Comments on: Block Head

By: beezersmom

beezersmom — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:34:22 +0000

It took me longer than I’d like to admit before I realized that my keyboard doesn’t spell out B-L-O-G in the third row of keys. However, I find it very interesting that B & G are lefties, and L & O are righties. Is there a deep meaning in this?

Which reminds me of that great Gloria Steinem quote from her graduation address at Smith College (loosely translated): Back in her day, it was necessary for all women graduating from college to know how to type. Now that it’s equally important that men know how, as well, it’s called “keyboarding.”

Ha-ha-ha. I’m laughing all the way to the bank, where I deposit my salary check that is only 2/3 of a man’s paycheck for the same work…which is keyboarding, no doubt.

By: Conz

Conz — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:52:45 +0000

Having a martini with Cathikins always helps me. We always come up with blog ideas over good olives, good friendship, and good vodka. Good luck, sister Bloggerina.

By: Christie

Christie — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:04:20 +0000

Thank you so much empathetic blog sisters for the block busting tips. I am going to blur my eyes, open a vein and hack my way out, and when I’ve done with all that I’ll just try writing. Seriously though, you have given me some great ideas for unclogging. Thank you again!

By: carine

carine — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:45:22 +0000

Inspiration comes when it comes. There’s nothing to be done for it but to wait. Or, you can do that nifty little exercise from “Writing the Natural Way,” a book that helped me SO MUCH. The exercise engages the left side of the brain. You just write a word (that represents an idea you have for a story/blog), circle it, then free associate. Whatever word comes to mind around that word, write it down, circle it, and draw a line from the main circled word to the new word. Then you keep going. Keep free associating from the word in the center and from each new word that comes up. When you’ve done that until you feel you’ve run out of ideas, stop, blur your eyes and look at the page for a few minutes. It’s like magic. Somehow an idea will spring up out of nowhere, and you will be able to write down the first sentence and keep going from there. Don’t be surprised if what comes out has nothing to do with what you originally thought. Good luck!

By: Cathy

Cathy — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:38:31 +0000

Oh that pesky blog clog. With a bit of Draino and time, it too shall pass. When you meet Pele at the volcano, put in a good word for me, would you?

This article “Hack Your Way Out of Writer’s Block” by Merlin Man provides some good tips. It starts with talk to a monkey and ends with this great story:

“On the other hand, remember Laurence Olivier.

One day on the set of Marathon Man, Dustin Hoffman showed up looking like shit. Totally exhausted and practically delirious. Asked what the problem was, Hoffman said that at this point in the movie, his character will have been awake for 24 hours, so he wanted to make sure that he had been too. Laurence Olivier shook his head and said, ‘Oh, Dusty, why don’t you just try acting?’

So, when all else fails, just try writing.”

http://www.43folders.com/2004/11/18/hack-your-way-out-of-writers-block

By: dearpru

dearpru — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:55:37 +0000

Christie, you’re in good company:

“The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible.” ~Vladimir Nabakov, Russian writer.

“There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.” ~Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith, sportswriter.

“Without writer’s block, my family’s beds would go unmade, toilets would become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and the laundry hamper would grow mushrooms.” ~Prudence Baird, yours truly.