I am that star in the distant sky, which is in deep love with the goddess of night. I cannot come down to reach her nor could I go away from her or blind myself completely. It might be just a feeling, an unreal, insignificant psychological temperament. But I think it is something surreal, too, because it is not just a feeling. It is a reality—my reality.
I am that star, the writer, which is in love with the goddess of night, the words printed in black on the pale real surface. It is more real than anything possible for me. But until I scribbled down these words on paper, I was living the predicament of the distant star. So now let me keep an eye on time; let me switch the track. I was under a serious block: ‘only one of such kind’ of a writer’s block.
A warrior’s god is his technique. Until he invokes his god, I mean the technique, his status as a living organism is under perpetual threat. I know I am not quite right. Well it depends, my friend. It depends on how close one knows one’s god. Even though, one cannot expect a warrior’s awareness about god to be precise and trustworthy. He could be miscalculating the factors evolving around him. Nothing is sure, taken for granted. What proves his awareness about god true is the culmination of the battle and his ultimate victory. A writer in his block is that same warrior who in each of his breath, each attempt, each blink, pursues his god, his technique.
Creativity sleeps numb during writer’s block, as if the individual is closed inside a chamber with no doors and windows. No hope, no smiles, no life. The works from the past of the writer looks at him, in the eye, with enough pity which make you feel ‘enough is enough’. And there is only one god, just like the warrior in the fierce battle field—technique.
Inspiration will stand a mile away, peek into your dry world, like rain in a desert, and you save all your energies in the hope to meet your inspiration somewhere later, knowing full well that the time will never come. This knowledge or awareness is the core of writer’s block. But believe me, inspiration will be awaiting you out in the corner.
The solution to writer’s block lies in another sort of awareness—the awareness that your inspiration, your talent will be waiting you out in the corner. What you need to have now, is patience. Another solution that I felt was to follow the techniques, to an extent, blind, yes. Stuffing your head with reading, extensive reading, and compulsive writing are also great methods, I felt.
You expect more from yourself but will not be able to produce what you expect. And you break down. This is what happens in a writer's block. It is terrible. But now, I think I am out from the hell of a confinement. And I take it as a mission to write about my days when I was in the writer’s block. Or let me put it this way, I hereby announce a new series of short fiction on and about the murky days I spent during the writer’s block. But as a matter of fact, it is only now I have began scribbling after the one month long block, I would not be able to publish anything since nothing has been written yet. I still have to work on it. I take it as a challenge. Hope you will enjoy as much as I do, and if you are someone pursuing a writer’s destiny, I hope these threads of experiences will be helpful for you too, in identifying the writer’s block and its possible solutions.
The series is named as: The Days that are No More.
