One Writer's Solution for Writer's Block

Has it been a bad day? Maybe the kids were noisy and you couldn't concentrate, the bills were piling up, you had to fight with someone for a parking place, and, worst of all, your muse deserted you. There you sit with that blank screen or sheet of paper staring you in the face and – nothing!

When it happened to me, I tried all the remedies I’d ever heard of: Sit down and write anything until the juices start flowing (they didn’t); get up and go out for a walk, and when you return, your head will have cleared, and you’ll be all set to go (it hadn’t, and I wasn’t); hit the floor and do some push-ups or other exercises. (0nce I was on the floor, I had trouble getting up.) Now, I’m not saying these or other things won’t work at times, or for some people all the time. It seems, though, that everyone, through trial and error, has to find their own unique answer.

I had given up in disgust, and realistically decided that I wasn’t going to get any writing done that day. I had a gift to buy for someone and thought a bookstore gift card (of course) would be a good idea. I took myself off to Barnes and Noble, and the minute I crossed the threshold, I could feel all the frustration ebbing away.

I took a deep breath and smelled the paper and print that holds for me any world I choose to enter. Here I can connect with the minds of humanity to analyze, study, or just enjoy in my own time, in my own way, a treasure that’s rich in skill, talent and knowledge.

Okay, mea culpa. I am a bibliophile, and when in a bookstore or library, I still feel the same awe as I did when I was a child. I’m suddenly on another planet that shuts out all the tedium of the day, including, it turns out, writer’s block. The shelves before me beckon, and it’s “Honey, I’m home!”

I returned to my computer two hours later, the words at my fingertips tripping over themselves to be liberated. That’s how I discovered my particular solution to writer’s block. Maybe this is the one that would work for you. And, yes, I did remember to buy the bookstore gift card.