I have not been able to publish any new writings for several weeks now. My apologies.
Yes, “writers block” really does happen, and I have been experiencing this impact recently while trying to write the vignettes about my vacation during the summer of 2024. This writing effort became challenging after I returned from this year’s vacation and realized that this effort could be one of my more thought-provoking writing exercises, and that this recounting could require more than 7,000 words to complete.
So, I did do a lot of writing during this year’s vacation when I was away from work and all the associated stresses. I was also a bit of a pirate this year and promised myself to have a daily rum drink while on the island, and to get in the water more often. I do think that my continuing recovery efforts did help with my confidence. And I kept my promise to myself up until I injured my arm in a boating accident. After that, I moved to doubling my daily rum intake to help with the pain and the dumbness of the injury. And my youngest daughter hopes that I get a scar like a real pirate. I think her wish will come true.
If you are interested, I will be putting some pictures in the Gallery soon. I need to properly size them. Nothing graphic though.
Now, and as I have noted, my current challenge is understanding the best way to capture my vacation memories from the summer of 2024, and this is where I now recognize my “writers block” started. I basically became overcome by the quantity of words needed to capture this time in my life, and all of the various stresses and chaos associated with it. And the stresses I am referring to are those caused by work and family life. My family life is becoming more like living in the twilight zone. And I will write about that soon. And yes, these new stresses just brought too much chaos into my thinking and writing processes.
And my “writers block” kept going back to the quantity of words going onto the page. This realization was frightful, and this became a fear I could not get past. Yes, I count words because it lets me know when I am passing the draft portion of my writing and that I am approaching the second edit portion. This is how I keep myself and my writings organized. I find this method aligns more with how I write my vignettes. I also reached out to other writers for possible solutions to use to get past this impasse.
After talking with other writers, everyone I spoke with expressed that they too have experienced “writers block” in some way that paralyzed them from putting words onto a page. Some felt discouraged. Others were contemplating abandoning their efforts altogether. I felt better knowing this and that I was not alone in this paralyzing experience.
And I learned from them that they approached their “writers block” in various ways to combat this paralyzing experience. Building off their solutions is what I will be doing as well. Their encouragement has helped me find my breakthrough so I can get back to writing my story.
And so, I have now recognized that this vacation part of my story needs to be told in many parts, many vignettes. And since this story will be long, I will now go back to get past this block by writing several of the other parts of my life’s story so that I can get back into my shorter writings. This is my comfort zone.
I am also thinking that my writing space needs a change as well. I have been contemplating getting a new desk, one that is made of real wood. I currently sit at a plastic folding table, and it is a bit of a mess. I don’t know if this thinking is logical, but my room is a mess, and I just want to be in an uncluttered space with some nice things. And I am looking at Mid Century Modern becoming my new style; specifically, the West Elm Mid Century Modern series. I like the 60-inch desk and a nice leather chair to go with it. I can dream!
So, and after the venting of my challenges, I feel like writing more of my story. I believe that by sharing this with you, some clarity has begun to present itself. I just felt a new energy race through my body.
Wish me luck…