Every writing week I hit the same hurdles. Each time they are hard to overcome. In the seven writing weeks since I restarted my novel I have got over them five times, and failed to get over them twice.
I call them hurdles because blocks sounds too permanent. Hurdles can be jumped over, soared over with practise. Some people even jump hurdles for fun.
The thing about my hurdles is that they are almost all obstructions occuring before I write a single word. They are not writers’ block, where the words just won’t come. I’ve got ideas and I’ve usually got the words. But these demons rear their heads before I even sit down to work.
I’ve heard it said getting started is the hardest part. In my case this is true. Once I’ve typed the first few paragraphs, I want to continue. I return the next day with anticipation and energy to continue what I’ve begun.
So it is frustrating that every writing week I have to overcome the same old hurdles before I can bring myself to write those first few lines.
I had rather hoped that it would get easier each time.
I think:
I can rationalise most of them away. I can remind myself of the elation and euphoria at the end of each successful writing week, when having surmounted the barriers I have gone one to enjoy a few days of writing, have hit my word target, and believe, equally irrationally, that what I am creating is a delightful and important piece of literature.
But I still have to face them each time.
And sometimes they get the better of me.
Is this just part of the creative process? Does it get easier in time and with more experience? Have you any tips for overcoming these hurdles?
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http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/07/winning-on-the-uphills.html
They're not the same but certainly analogous, I wonder if you get to the point where you enjoy the struggle to create, facing your darkself down.
I experience this cycle with almost any task, small and large. And fail to clear the hurdle more often than I care to admit.