01370: About The Supposed Block That Writers Face

Draw a crazy picture,
Write a nutty poem,
Sing a mumble-gumble song,
Whistle through your comb.
Do a loony-goony dance
'Cross the kitchen floor,
Put something silly in the world
That ain't been there before.

 - Shel Silverstein

The drive to create something - may it be a song or a story or a full-length motion picture - is a unique spark that manifests in different ways for different people. The challenge to become a creator of content instead of just a consumer is indeed a great one and the kind of challenge that cannot be easily ignored. Nor is it easy to fulfill for that matter.

I find myself constantly frustrated by my lack of "success" in the writing arena. Sure, I blog a LOT, even I'll admit that much, but it doesn't mean I'm a great blogger or writer just yet. I don't even know if people truly take the time to read what I have posted up on this site and yet year after year I dutifully pay my P500 or so just to get my domain renewed.  I don't regret these expenses - I save that much when I bring food to work after all. But at times it just makes you wonder what the point behind everything is.

I blog but I don't write. The stories just don't seem to flow. Or am I just making excuses for my fear of actually putting my work out there into the world. Every writer faces this challenge - the fear of rejection whether on the part of publishers, distributors, book agents and ultimately the reading public at large. What if they don't like the story? What if nobody bothers to buy it? What if it remains in Kindle Store limbo forever, never quite getting any attention? So many, may evil questions.

And this reminds me of another Shel Silverstein poem:

Last night, while I lay thinking here,
some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
and pranced and partied all night long
and sang their same old Whatif song:
Whatif I'm dumb in school?
Whatif they've closed the swimming pool?
Whatif I get beat up?
Whatif there's poison in my cup?
Whatif I start to cry?
Whatif I get sick and die?
Whatif I flunk that test?
Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
Whatif nobody likes me?
Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?
Whatif I don't grow talle?
Whatif my head starts getting smaller?
Whatif the fish won't bite?
Whatif the wind tears up my kite?
Whatif they start a war?
Whatif my parents get divorced?
Whatif the bus is late?
Whatif my teeth don't grow in straight?
Whatif I tear my pants?
Whatif I never learn to dance?
Everything seems well, and then
the nighttime Whatifs strike again!

So now what? In the short term, it's back to reading and then bed. Then work. Then whatever.