Proma Nautiyal

6 years ago · 1 min. reading time · 0 ·

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The Vicious Cycle of "Can't Write, Can't Sleep"

The Vicious Cycle of "Can't Write, Can't Sleep"

Tel Vicioiss Cyclelof ‘Can't Write, Cant Sleep” x

Writers often face a problem known as the Writer's Block. I did not believe that any such thing could exist. I am all for "Power of the Mind" and gauging this power to the fullest. However, ever since I started writing my first book, I realized that my mind was far from being tamed. 

"Oh! the vast green pastures it would run through...
The long sips of Chardonnay it would take. 
The horrors of what can go wrong it would concoct...
The mind-games it would play."Proma Nautiyal

And hence, started the painful process of unblocking my Writer's block. I would stare at my laptop's screen like a zombie longing to take a bite of a fresh brain, but the ideas just wouldn't come. For every 5 words I would type, I would hit backspace at least 20 times, just out of pure frustration. 

After some time, the mind block led to insomnia. If I couldn't write, I couldn't sleep. The less I slept, the more foggy my mind became. 

Finally, I realized one thing. Nobody made me swear that I couldn't write anything else apart from my book. Voila! 

The moment the burden of the book was off from my shoulders, words flew through my fingers like 'Expecto Patronum' from Harry Potter's wand. I was writing again. I wrote proper stuff that was readable. That gave me the mental boost I needed to feel confident, as a writer. 

So, if ever you find yourself facing writer's block while writing a particular piece, don't force yourself. Even a glass of Chardonnay or a cup of hot chocolate won't do any good as trying your hand at writing something else, altogether. This will give you a feeling of "NOT GIVING UP"...just trying something else which is not as demanding. 

Life throws at us chores, easy and difficult, things that we can't turn our back against. But, it is always our approach that spells success at the end of the day. Being positive, not giving up. Just adopting a different approach. 

And yes, never deny yourself some good sleep. Take it from this zombie, jabbing away at the keyboard. 

"
#Chardonnay #Block #Proma Nautiyal #Writer #Cycle
Comments

Proma Nautiyal

6 years ago #26

#28
So true, CityVP \ud83d\udc1d Manjit. the moment we detach ourselves from what we write/create, we start creating with a more open heart and mind. I agree with you a one hundred percent. Beautifully explained.

CityVP Manjit

6 years ago #25

#22
Writing is such a paradox, in one moment we open our hearts to the privilege of writing for others but in the same heartbeat we develop expectations - in one moment we are creating something unique that can be the ultimate expression of our own flow and in that release comes the kind of thought that someone like Sontag had "interpretation is the revenge of the intellectual on art" Once we are comfortable that readers will interpret to their way of seeing the world, we lose the blockage that we thought was our ownership and in that release we can uncork the bottle that once got our ego drunk.

Proma Nautiyal

6 years ago #24

#20
There could not be truer words. How beautifully you weaved these pearls of wisdom in a beautiful alliteration, !

Proma Nautiyal

6 years ago #23

#19
Thank you for your comment, Ignacio Orna. I think it is important to direct the flow of inspiration in the right channel to make sure one keeps writing without any issues.

Proma Nautiyal

6 years ago #22

#17
Thank you so much for your wishes, Savvy Raj. I agree, sometimes we just need to take it slow, refocus, adjust and get back. Great way of looking at it.

Proma Nautiyal

6 years ago #21

#16
Thank you for your comment, Ian Weinberg. I think of it more as: I have lots to say but don't know how to put it down on paper, so that everybody sees what I see. There is inspiration but the weight of "getting it right" is what creates the blockage.

Proma Nautiyal

6 years ago #20

#15
That is some great advice, . beBee has got me talking and interacting. I love keeping to myself (at my home office) and just doing my thing (which is work, mostly). So, taking a walk outside or talking over the phone make me feel like they will kill my brain cells. However, points 3, 4, 5, and 6 is excellent advice and I am going to follow it for sure. Thank you so much for the comment!

Proma Nautiyal

6 years ago #19

#13
Thank you so much for your thought provoking comment CityVP \ud83d\udc1d Manjit. Like you stated "It is even more a possibility because it finding the perfect word or expression is just one form of blockage" is the most common cause of blockage in my case. I keep thinking if the reader will understand my perspective and resonate my thoughts. I then start boiling it down or try to make it more interesting, either ways I lose my flow and then panic strikes. When it comes to Kerouac, his plain genius led him to write classics and create a movement altogether. It seems wrong to lose such a great novelist to alcoholism. But so we have lost many such talented stars to substance abuse. Great writing should be a work of our mind and heart dancing to Tchaikovsky, in perfect sync, forgetting about all eventualities. After all, inspiration comes from within.

Proma Nautiyal

6 years ago #18

#11
You are so right, @Dominique Petersen, it is this thought that keeps me motivated and I believe that someday it shall happen. May be not today, not tomorrow, but someday, for sure. :)

Mohammed Abdul Jawad

6 years ago #17

Hectic lives hem in heavy hurdles!

(Nacho) Ignacio Orna

6 years ago #16

How bad is the lack of inspiration

Ali Anani

6 years ago #15

#17
love your comment Savvy Raj times when the pressure in the passion for the purpose overpowers the flow .. .it is good to move away a little to refocus and get back Striking a balance in life". If you would read my last buzz then you shall find how relevant your ckomment is fit to the buzz.

Ian Weinberg

6 years ago #14

I suppose it boils down to if you don't have anything to say, the page stays blank!

