The 3 kinds of writer's block

“I think writer’s block is simply the dread that you are going to write something horrible.”

– Roy Blunt, Jr.

I’ve been writing actively in journals, newspapers, magazines and blogs for the last 5 years, and the writer’s block has been relentlessly pursuing me all the time. If I don’t write for 3 or 4 days in a row, I can’t think of anything at all the 5th day. Or, alternatively, if I’ve been writing vigorously for a week, then taking even a small break after seems adverse – it feels as if all my ideas have been exhausted although I know I have thought of something worthwhile to be put down. So, the following is about the 3 kinds of writer’s block I think there are, and what I write is based on my experiences only.

1. Surplus of choices: By calling it the ‘surplus of choices’, I mean that the writer has too many ideas and doesn’t know which one to pick and elaborate on. In this case, the core cause could be conflicting priorities. Not knowing what to write about, in general, could be a statement of one’s ignorance or inadequate knowledge. However, there is also the other possibility where a writer can’t choose between two topics because he finds them both equally important but is not availed the opportunity to indulge in both of them. I’ve had the misfortune to be in such a situation quite a few times, especially when I’m faced with an audience with high expectations.
2. Fear of approach: This reason I think explains itself. Like the quote says at the beginning of this post, most people are daunted by the fear of failure or of not meeting expectations (which may not amount to the same thing). If they start working with such a mindset, what happens is that they question each and every one of their next moves to the point where they lose confidence in what they’re doing. If there’s no confidence, then there’s not going to be any conviction. This morale will eventually avalanche into the writer discarding his or her attempts at continuing to write. There’s also a subsequent chance of this mood upsetting all other projects at hand.
3. Exhaustion of thought: When I’m exhausted of all thoughts, I mean that I’m in a state of mind that’s like a combination of the first 2 types. I might just have completed a writing task and somehow find that, as a result, I’ve used up all my literary devices and techniques in one post instead of saving some techniques for the upcoming ones. So, now, 2 things face me: I have to come up with something suitable to write on as well as judge for myself as to whether it would satiate my literary goals. What I don’t like in this case that whenever I think of something new, I also seem to find an excuse to discard it in favor of another topic. This goes on and on until I’m back on square: nothing in hand, nothing in head.

The interesting thing about any form of the writer’s block is that there’s always only one cure: by doing what it prevents you from doing. Keep writing no matter what. Refering to the quote again, don’t be afraid to write badly, absolute nonsense even. You’ll find that it will come your aid in the long run. When I write gibberish, two things happen to me. First is that I’m inspired by my own (often drab) creativity. When I write a meaningless paragraph and read it again, I’m able to see that I’m headed somewhere but am not able to guide myself properly. In that process, I’m able to identify a topic I seem interested in. Second, I slowly begin to construct longer sentences with broader meanings – in other words, I begin to construct ideas on the go. In the first case, I drew the big picture.In the second, I stuff it with the kind of information that also gives me the foundation.

But over and above everything else, writer’s block is there only if you want it to be. And like all unfortunate experiences, it’s easier said than done. However, I do know of some people who continue to write even thought it’s visible that they’ve hit an ideological wall. If you want to get there too, you must understand what’s happening within you. I’ve written here what happens within me. Is it the same for you? Or not?

10 Lessons I've Learnt While Blogging

While you might have concentrated on optimizing your blog for search engines all this while, there are somethings you master on your own while you write and trim and maintian the whole thing – the little things that matter, the little things that lead to the bigger ones.

1. Don’t let them get stuck in there – Link your blog to other (possibly more) authoritative sites. If a user lands up on your blog, make sure he has many ways out of it, even if that means linking to Wikipedia all the time.
2. Build an arcade – Link your posts together through some keywords. When I read a post on your blog, make sure I can either make my way out of your blog or jump to another post within the same blog.
3. Move around yourself – Don’t stay put. If you’re a WordPress user, go around and make some friends in the blogging circles. Suggest, comment and criticise actively. Make sure people reading comments on other sites are able to make note that someone like you EXISTS.
4. Keep the place clean – Keep it clean, keep it cool. People coming to your blog shouldn’t have to look long for important links.
5. Let everyone know whose blog they’re reading – Don’t be anonymous, you’re not there yet. Put up a prominent ‘About Me’ page with the relevant details.
6. Take it places – Your blog’s like a kid. Everyday, take it some place where it can have fun. Don’t be shy of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. At least, if you don’t like Twitter like some of my friends, use Facebook.
7. Stick to your goals – My goal is to keep writing no matter what – a selfish endeavour if you will. And I’ve put up 362 posts including this one. It keeps me active, but a greater merit is one keeps showing up in WP circles and Google also keeps an eye out for one’s updates.
8. Keep it specific – If you’ve been catering to a target audience, keep them in mind all the time. A sudden change in theme, if sustained, can have you lose a lot of addicts.
9. Categorise – Like #4, make it easy to look for specific things in your blog. Just a search form won’t do. Having categories (and a tag cloud if you want) can be very helpful in this regard.
10. Proofread your entries – Yeah, it’s somewhat like writing your novel. Even if you’re not so keen on keeping everything spic and span, broken sentences and incomplete phrases can put people off.

