Writing Block: The Great Wall of China

Hey, guys! I hope all of your weekends went well. I, like Chesney, went home, am SO much better for it. To me, there is just nothing in the world like getting to see my mom and my best friends, all of whom are pretty much like sisters to me. I miss them already! :(

But, of course, now is time to buckle down and talk some strictly poetry-related business. As I mentioned to my last workshop group, my relationship with language lately has been more on the side of the hate involved in love-hate relationships. She (if I may for a moment personify language with a female pronoun) seems to be evading me, and I can’t seem to catch up to her. I suppose most people call this dilemma “writer’s block,” but for some reason I just that term. Whenever I start facing a serious wall when it comes to writing the problem seems to be a lot more monumental than a block, it’s like all the blocks it took to make the Great Wall of China (and then some), and nothing gets me down more. What is worse, I think the problem has a bit of a snowball effect. I mean, it’s hard to go out and start chiseling away at being creative when you feel bad for not being able to be creative in the first place. You feel me? Or, for those of you who enjoy more eloquent diction – am I making sense? I would love to hear about any ways you guys have found to break out of your own personal obstacles to creative work. Maybe they will help me out too.

All that being said, I can’t help thinking that maybe this week’s assignment has given me some much needed motivation. I still have a ways to go on finishing my piece up, but I find that sometimes working within constraints can actually foster creativity. This seems to be the theme of our class as of late, and I can’t wait to meet and talk with Andrew Haung. What a crazy job it must be to write songs about whatever other people feel like jamming to! The whole idea seems like a really interesting thing to make a career out of, and so, I can only imagine how interesting the actual man who works the job is. At any rate, I’m sure we’ll all find out soon enough!