Resting

Does writer's block exist? Probably not, but it's a seductive idea.

I like this motivational page on the subject by Amanda Patterson.

Between acting jobs, actors aren't unemployed - they're resting. At the moment I seem to be resting between my last poem and the next one, wherever that is lurking.
I do seem to write more when I attend weekly classes with homework and tight deadlines. Maybe the fact that I've just finished a fairly intense writing course means that my writing has dried up somewhat, but it's a temporary state and normal service will resume if I'm patient and stop fretting.

Mslexia have a memoir writing competition with a mid-September deadline. I've decided to take the pressure off the poetry and write something for this instead.
At the moment I'm reading Howard's End is on the Landing by Susan Hill. It's a bookish memoir, I'm really enjoying it. At one point she suggests it's perfectly achievable to write 50,000 words in three months so I've decided to be inspired by that and get on with it. Naturally, the central theme will be swimming. I'm limbering up to get started in the next week. (That's not procrastinating, I've made a new document and written the first sentence.....)

From time to time I get asked to participate in surveys from Mslexia. I completed one today on this very subject - writer's block.
Here's my response to Question 9 - I copied it to remind myself of things that help the writing process. (Others on the list also work well, but it says tick up to five, and Rules is Rules.....)

9. Have you noticed any factors that seem to cure, prevent or ameliorate a block? (Tick up to five answers)

Have you noticed any factors that seem to cure, prevent or ameliorate a block? (Tick up to five answers)Morning pages or some other daily writing practice The need to earn an income from my writing An unavoidable writing deadline Doing writing exercises Attending a writing group Contact with a writing buddy Competition or publication success Positive feedback by someone whose opinion I value Feeling loved and valued for myself Mood-altering medication A regular time to write A room of my own A change of scenery Solitude Remembering past achievements Encouragement from friends, family, partner Regular meditation Regular physical exercise Reading great writing I am hardly ever blocked (lucky me!) None of the above

Other (please specify)