Leaving Writer's Block for the Road to Recovery

It was a gruesome place to be. Floundering, drifting, aimless, loafing. Pick your lame, idle word and insert it after this phrase: 

"Instead of writing productively, Heather was ___________"

It was a gruesome place to be.

But I made it through! Perhaps I needed a break. Perhaps I needed the time to redirect my writing path. Perhaps I needed to stop and look around Writer's Block, notice the scenery, the people I live with, check my mail, etc. Maybe Writer's Block is not a state of mind, but a location to gather one's creative juices before embarking, once more, along the road to a finish product.

I'm trying to tell myself it was a positive thing and not a complete waste of time that weighed on me like an anchor. 

Gertrude Stein said:

“It takes a heap of loafing to write a book.”

I wonder if she told herself that so she wouldn't see her time spent NOT writing as a bad thing. 

In any case, I got through it with the help of a friend, a nutella,/banana crepe, and coffee. Sometimes when you're stuck, you need someone to drag you back on to the road, away from Writer's Block (aka Loaferville.) You need to air out your brain, and let all the thoughts pertaining to where to take your writing spill forth. And maybe once you do, nothing comes out. That's where a trusted friend comes in. Someone you trust, someone who thinks about the same weird stuff you do and can surf your brain waves when your own mental surfboard has failed you.

Maybe, it takes a good listener to help you write a book. 

Maybe you need a friend to push your car back onto the road. Someone who will wave to you from Writer's Block as you wink at its retreat in your rearview mirror.

Maybe.

At least, that's what this Mermaid is telling herself...

;)