced a writer’s block in their lives. Wanna know what I did to get rid of mine?

So I have been away from my blog for a good three months and it may seem that I have literally abandoned my blog. But believe me I have not. How can I even think of doing that when this is the first place I created to express myself through fiction, poetry, articles, photos; to rant, to blabber, to spread awareness, to scorn people, to spread love, to share my pics…as the blog title suggests this is a place where I can give words and shape to my moods whether they are geeky (sensible) or freaky.

So why have I been keeping away from my favorite haunt for so long?

It’s not that I don’t feel like writing these days, it’s not that I don’t have topics to write, it’s not even that I am super busy and don’t get time to write…day or night, apun ke paas to time hi time hai janaab and you know what! I am a sucker for news and we all know how watching and hearing the overzealous, blabbermouth ‘news’ anchors can set even the dullest and barren minds to mutiny.

Cacophony over a ‘historical’ movie stirs me into action but as I sit down to write hoping to type away to glory, unfortunately, ideas do the vanishing trick leaving me twiddling my thumbs in frustration. My words get knotted up like a tangled ball of wool and I am unable to proceed beyond a few sentences. Battery depletes even before I can plug it in!

So I resort to the tried and tested tricks of writers to get over this annoying mental block. I leave the draft when I can’t think of anything more to write and revisit it after a few hours, take a second look, the third and fourth…but nothing helps. I simply abandon the draft for the time being. Now I have at least seven-eight incomplete articles/stories in my drafts folder sneering and sniggering at my mental block.

My friends suggested reading more to get inspiration from famous authors. I do that too. No, go, bro! The stubborn brain refuses to pop open but does a mocking twirl instead, just like a bunch of brash youngsters in ‘Khalbali Hai Khalbali – Hai khalbali. Ziddi Ziddi Ziddi Ziddi Ziddi Ziddi Ziddi Ziddi Ziddi Ziddi Ziddi Ye Zubaan Ziddi Ziddi Ziddi Ziddi Armaan, Ziddi hai toofan. Ziddi hum bhi yahaan. Khalbali hai khalbali…

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The ziddi brain doesn’t cooperate this time too and so there is neither ‘khalbali‘ in the zubaan nor any rejuvenating toofan to end this drought of words and it’s ‘dil ke armaan aansuon me bah gaye‘ for me once again.

Now I turn to the idiot box once more, this time to watch the ultra melodramatic TV soaps. So that some of the plotting and planning, churned out unceasingly from the highly agile and fertile minds of the scriptwriters that keeps the viewers glued to it for hours, can force open the rusted floodgates of my words too. But they connive and plot against me only. Just like me, the laptop remains in hibernate mode too.

Better luck next time! I console myself.

‘Pick up the newspaper again, read it from the front to the last page. Don’t quit the good habit. What if it contains negative news mostly, it will help revive the depleting flow of thoughts’, My husband reminded me today, such a kind and helpful man he is, you know. So I pick up the day’s newspaper dutifully, obediently. The first few pages immediately grab my eyes and tempt me with the words in their colourful and bold best….Final Sale, The Spirit of India offer, Bachat ka Sabse Bada Dhamaka, the Great Indian Sale. Enamoured by this sudden gust of amazing discount offers, yet determined to read the ‘news’ I decide to begin with the last page…Happy Denim Days and Sabse Saste 5 Din firm up my resolve without much effort.

Finally, I get my inspiration.

This time I write for an hour. Non-stop! A mile-long shopping list.

Published here earlier.

Image source: pexels

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