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Browsing Tags writer’s block

Craft and Draft: Blog As Gym

July 11, 2012 · by Oliver Gray

I never really liked going to the gym. Too many sweaty dudes scamming on make-up caked ladies. Too little actual working out.

But I’m not afraid to sweat, and I didn’t mind the concept. A place where you can go, free of distractions, designed and built for one purpose: self improvement.

We live (and write) in a place so exploding with distractions that is amazing we get anything done. If I had a clock that counted the hours I’ve wasted after being sucked into the soulless void of the internet, I would be terrified to look upon it and despair. With so much great existing content, so many other good writers adding new content, and so many beers to drink, it is a wonder we find type time to sleep, never mind write.

This is where my blog becomes my gym. I come here to write for the very sake of writing. To test new techniques, try new genres, fail at being funny. I write lots and lots of other things on the side, in hopes that someday my writing will be good enough that someone will pay me for this drek. It’s a gym for my mind and my fingers, a place where I can keep my writing muscles toned and sexy.

I’m not running a marathon here, I’m just on the treadmill.

We all need to train. Our minds, like our bodies, like our creative bits, need to be used to grow. The one piece of writing advice that seems to resonate across the entire universe of the craft is that to get better at writing, one must write. And write a lot. Write until fingernails are rimmed with blood and eyeballs sear from LCD burns, until your mind no longer recognizes gibberish from rhetoric and your loved ones fear for your sanity.

This is how you will improve. Lots of sets, lots of reps. Reading is good too, but it doesn’t work the core.

If you’re feeling like you can’t get past that frozen wall of writer’s block, maybe you’re just out of shape. Maybe you’re trying to lift a bar loaded up with 350 lbs when your current max weight is closer to 150. Maybe you just aren’t ready for that burly personal trainer carrying around the gallon jug of water yelling at you to “Push it” when you aren’t even really sure what you’re supposed to be pushing.

That’s OK. Lighten up your workout and train some more. You’ll find that after a while, your writing will be stronger. Cliches will crumble at your feet like decaying Roman ruins. Clever phrases will spring from your mind like a newly born Athena from Zeus’s throbbing skull. You will be able to write better, for longer, and most importantly, it will be easier.

You will get better, but you have to train. You have to sweat.

Go hit the gym. I’ll see you out there.

C’mon, push it to the max! Feel the burn! Master your ass! ONE. MORE. PARAGRAPH.

It’s Not OK

February 22, 2011 · by Oliver Gray

I titled this post and left it in my drafts folder for weeks, unable to decide what specifically “wasn’t ok”.

I am an opponent of writing when one is not inclined to write. I have read and heard many different opinions, ranging from the “suck it up and get it done” attitude, to the “write anything until your writing doesn’t suck” idea, to the “write only under perfect conditions” philosophy. I find myself believing something in the middle, with a slight tendancy towards the latter.

I have several quirks that dictate when I do my best (or any) writing. I typically cannot focus on any topic that has been offered to me by a peer, despite how good I think the idea might be. I also cannot focus when my direct surrounding are in disarray, and will spend precious writing time cleaning or organizing instead. I prefer to write after the sun goes down, while listening to non-lyrical music, in a comfortable location. All of these things must find a kind of equilibrium, otherwise I find myself mentally swimming to unrelated shores.

Recently, due to a hectic work schedule, I have found myself in a writing slump. A few decent ideas have popped into my head, but the drive to actually formulate them into a cohesive narrative has been uncharacteristically absent. Periods like this tend to happen in waves, and, knowing myself, it will almost certainly dissipate by the time we have days above 40 degrees again.

So instead of mustering all of my willpower to put together a post that I won’t be happy with, I’ve decided to say, “It’s not ok” and leave it at that. The inspiration will come back, the muse will move back in, my brain will be banging on all cylinders again in no time. Until then, here is a list of the ideas I’ve had that I did nothing with, all in the vein of “it’s not ok”:

-It’s not ok to send an email with no salutation or closing, in all caps, regarding something professional
-It’s not ok to have a side conversation in a different language than the main language being spoken in a meeting, in the middle of said meeting
-It’s not ok to cause a huge traffic backup because the sun is too bright and you can’t figure out how to work your visor or sunglasses
-It’s not ok to use speaker phone while sitting at your desk to attend a meeting that is literally steps away from you
-It’s not ok for one person to order 6 or more burritos at Chipotle
-It’s not ok spell a person’s name incorrectly when their full name is clearly visible in the email you’re responding to
-It’s not ok to steal $3 egg timers from the physical therapy office
-It’s not ok to interchangeably use “it’s” and “its” like there is no difference between them
-It’s not ok to say “I don’t know” in regards to something you are definitely paid to know

From my sister:

-It’s not ok to send a zip file within a zip file within a zip file

A thank you to ZBB for the original title

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