I have bloggers’ block.
Lately, all I’ve been able to do is blog about the various guest posts and interviews and reviews that I’ve been doing for my book’s blog tour. Don’t get me wrong – those posts are absolutely fabulous, but this blog is about so much more. It’s about paranoia, synesthesia, the zodiac, theoretical monkeys, Facebook, natural disasters and bad grammar, all the things the universe is made of. This blog has it all.
Or rather, this blog it had it all. Because recently I have been completely unable to blog about anything unrelated to the book.
It’s a good problem to have, but there are several other things I want to post about. The problem? I sit down and my mind goes slack. I’ve been able to complete work projects. I’ve been able to write fiction. But blog posts? Nope.
Gloria Swanson in 'Sunset Boulevard' or me with my backlog of unfinished blog posts? You decide.
So, in a last ditch-effort to prime the pump, I’m doing what mediocre writers have done since the beginning of time to get rid of writers’ block: I’m writing about it. Right now. It’s like making a movie about Hollywood or singing about rock and roll, but lamer.
It’s not like I haven’t tried. I’ve been starting blog posts all week; I just haven’t been able to get anywhere with them. This week, according to my WordPress drafts folder, I started four posts. They are titled, according to the folder:”Playing in the dirt,” “Wit and sarcasm are related, but they’re not twins,” “Starting a new habit,” and “Betrayed by an author.”
My plan is to finish one of those four in the next few days.
I could, actually, dig much further into my Drafts folder, because all told, there are 39 unfinished posts hanging out in there. Some are two years old. Most are untitled. Some went to the Drafts folder to die because I felt they were unfit for public consumption; either they were too boring (“You’re getting very sleepy”), too confusing (“Story-telling and the shovel”), too niche (“Lovecraft!”) or too angry (“Natural selection: a child-rearing philosophy.”) But some of them look kind of intriguing: “Email from the 20th century” might be decent, as could “Why I hate Fight Club,” a beloved rant of mine. And then there’s “British education scandal,” which, if I recall correctly, has nothing to do with the U.K., education or scandals. I may decide to resurrect one of them instead.
One thing I know – in the next week I have to write something, and it’s probably going to be something from the Drafts folder. Have a preference? Want to hear about my betrayal by authors? More interested in sarcasm vs. wit? Do you also hate Fight Club? Leave a comment.
Hey I just learned what synesthesia was today and now just saw it in your blog! It’s following me! I think all artistic people have it. http://ajoconnell.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/the-sneak-synesthete/
Do you have it?
According to the test – not so much. I associate months with colors (scored well there), and math with visuals – like I always thought the Quadratic formula looked like a pirate ship… take a look – it does! I can’t recall if numbers have colors or letters? I’m not even sure if they did when I was learning them. I definitely see colors and images when I listen to music – and usually it’s abstract. I didn’t score well on the music notes thing but they were in the same color scheme between warm and cool… I don’t like this test… it was very linear and trying to measure an artistic response. Haha.
Much like the couple in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRUNyObPBXg
I was telling a friend today that I thought that this diagnosis was a linear thinker’s way of trying to understand the way an artist perceives the world. Instead of understanding them for their way of learning – we label them with a psychological terminology….
Storytelling and the shovel, and speaking of dirt…Betrayed by an author.. do dish
Funny, I was dealing with the same thing this week. I’d get ready to write a post, stare at the blank template, and then cross over into reading other posts. Glad to hear I’m not alone!
I’d like to hear more about “Storytelling and the shovel”, but I’ve always been a sucker for non-sequitors! Then it occurred to me that another criterion on which to base your decision could be the number of people you want to piss off. If you wanna incite a cyber-riot, go with natural selection and child-rearing (it would make a great “Jeopardy!” category). Then again, it’s possible you might rub more people the wrong way by talking about how “Fight Club” sucks, but certainly not to the same degree as anything from the eugenics folder.
Whatever you choose or whatever chooses you, I have no doubt it will be insightful, witty, sarcastic, and an example to intelligent bloggers who dare to teach AND entertain.
Ms. Swanson appears to be at least 25 years your senior, but if that were you, that would be cool.
Had to LOL while reading this. I get great ideas about what to write while showering and driving. I have the entire post written in my head and absolutely love it. Then, I sit down in front of my computer and nothing comes out. My draft folder is full of posts which contain one or two lines, up to 4 paragraphs… Anyway, love to know, why do you hate fight club?