I CREATE ART EVEN WHEN I'M HIT WITH WRITER'S BLOCK

"I write when the spirit moves me," William Faulkner once said. "And the spirit moves me every day."

I love this saying by Faulkner. It’s one of the best saying I know on how to deal with that Writer’s Block. As a writer, I meet those blocks sometimes and it’s frustrating when you stare at your computer screen or paper but you just don’t know what word or sentence would follow. Then you might feel like any sentence you force into the work would kill the whole manuscript.

Writers, writing instructors, agents, editors always say, ‘Do not edit while writing your first draft.’

I believe them. And I stick to that rule. No. I stick to that guideline. Writing and editing at the same time is hard work. I think it screws a work. If it doesn’t screw the work, then the writer is bound to spend more time on that project. And when the writer thinks he/she is beating the time, that’s when the block come.

I dread writer’s block like I dread going to hell. For me, writer’s block means I’m stuck in one place and making no progress. I hate it when I make no progress in something I hope to be a success.

I hardly get hit by writer’s blocks because I try hard to avoid them. But sometimes, they’re just unavoidable. My blocks come especially when I’m in a descriptive scene. Some writers excel well in descriptions, others don’t.

Honestly, I think I’m among the latter.

When describing a scene, I try my best to put myself into that scene so I’d be able to capture the sights, the colors, the smell, and the sounds. I don’t always have problems with the smell and the sounds. However, sometimes I do have problems with the sights and colors. And without the sights and colors, you cannot fully pull your readers into a scene, especially a new environment they haven’t come across in the book.

The funny part about this is that I think I’m pretty good in another aspect. Another aspect that fully involves sight and colors.

Graphics Design. But I call it picture pimping.

I’m a lover of artworks, graphic pictures especially. I think I’m among those readers that fall in love with awesome book covers. If I like a book cover, I like the book. Even though the content is trash.

As a kid in secondary school, I was good in putting good and colorful images on blank papers.

Was good?

Yes. To be sincere, I don’t think I’m much of a good drawer again. I left drawing to concentrate on writing and music.

But I still draw awesome stuffs though.

How?

Well. I have to say thanks for computer. With computer software, I can easily take this picture:

and turn it to this drawing: 

 
















It looks just like stuff done with a pencil.

What does this have to do with my writer’s block or difficulty to add colors and sights to some scenes?

When I find it hard to describe a scene like I want, I take a fifteen minutes break, go into my ‘pictures’ folder, load some pictures into my photo editing software, and then I play. I play with the colors. I make some of the pictures ugly. I make others beautiful. I immerse myself in another world filled with colors.

Doing this helps me in many ways because I realize that when I return to my writing, describing those colors and sights would become easy for me. If the scene is filled with many descriptions, I leave it until my revision to take out what doesn’t work in the scene.

How do you manage your writer’s block? Do you have difficulty describing scenes? Hit me up with your comments.

Below are some of my awesome picture designs. Well... you’ll be the judge as to whether they’re awesome.

During my youth service

Bruno, my German Shepherd

When I became a cartoon

Back in school. Myself and Chigoo, a classmate

My friend, Saka. A poet. If his name sounds familiar, check out last week’s article.

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My beautiful cousins. I think I made ugly here.

An old picture. I went horror on this one.

Don’t tell anyone you saw a ghost on this blog!

Sarah.A friend. She’s beautiful but I love her smile most

If you think my designs are cool and you want one like them, don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments section.

Remain blessed and have a nice weekend, guys.