Banded!

I’m listening to…

‘Follow the God That Failed’, Metallica

Metallica (Black Album, 1991)

The Writers' Crib

By the writers’ crib, I don’t mean their cribbing; I mean their tool-room, the place where they derive their ideas from, their sources of inspiration. A writer begins to write when he wishes to express his ideas, when he believes that there might be others who will want to learn of what he has learnt, understood or perceived. The language he chooses to use will be the language he finds most convenient to write in, one in which his grammar and the way he structures his sentences will reflect perfectly in the messages that the reader comes to understand. There must be no conflict, and there must be an inherent brevity that says the writer need not use an unnecessary number of words to express himself completely. The style of writing, the flavouring of the text, which he employs will deliver the mood of the text, and thereby let the reader know which side of the argument he is on, if indeed there is one. If not for an argument- well, I think there are always arguments: this conforms to my principles of a binary world! The language and the grammar decided, next is the perspective if the writer. Now, the perspective is, I think, independent of the subject at hand. Why do I think this? Because, herein the good earth I think there are a set of symbols, a set of signs, that tell us that there exist an interconnectivity between all things, objects as well as beings. Whether the writer writes of a pencil, or of the Vietnam war, he will always write in a such a manner as to reflect his perception of the world and those who inhabit it. This perception cannot be stolen from the mind’s eye, and cannot be changed easily. Perception as I would define it, is an understanding that is born from our innate personality. Moreover, this personality doesn’t come to account for our perception just by the name, but also by what it exhibits in turn: our up bringing, our religion, our nativity, our patriotism, our identity, our imbued humanity. The degree to which we adhere to these elements of our living defines our perception, and narrows it or broadens it depending on how we exercise them. And now, looking beyond the perception, there is nothing but objectification. Objectification is identification, not association. Perception is. When we perceive an object, we identify it, true, but then, we also move on to understand our relationship with it. When we believe that we have a possibly meaningful relationship in the offing, we give the object a name. By giving a name, we have established association.

When, at our most basic levels, we are confined to the mind and how it perceives the objects around us, our perception of the more complex ones follows a simple mathematical principle: we tend to break down those complex events into smaller and smaller ones, until we have in our hands a multitude of the simple events.

Now, the symbols in this earth. What are they? How do they look like? I don’t know. Are they there? Yes they are. How do you know? Let me tell you. Look at this picture.

Red 'X' in white?

What do you see in this picture? Do you see a red ‘X’ on a white page? Of course you do. Everyone does. But what everyone fails to notice is that, why do we always see only the red ‘X’? Why not the white background? Why don’t we see the white background as having a red-coloured ‘X’ shaped cavity? Or why don’t we see a white pattern on a red background?Why do we tend to prioritise the symbol over its background, and why do we not consider the background itself as a symbol to be existent? Well, in this particular case, it may have been because of the familiarity of the symbol as an alphabet, but what about a very many number of other symbols? Simply, why do we associate more with those symbols that are easier to perceive? The difficulty to perceive another symbol doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist!

Imagine this. There is a stainless, white wall. Perfectly white. There is a perfectly white table in front of it. On this table is a semi-hemispherical orange bowl. If you were to stand at a distance of around 3 metres, how would you know that that orange coloured object is a bowl? First and foremost, you will know that by its shape. The curvature, and a flat section towards the bottom will tell you that it is a bowl. What gives this bowl an image of being curved? This is obtained from its relation to its background. If man had been living in a world composed only of circles, and if the line hadn’t been discovered yet, he would not know of linearity. He will be able to perceive only curvature, and therefore, he will not identify the circle for what it is. Similarly, since man knows the line, he can recognise the circle for what it is. Deriving another analogy, the shape of the bowl is understood by how it cuts out the background. In this case, you know the object is a bowl only by how a section of the wall is hidden from your sight: the section that is hidden is instead covered by an orange, semi-circular patch.

