The Writer's Dilemma

On my homepage, you may notice that I consider myself a creative writer (fiction/fantasy and poetry), a content writer, and a journalist of sorts. I like to think that I am a well-rounded writer. As in: I have many different interests when it comes to writing, and I pride myself on being dynamic, versatile, and developed in my writing.

When I was younger, it started with creative children's books. As I grew, it turned to poetry. Eventually, I found a love for content writing, blogging, and researching. To build onto this, I would read news articles and study the format, so that I may begin to understand the difference between writing a research paper, a story, and a well-researched article. In the world of writing, there are so many regions that a writer may often feel like they need to focus on just one. However, just one focus doesn't make me happy. One day I may feel the call of poetry - the words floating around in my head, begging to be put down into my journal, an eventual route to my collection, "Red and Violet: Colors that Run". Other days, I may wish to find a topic to research. And the week after, a short story may come to me; in which case I will open up Microsoft Word and begin typing out my ideas or planning the characters. Sometimes, my short stories become long chapter books, and other times, they lead nowhere. And this, my dear readers, is the writer's dilemma: one day you're full of inspiration and ideas, and the next day, you're not.

And there's no easy answer. When asking others how to rid yourself of writer's block, you may get a whole barrage of advice: "Go outside for a walk!" "Listen to some music!" "Just sit there and think!"

Okay, sure.

But what if none of those things work? What if I want to write a story, but I feel as though my characters are going nowhere? What if I want to write a poem but the sound just isn't the way I think of it in my head? And then, BOOM! The inspiration is gone and writer's block ensues.

This is why, I believe, it's so important to have many different interests if you plan to be a writer or blogger. Even if you're just doing it for fun or as a hobby: find multiple areas of writing that you enjoy, and focus on them. This way, when writer's block taunts you and stops you from writing in one area, it may not stop you from writing in another.

Even now, when I started this blog post, my original intention was not to go on a tangent about writer's block and why I feel it's so important to be skilled in many different areas of writing. But, we're here now. This is where my fingers, my brain, and most of all, my words have brought me. I actually thought I would be writing more about myself and how I realized I didn't need to focus on just one area of writing.

But, I suppose that subject will just have to wait for another day.

Thanks for Reading,

-R.B. Lee