Writer’s Block Confessional

I’ve got writer’s block.

Originally, I’d planned to do four blog posts a month for the whole year. I’m still technically on track, but I’m running out of time for this month.

One idea was “Europe’s Love Affair with America Is Over”. I started it, but I wasn’t happy with how the editing process was going.

The second post was meant to be an update to a short story I’d privately published before. My plan was to rewrite a big chunk of it — add more of myself, remove one character, and focus on two others. The story was set in an arcade, and I was going to bring in some queer elements.

With recent news, I decided to restart it as a tribute to someone I called a friend. I don’t know if she’ll ever read it, but who knows. I might write a separate post about that process and how difficult I found it — but first, I need to actually do the refit.

The final idea on my mind was a mini rant, though I’m not sure what that would be about yet. The good news is I’ve now got five ideas floating around. Maybe I’ll stick with one of these, maybe I’ll find something else.

This post is a bit raw and less detailed than I’ve been doing lately — but in a way, that’s back to my roots. I shared one of my recent posts on social media, and the person who helped inspire me to blog actually shared it. Forcing myself to put it out there — and getting a reply — helped shake off the block. That’s led to me writing this post and jotting ideas down instead of just staring at the screen, typing a few words, then deleting them.

So what’s next? Most likely, I’m going to take a crack at the short story refit and restructure it. The core story might stay the same, but I want to make some big changes. Hopefully they’ll work.

I also need to get back into drawing. I’ve started again, but the same creative fog is hanging over me. If I don’t go for walks, I lose my ideas completely.

Weirdly, I’ve stopped reading the news and I actually feel better for it — though it does mean I’m less informed about what’s going on. Better mental health at the cost of being out of the loop.

On a lighter note, I’ve been watching cricket lately. I prefer Twenty20, if anyone’s curious.

Anyway — that’s long enough for now. Goodbye, writer’s block. I’m off to redraft this story.