So I’ve had writer’s block for a couple weeks. I’d like to say that this is longer than normal, but I can’t really say. It always feels like forever when I’m in it and is quickly forgotten once I’m out. I’m sure it’s mostly due to some difficulties I’ve been having with sleep, which I’m certain is the result of general stressed-out-ness. That said, I realized something today as I was forcing myself to work on a little side project I started before the block.
I think I’ve been struck with the plague of perfectionism. I have to write most of what I write knowing that it’s not perfect and planning to go back later and fix it. Sometimes that later never comes because the stuff is not salvageable. Sometimes it turns out that it’s not as shitty as I think it is. And sometimes I go back, I see the crack, I smooth it over, and it’s like perfection a little bit. But that requires a level of comfort with imperfection for most of the process. Aspiring to that near perfection requires an element of magic or God or whatever I’m praying to that day. So it’s possible that I’m just stressed and therefore irritable and have less grace for my own flaws. Or, I might have lost faith in the magic.
One thing I know for sure. Pin-pointing the exact nature of my writer’s block doesn’t help that much.