I can’t really say that I’ve been suffering from writer’s block. I’ve been writing, though a little unconventionally. I’ve got whole chapters that should fit nicely somewhere in Once Upon a Time in Iowa.
They’re all together in one notebook. They just don’t belong together. I’m used to writing start to finish. I’ll make it work somehow. Like I said. I can’t call it writer’s block because I am writing.
If it’s not writer’s block, then what is it?
I’m going to call it writer’s congestion. Is that a thing? It should be a thing. Either way, it’s a thing for me. And, man, have I been suffering from it.
I suppose if I’m going to make it a thing, I have to give it a definition. It’s just like creating a word. I’m a writer. I can do this. I figured I’d use Merriam Webster as my basis for my definition. I turn to them for all my dictionary and thesaural needs.
What is Writer’s Congestion?
Writer’s congestion is when a writer suffers from an accumulation of unrelated writing ideas and projects all trying to find their way out whether by pen or keyboard.
It often times leads to a clog in which no good ideas will come out, or they leak out in a random order and must, somehow, be put together once they’ve all been collected.
The Cure…
Is there a cure? No, seriously. I’d really like to know. Here’s what I’ve managed to come up with.
Your notebook is your best friend! Maybe not. Maybe you keep all your notes in a neat little folder on your phone or you’re never far from your laptop. Whatever it is, you do it your way. For me, that includes keeping a notebook near my seat (my office during the daytime) and another in my bedside drawer.
it might be important…
I write it all down. Every little idea.
— this might make a great book someday —
— this definitely needs to find a place in Once Upon a Time in Iowa —
— I could write a blog about this–
— I should research this further —
I’m sure there are others, but you get the point.
I need a decongestant
It’s great. I’m still writing something. And I’m even happy to see that Once Upon a Time in Iowa is moving along in some fashion. BUT, I want to be able to sit down and write again.
I want to kiss my husband goodbye, place my laptop on my lap, boot it up, open my Microsoft Word (yeah, I’m old school, still using Word), and just crank out another chapter or twenty. Linear and smooth.
Is that really so much to ask for?
What do you think? Is writer’s congestion a real thing or just an imaginative excuse? Have you ever suffered from writer’s congestion?
ShldBWriting 