Experimental Living

What an excellent way to begin your first real post: by admitting that you’re suffering from an acute case of the dreaded disease of writer’s block. (I’m confused as to why no clinical research has been done, to date, on this disorder.)

Yep, I’m having trouble writing. Actually, the actual writing isn’t the part I’m struggling with. To be specific, I can’t come up with a topic to write on. I keep delving through the dusty corridors of my mind, trying to resurrect a subject, idea- anything- that I’ve forgotten about and can use. But, of course, nothing surfaces. At all.

So yes, I’m desperate. I’m looking for a topic that’s original, applicable, and one that every other blogger/writer in the country hasn’t already analyzed to death. I’ve pored through my Bible, brainstormed, cursed myself, and even tried banging my head on my desk, but nothing’s helped. I suppose I’ll just have to do what I usually do when this cursed malady strikes me: relax. Forget about it. Do something besides think. Usually within the week I’m cured with this remedy. So we’ll see if I can use enough discipline to force myself to refrain from topic-searching until my eyes water and my head is bruised from desk-banging.

Writer’s block isn’t something I frequently experience, actually. In fact, I rarely have trouble finding something interesting to write about. Writing is the primary medium, besides music, through which I express my thoughts and whatever I’m feeling. But have you ever really thought about how we communicate our emotions through writing? Think about it: if you’re stressed out, you’ll probably want to rant about whatever it is you’re stressing about (probably due to a severe case of caffeine-deprivation). If you’re feeling particularly joyful (more than likely brought on by the opposite of caffeine-deprivation), you’ll maybe pick up a pen and compose a sonnet dedicated to the barista who created your drink.

The topics I usually enjoy writing on- politics, apologetics, practical life applications, and historical analyses- suddenly seem lifeless and dry. I’ve tried searching through my old blog, checking to see if there’s a topic I lifelessly mentioned but never wrote on, but nope- nothing. So, I guess I’m just going to have to give up. Perhaps tonight I’ll have a dream where a gloriously fresh and original topic suddenly appears, but I doubt that will happen. And if I do, more than likely I’ll forget about it in the morning.

Yes, the joys of writer’s block are mine tonight, and as I sip my caramel macciatto, hoping the caffeine therapy will cure my distress, I can’t help but wonder if Paine, Virgil, Hamilton, and Shakespeare ever suffered from this curious disease.

And if they did, I’d like to ask them: how did you live without espresso?

This entry was posted on Friday, March 21st, 2008 at 12:28 am and is filed under Humor, Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.