Writing Wednesday: The Wall

 

The Wall

Hitting the Wall

This happens to people in all sorts of professions. You are going along at whatever you are doing, and you hit a wall. Writers call it writer’s block. Runners in a long-distance race call it the wall. When I ran tack in high school, I would actually hit it when I ran the 400.

This will be from my standpoint, and I hope maybe I can offer some tidbit fo advice to help you get past yours.

When I was running track and alter cross country, it would happen. I had heard athletes talk about it, but of course, being young, I did not understand it. At 400 meters, my first race, I was hauling ass around the track about at 300 meters, POW! I hurt all over. I faded and finished horribly. The coach talked to me afterward, “You have to push through that.”

Well, slowly, as I ran that distance more, I did figure out how to actually push through it. During cross country, the same thing would happen on our 3-mile race. 

Now, on to writing. Over the years, I have started numerous blogs, none have lasted long. I started all of them out full of gusto, but quickly faded and then just stopped. Mostly because I hit a wall. I would get bored or run out of things to post. But, I kept trying, heck, I think even this blog will fall into the “still trying” category.

Even when writing my books, I would run into a block. Oddly, I ran into a snag because I had a new thought or scene that needed to come out. That new scene would eat at me and stop the other work from flowing until I would stop and write it down. That was a good type of wall because I was still writing. More recently, while working on edits, I just could not continue on them. So, I stopped.

And, here is the problem, when you stop, it is hard to get moving again. People are creatures of habit. Seriously, we are. You’ll watch the same TV on the same day, you drive the same way to work or to the store, or you’ll order similar food at restaurants.

With that said, if you develop a habit of writing, you can easily work through blockages. Your mind will be in the writing pattern, and when it is that time, it will want to allow the creativity flow. There are nights when I sit down that I will not touch my books, but I will still write. It might be a blog post, or a review, or one of my many experiences.

So, now we come back to the beginning, sports. As in sports conditioning can help you avoid the wall when you are participating. Forming a habit of writing will keep your brain in the zone when it needs to be. I still get in the mood of “I don’t wanna write,” but I do it anyway. Sometimes even complaining about being stuck with your peers helps too. I know for me; the more I write on different platforms, it helps keep me unstuck on my books.

 One other thing I have mentioned before, returning to where it all began. We all had that spark to start us on our writing path. For me, it was my commute to work. That has been missing, so when I make that drive, the creativity starts flowing again.

Getting past “The Wall” can be pretty straightforward. Just don’t do what I did in the past and give up. Keep pushing, because we all want to read what you are writing.

 

 

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