horizon

Don't you love a wide, blank one? Like on the sea, with nothing in sight. Just a little sundrop of light near the shore, making the dark water sparkle

A view on writers' block

I used to think of writers' block as a major problem, a massive barrier that sealed off creativity from the page, thought from the hand that writes, originality from the pen. The main thing is, I used to think of it as huge, like the great wall of China, extending in all directions so that the only way to get past it was to smash it down in some hopelessly inadequate way.

Don't think that any more.

Now I see writers' block as more like the wall in the picture above - a fine big strong barrier if you are a small creature with no perspective. If you're right in under the wall, you do indeed feel trapped. And you could labour away there chipping at the bottom stones to little avail apart from perhaps causing some of the top ones to fall on you.

Or ...

You could simply walk away - walk back and see how small it is, or walk alongside it, living with it, not fighting it, and see where it ends. Get a little perspective, and soon you will be writing again.

That's my new plan, anyway. If you hit a block, that means it's time to break open a good book and a smoothie, sit in the sun, go for a walk, and wait til perspective shows you where the end of the wall is, and how you can start writing again. The important thing in the meantime being not to panic, not to be afraid. It's just a little wall. You're climbing a big mountain. There's an easy way past this, and you'll see it soon