How Marley and Me Cured My Writer's Block

For the past several months I have been dealing with a serious case of writer's block. Though, it wasn't the typical writer's block. I had the ideas in my head and even have a pretty good flow of thought but I still couldn't get the words from my head to the page. I had all the ingredients to write so why couldn't I get the words from my head to the page? I was trying to follow the rules. Articles are supposed to written in third person or so I was taught many years ago in a Journalism class yet I could not take myself out of the equation enough to write anything other than a bunch of babble.This inner battle was about to drive me crazy until I watched the movie Marley And Me a few nights ago. As John Grogan sat in the office of his editor who was explaining to him that he needed to take himself out of his hard hitting articles it struck me. That seemed to be an awakening moment for John Grogan the writer: He was not happy as a reporter because he was columnist. A columnist writes with himself/herself in the piece a reporter does not. I am not a reporter. I have to write with my thoughts, feelings, opinions, outrage and joy into anything that I put down onto paper. This is my "voice", this is how I write and this is how the words get from my head to the page.John Grogan reached his audience by appealing to the human side of them, even when he was reporting the facts. Every writer puts a piece of themselves onto the page but some do it on a more personal level while others do it by giving us the facts. Neither is right or wrong but a matter or personal style and taste. I am a person who is able to verbalize things better from a personal perspective and experience. I am able to tell the story and somehow make sense of things that way. I learn in a similar way. If I am feeling something about what I am learning then I absorb the information but if I am given a structured "how to", I take in very little.I have come realize in this lesson that writer's block is not always a lack of ability or words but a lack of "voice". If you find yourself suffering from writer's block, forget the rules for a while and try to just write as the thoughts and ideas come to you. Allowing your words to flow in a natural way onto the page will get you started. If you have to write in a specific style such as third person, you can always go back and edit after you have the thoughts and ideas in some order on the page.Sometimes breaking a few rules and understanding where your voice is will cure writer's block pretty quickly. If you find that your voice and your writing style aren't meshing then it might be time to ask yourself if you are truly following your passion to write or are you simply writing for someone else.If you aren't writing for yourself, you will find it tough to reach your audience. Find your niche' and work with it instead of trying to fit into the niche' of others.As for myself, I now understand that I have to write in my own voice and I have to write in a way that allows me to express myself. It took a movie about the world's worst dog to cure my writer's block and finally allow myself to write in my own voice. Once again, I am passionate about writing.