Writer's Block: Writing for the Trashcan

How many times has it happened to you? Everything's in place: coffee, cigarettes, and internet connection all fired up and...wham! Writer's block! All of the planning and scheming for a little productive computer time with nothing to show for it but brain farts.

Is this familiar? What could it possibly be that's causing writer's block this time? Believe it or not, the culprit behind the stammering and delay could be a deep fear of criticism. This may not mean the presence of a neurosis, just a simple fear of criticism. How can it be defeated and let the words (and the angels) fly?

Writer's Block: Writing For The Trashcan-What's there to fear?

For the most part, we humans don't like looking stupid in front of friends or strangers, whether it's true or not. Writer's block can happen just because we are afraid of not getting every little detail right, or more often, simple criticism from others.

Writer's Block: Writing For The Trashcan-%$@& typos!

Could it be typos that have you on edge? When does it become "serial commas" anyway? Some of the best writers have a tendency to misplace a little punctuation here and there. One of the funniest pieces ever seen by the author once dressed all of us "amateur" writers down about the misplaced comma...and three words were mis-spelled in it! It happens.

As long as the words are spelled correctly, and your sentence structure makes sense, it's a good bet that most folks will simply overlook punctuation errors. Since most folks aren't editors anyway, they'll likely not even be noticed.

Writer's Block: Writing For The Trashcan-Nitpickers are your friend.

So, even after you do all that can be done to make all the world right, and you've slaved over a hot laptop to share a message that's sure to change the world, here they come anyway: The critics. They just can't be pleased.

Can they ever be given a large enough pound of flesh? No, it seems. "Why even bother with another piece if all they're going to do is complain?" Well hold on there friend. Those folks are no reason to run away. They're really why you'd want to keep writing. Hear me out.

While it's a given that some folks are just nasty, rude, having a bad hair day, or possibly suffering from irritable bowel syndrome and they demand justice, most critics aren't weighing in to hurt you. They're trying to help.

For a critic to stop by, read your work, and offer suggestions is a compliment. Most of your fellow web-writers who are sure of themselves enough to offer correction, are usually pros, and the fact that they like you enough to offer suggestions means you have a chance to break in to the field. Embrace them...and take their advice.

Many of the heavy hitters in the world of writing are serious professionals. They're experts in their fields and the time they take to read something of yours is time they could have spent working. When you get a rebuke from some of them, and you learn from it, they're putting money in your pocket.

Writer's Block: Writing For The Trashcan-Having fun

Even knowing typos happen, and the occasional critic is really your best pal, some folks are still concerned overmuch about something that might not be a hill of beans two days after publishing. That's because it stopped being fun!

Who do you write for? A major newspaper? A blog? Who cares? Besides the basics...just write for the trash can. Let your creative spirit flow. Use spell-check. Edit one word at a time...after you're done. As long as you've done your best, write what you write with a willingness to file it under "g," for garbage can.

Would someone like...say...Dave Barry be as fun as he is if he worried what someone might think of him? That "tomato she named Wildfire" might have never "busted down it's stall." We don't want to hurt our readers, but if we...hold it...sometimes we do want to hurt our readers. But that's not the point.

Write what you have to write as if you really don't care what somebody might say about it. Is it a political piece? Someone will disagree so say what you will and hold your position. A religious piece? Don't worry. God has a sense of humor. She's quite funny, in fact! Have you seen my hairline? On this face? Very funny stuff. Did Writer's block hold back the bible? (Talk about critics. Sheesh!)

After the carnage committed upon your soul is finished, and the blood is spilled on the page, that's the time to edit. When the rough draft is done is when the self-critique should be performed...not before the first sentence is in place. It's one thing to be our own harshest critic. It's quite another thing to give ourselves a case of writer's block.

Writer's Block: Writing For The Trashcan-Quick summary

1. Expect typos. They happen.
2. Seek out an honest critic and they become a mentor and friend.
3. Write for the sake of writing.

Most of the fears you'll experience as a writer are about those things which never happen anyway. Writer's block is a tragedy. When a written work is held back, due to fear of what others might say, it's a waste of that tiny, yet powerful, creative spark. That's the only real shame there is.

Source:

Personal experience