Last Light Falling

Wow, don't you just hate those obnoxious cheesy clichés. If I never see this ridiculous quote from another writer's blog, it will be too soon. Uh, never mind.

How writer's block can hinder your creative cognitive mojo. What is writer's block anyway? Is it really a condition caused by stress, or are we natural procrastinators? Sure, I get lazy now and then, or distracted by the next episode of "Breaking Bad," or "The Walking Dead." There's nothing wrong with taking a break every now and then, but there's nothing worse than staring at a blank screen for hours on end, hoping something witty will suddenly ooze from the folds of your brain. There's nothing to be ashamed of, everyone experiences it, even Pulitzer Prize feature writers. Face it, we're imperfect beings, and our brain is a weave of mysterious circuitry.

There's no right or wrong way to alleviate writer's block. It's not an exact science, and creative writing is an art form in itself. So when words don't seem to flow on the screen, don't beat yourself up. Writing matures from feelings and emotions, and those can change in the blink of an eye. Do you always feel smitten around your better half when things aren't so hunky-dory? Of course not, so why should writing be any different? Much like love, writing has to mature, renew, and be massaged daily if it's to sustain.

Because everyone's body functions a little differently, there's no set of defining rules that encourages creative thinking. Mine often contradict themselves. For example, I find lack of sleep a detriment to my writing sometimes, but other times I can write through the night if I'm emotionally submersed into a scene. I feel almost oblivious to the world around me when I'm completely transformed into my stories, and the only thing tearing me away from the screen is the biological annoyance of my bladder begging to be relieved. Whenever I go on a high protein diet for a few weeks, I find that I have a consistent urge to write, and feel less engaged to the ever daily disruptions. However, when I eat less protein and more fruits and vegetables, I can sew a much more creative stitch into my writing.

The only time my drive to write suffers is when I become emotionally drained by life's distractions, and I forget my true intentions for writing in the first place. I write what I know and how I feel in the moment, but like I said before - emotions can change in an instant, and so can the will to write them. Writing is supposed to be enjoyable, and it deserves time and patience to grow.

While a good diet, especially one that includes lean protein, may or may not play a role in the healthy cognitive exercise of the brain's cerebral cortex, nothing will encourage better writing than feeding your brain with a good read. So take a break from the keyboard and curl up with a nice book for the evening. You may find that it’s the forgotten novel sitting by your bedside that's the key to refuel your creative awareness. It's helped me many times, and I don't feel guilty one bit if I leave my writing for a week. For if it's the lack of wit that I express in person, then it's my patience that allows the words on paper to articulate it for me.