One of the most commonly spouted words of wisdom given to writers, especially in the face of the crippling and dreaded Writer’s Block, is to keep writing anyway. Even if the words are downright terrible and awful, it’s better to have some words flowing out of you than nothing at all. And I’m a big supporter of this idea, though lately, I’ve been feeling a little bit of a hypocrite in that respect. I feel the situation is a bit complicated by the fact that I’m not necessarily suffering from Writer’s Block as I am merely Project Block.
It’s been about a week since I’ve submitted anything to Morgan Dragonwillow’s awesome Teen Fantasy Anthology Contest. I’ve been starting a lot of pieces, but either I just don’t have the time to finish them or I just can’t get a handle on the prompt. Needless to say, I’m pretty much out for the 30 stories in 30 days part of the contest, but I’ve still managed to get in at least four entries that I wouldn’t have written otherwise, and I’m hoping to break this funk regarding the contest soon.
But can I really feel bad about the lack of words being written for this project? Because, while my creative energy just seems to fizzle out with the prompts, it’s been going crazy elsewhere. I’ve started in on two new novels, and most of my energy has been focused into Serpent in a Cage, which is my biggest and most important WIP. Also, there are still 17 more chances to get something else into the Anthology. It isn’t as if I haven’t been just writing anyway…I’ve just been writing other stuff.
I’m curious to hear some thoughts from my readers about this. Do you believe it’s important to push through a Writer’s Block by just writing even if you’re not feeling it? What about when it comes to projects? Should you still try to work on the project you’re not feeling as much, or is it a better idea to just channel all that energy where it wants to go, rather than trying to force it to do something else? I think it’s much better to just go where your creativity and energy takes you, so I won’t be feeling guilty (except maybe a little) about my lack of productivity in one area….so long as I’m seeing productivity in other areas. What do you think?
Also, I’d like to welcome and thank Daniel Postlethwaite for subscribing and following this here blog! Welcome aboard, Daniel! Good to have you here.
L.S. Engler 
I think it’s better to channel the creative energy where it wants to go. I’ll admit, I have had some marvelous stuff come from pushing through the stuck zone, but that experience is the exception. I’m usually better off following the new budding idea that’s caught my attention! My writing flows when it’s not forced.
I read somewhere recently that there should be no such thing as writers block. The advice was to read a book, of listen to some music, or do something that stimulates your brain in a different way. You will soon start to get the ideas flowing again.
Myself I primarily use music (which I blogged on a week or so ago) but I occasionally get inspired with a book of dramatic tv show.
It’s funny that I saw someone repost this the other day, because I’ve been having a huge “block”, but a lot of the block seems to be coming from actually trying out other writing forms. I guess we all have to find our natural point of “this works”.
Though I have found that a walk through a museum or down a street in a city seems to trigger a lot of ideas when I am fighting a block.
Hope the block for you has been short and you get a piece in the anthology.