David B. Grinberg

6 years ago #13

Thanks for the good advice, Proma. I agree that writers should try not to put too much pressure on themselves, unless they are under a publisher's deadline. Some other potential cures for writer's block, depending on the individual: 1) Get outside and take a walk. 2) Take your mind off it (watch TV, a movie, phone a friend). 3) Write an outline and get to the meat of the writing the next day. 4) Force yourself to write whatever you can, regardless of what you think of it. Then give it a rest. Go back and edit the next day, but at least get something on paper. 5) Dictate your thoughts into a smart phone or recorder. Then write later. 6) Repeat (above), rinse and try again.

CityVP Manjit

6 years ago #12

cc Savvy Raj

CityVP Manjit

6 years ago #11

I am not fully acquainted with the experience of "writers block" because I have never committed to writing a book, but I am sure that somewhere in the marathon effort that accompanies being an author, that I will come across moments where the next thought will not be born. Only a few authors ever write a book on a continous scroll and only a few of them can count that chaotic form of writing in the realm of genius - which is true of the writing style of Jack Kerouac when he wrote "On the Road". Yet there is a greater downside to Kerouac's writing style than writers block, for in that downside Kerouac joined the league of writers who drank themselves to death. In writers block it is not flow which is our problem but perfection and in that moment indecision rules. The meaning of decision being to cut off all other choices. Having not yet faced this indecision or more to the point cutting off ALL choices, I can see why if I ever do write a book, that the odds that I will write like Kerouac are not worth contemplating, but the odds that I will experience a moment of blockage, is definitely a possibility. It is even more a possibility because it finding the perfect word or expression is just one form of blockage, it may be that in writing much I actually exhaust my available bandwidth and instead of flowing like Kerouac, I will most probably find myself losing my own parallel and begin moving to a fixed point which will culminate with indecision or worse an abyss. Then I will need to stop being that person and discover at that point what it means to have "beginners mind". Not that I am contemplating the writing journey as a form of meditation but a point of renaissance - a second wind that makes the most of knowing the impasse before I stop passing it.

CityVP Manjit

6 years ago #10

I am not fully acquainted with the experience of "writers block" because I have never committed to writing a book, but I am sure that somewhere in the marathon effort that accompanies being an author, that I will come across moments where the next thought will not be born. Only a few authors ever write a book on a continous scroll and only a few of them can count that chaotic form of writing in the realm of genius - which is true of the writing style of Jack Kerouac when he wrote "On the Road". Yet there is a greater downside to Kerouac's writing style than writers block, for in that downside Kerouac joined the league of writers who drank themselves to death. In writers block it is not flow which is our problem but perfection and in that moment indecision rules. The meaning of decision being to cut off all other choices. Having not yet faced this indecision or more to the point cutting off ALL choices, I can see why if I ever do write a book, that the odds that I will write like Kerouac are not worth contemplating, but the odds that I will experience a moment of blockage, is definitely a possibility. It is even more a possibility because it finding the perfect word or expression is just one form of blockage, it may be that in writing much I actually exhaust my available bandwidth and instead of flowing like Kerouac, I will most probably find myself losing my own parallel and begin moving to a fixed point which will culminate with indecision or worse an abyss. Then I will need to stop being that person and discover at that point what it means to have "beginners mind". Not that I am contemplating the writing journey as a form of meditation but a point of renaissance - a second wind that makes the most of knowing the impass before I stop passing it.

Dominique 🐝 Petersen

6 years ago #9

I agree! Putting pressure on yourself—I have to get this book written right away—only makes it harder to write. WHY does it have to be written right away? There is no time limit; some authors take YEARS to write a book. It will be finished when it's time. ;o)

Proma Nautiyal

6 years ago #8

#9
Thank you so much, Lisa Vanderburg! Writing a book is a trying process, especially when the brain is too full of ideas or there is severe dearth of ideas. Giving up and trying other topics looks so enticing. I have given myself all the time I like to write mine and I hope one day soon we will be reading your book, too. It will happen, for sure. :-)

Lisa Vanderburg

6 years ago #7

Priceless Proma \ud83d\udc1d Nautiyal...can't tell you how many 'books' I've started. It'll never happen for me, but if it does.....this buzz I'm keeping!! Well said :)

Proma Nautiyal

6 years ago #6

#6
Thank you, Franci\ud83d\udc1dEugenia Hoffman, beBee Brand Ambassador. Often, the good ideas tend to come to us when they are least expected and we are left with a great idea sans pen, paper, or a sometimes even a phone to record it on. Recently, I have started putting my ideas down on my phone, telling myself continuously, that it is as good as pen and paper. The analogy of butterfly and happiness can also be applied to words, I feel. The more we chase them, the more elusive they become.

Proma Nautiyal

6 years ago #5

#5
That's great advice Zacharias \ud83d\udc1d Voulgaris, I will definitely try it. I love word games. This buzz on beBee is actually an example of how writing a piece that I 'want to', helps open my mind for a piece I 'have to' write.

Zacharias 🐝 Voulgaris

6 years ago #4

I had a writing mentor who would often say "there is no such thing as a writer's block." Of course, I had a hard time agreeing with her when I would sit for several minutes over my keyboard without writing a single letter. Then I discovered word games (first on my computer and then on my phone). I can't overstate how they have helped me get those words flowing. Give it a shot! And if this doesn't work, there is always beBee :-)

Ali Anani

6 years ago #3

#3
My honesty is reflected in my comment Proma \ud83d\udc1d Nautiyal. It is not being kind as much as being honest.

Proma Nautiyal

6 years ago #2

#2
Thank you so much for your kind words Ali \ud83d\udc1d Anani, Brand Ambassador @beBee. They mean a lot to me.

Ali Anani

6 years ago #1

"The moment the burden of the book was off from my shoulders, words flew through my fingers like 'Expecto Patronum' from Harry Potter's wand". The best cure for writers block. Read and enjoy this buzz by the distinguished author bee Proma \ud83d\udc1d Nautiyal

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