Therefore, if you were to think of it, there is a red ‘X’ on white paper, or there is a red ‘X’ shaped cavity in the white symbol that is the paper. The difference between the two is prioritisation. Through this selective prioritisation, we allot a certain density to some parameters we find easier to work with, and therefore, write about. This is the reason more than one single perception exists in the world. Look at the number of symbols you have splattered have around you in your daily life. Have you ever wondered whether the symbol you perceive is the only symbol in sight? Those for whom there seems to be no harm in this selective prioritisation can move on. But for those who are seeking a solution to something, this is some food for thought.

The end of the world?

See more pwn and owned pictures

(The text reads: I was watching Inconvenient truth the other day and theres this bit where it shows the sea level rising really high and flooding most of the world. Well I live near the sea, don’t want to drown, so I got to thinking. Maybe if we lower the sea level a bit, when the water level rises then it won’t rise high enough to flood. Anyway, here’s the plan. Everyone who can should take a bucket of sea water and pour it down the sink. If lots of people put the effort in, we could lower the sea level substantially and make a better world for our children to live in.)

THE END OF THE WORLD? A lot of stuff’s been going on about the end of the world as foretold in the Mayan calendar, WW3 as predicted by Nostradamus, and the LHC experiment to be conducted by CERN in 2012. Amidst all of this, the debates also rage around the recent Mumbai blasts and India’s suspected attack (either military or diplomatic :P) against Pakistan. To top it all, US Secy. of State, Condoleezza Rice, lands up in India and asks us to calm down and not go to war – look who’s talking! We’ve taken a gazillion terror strikes up our ass and we’re contemplating war, while they take in just one and wage war against two countries!

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I think we should be heard too. Here’s what’s going around my hostel here in Dubai!

Bala: We must go to war! If India can produce a list of terrorists with their contact details in Pakistan, it can’t be a fake. If Pakistan refuses to extradite them, then it’s a case of failure to show goodwill. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough politicians at the top with a backbone. But war is the best option! BrahMos it off!

Nair: I hate America! But I don’t know if I’m a communist, although I’m pro-BJP. And who the **** are those A******ns to step into our soil and ask us not to go to war! Mind your own business, *************! You know what India should do? Just walk into Pakistan! Like in civilian clothes! Give a **** not for them! I hate America!

Sawant: Going to war is not an option. Even if both countries have nukes, the use of a nuclear weapon is highly regulated, and no matter how many nukes we have – use one and we’re ******. But I’ve been wondering. What if this is a ruse by the Al Qaeda or some other clan to distract Pakistan’s attention on India? If that was it, then they’ve succeeded. I think we should stick to a diplomatic victory now.

Iyyer: Oh… I didn’t know!

MS: We shouldn’t continuously blame Pakistan. If A says we’re not involved in any of the activities of C, and don’t know where C is hidden inside A, then B should try something other than placing the blame on A, ‘cos that’s just foolish and a waste of important time. Oh, and A is Pak, B is India, and C is who ever it is.

Funny Man: I think India should use its floating tanks. They exist, I tell you! Tanks that float in water! You know how it works? I know! I’ll tell you. It’s made of metal, and it is hollow inside, so it will float. And India has 1000 nukes, and Pakistan has 4. What are we waiting for?!

Bala: THEY’RE CALLED SHIPS!

The_MJ: It’ll be sexy, no?! The end of the world as we know it in 2012! Amazing! I’m just gonna spend my money on all that I’ve ever wanted! But I do hope the world ends after that. I don’t want to come back to life in 2013 and find that I’m bankrupt!

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Anyway, the most fiery search these days on Google happens to be Nostradamus and his predictions. I myself have received some hundred visitors looking for his ideas on WW3. Along with the rumour that the Mayans thought the world was gonna end in 2012, I think 2012 ought to be one intense year of speculation and anticipation. Something has to happen then! A famed seer and an age old civilization have both earmarked these next four years for some apocalyptic event. When I believe that I am a man of science and one having faith only in scientific reasoning, I am only led to think that the Illuminati or the Priory of Sion are still active, them and their fabled secrets.

That reminds me of the CERN people. Apparently, they have this kick-ass experiment scheduled for performance in 2012 at the LHC (Large Hadron Collider). I’m sure there must be one or two loons in there hurrying to build that damned thing and leave before it implodes into a black hole. Fine, I’ve conceded that I’m waiting for 2012 to happen. Now think of the scientists! If they postpone or advance the experiment, it will mean that they’ve surrendered to non-scientific reasoning. If they do hold the experiment as per schedule, then it’s gotta be with them biting their nails and stuff.

For once, science isn’t freaking me so much!

Blavatars in the house!

BLAVATARS IN DA HOUSE!

This feature from WordPress now allows for your profile image (which you should’ve uploaded via the ‘Settings’ page) to appear as the little picture next to your blog’s name in the browser’s header bar.

Writing Big And Writing Proud

are the same. I like to write things big, I like to blow things up, and if you gave me the chance, I’d like to put the ideas in your head! I happened across this 100-word blog a few days back. The ‘About’ section revealed that rather than to waste time on writing 1000+ words of text and thought, one might as well shrink everything down to a maximum of 100 words: that way, it claims, you can get the viewers as well as some fun; while I think I’m left to assume that the blog also stays in the Top 5 bookmarks of the viewer. Let me ask you something. How would you describe the need to write? If you’ve established a relationship with something or someone, and if you find it meaningful enough to get back to this relationship from time to time, you give the object/person a name, and thereby, your association a meaning. Similarly, when I write, I have something that I would like to tell you. If I find it important that you know this information, I will publicise it, and if you think it’s gonna help with your everyday life, you’re gonna want to keep coming back to it. And I will let you know everything that I have to say, and I will tell you that with my bag of prejudices, my can of flavours, and my unashamed display of misinformedness. But if I did want to go through a 100-word blog, and if I did, this is how I would feel: I would feel the writer’s condescension in trying to establish a different level of writing. I would feel an unwholesomeness to the text. Because writing is writing when you express yourself. If I were to write a 100-word blog, I wouldn’t call it a blog. I will call it an online news portal. A blog is about self-expression. Just as a photographer will find pleasure in pain when he snaps a picture of the morning mists swirling around the pillars under the Golden Gate bridge, a writer will find pleasure in pain when he makes the reader feel cold when he writes of a winter night.

I’m not here asking down the person to take his blog down. But the thing is, I find no expressionism in such an endeavour. It’s just a way to get yourself known in blogging circles, and probably attract some attention and garner some viewership. Because of your want to communicate with your fellow men and women, and because of the chronic finiteness of the spoken word, writing has developed into more than just a tool to enable repetition of text and recollection of ideas. To the writer, the written word will be the trophy for all his efforts. It will be more than a chest of gold and diamonds: it will be a jewel he will savour for ever. It will tell the world that it came into being in the mind of one man, who thought it important enough to put it down and to let those in the dark know about it. The written word is the writer’s swordsman as well as the swordsman’s sword. A blog of 100 words can, utmost, be used to get across information without interpreting it for yourself. It’s a form of communication wherein you are involved as not more than a messenger. But if you can, in those 100 words, express yourself and deliver a judgment, then hats off to you!

Not So Caducus

Hello world it is! (I was wondering how to say Hi and not sound lame at the same time 😛 ) Ah well… I deleted my older blog, Politiculous, just because I didn’t like how it was shaping up. I know I had some pretty important posts in there, so I made backups of only those few. Will be importing it in sometime soon. As a person who likes to write for the heck of it (and the laurels!), I didn’t like how my language was developing. I mean, there’s a good chance it’ll develop the same way again, but I just wanna give this a shot. So here it is: Caducus. I was just fooling around online when I found this name, and it means ‘destined to die’ in Latin. When I hit upon it, I also looked around for ‘Flagrante Delicto’ and ‘Shadenfreude’, but they were already taken. So to say, I don’t think English has any cool words left in it to befit the title of my blog… lol! Anyway, as I was saying, the formality in my language was making the blog look like some textbook or something (I know I shouldn’t be giving myself that much credit), so I hope I can make this one come up as something glasnosty! I’ll be putting up posts soon, so enjoy and feel free to comment on whatever you want to!

Cheers!