Blank page syndrome
By Richard Ruffin
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“Writing about writer's block is better than not writing at all.” _ Charles Bukowski
We have all looked at a blank piece of paper, or a blank computer screen, on various occasions. Some of us all the time, others, less frequently. This is known as writer's block. Or, more figuratively, blank page syndrome.
Victor Hugo took 17 years to give the world “Les Miserables.” But he finally succeeded, delivering one of the longest novels ever written. The musical is one of the longest-running pieces to ever grace the stage.
Yet Hugo suffered from writer"s block, and he would write naked in order to overcome blank page syndrome. He would roll up his clothes, give them to a servant, and sit unclothed in his study, until his muse started talking to him.
Many of us suffer very severe bouts of writer's block (not that we also write naked). And we continually make excuses for our shortcomings: The assignment is too difficult. I will do it after I check my email, surf Facebook, do the dishes, make dinner, pay the bills, do the laundry. I have been working hard and I need a break. I currently am incapable of brainstorming, etc, etc. But anxiety reigns supreme. What if I fail? What if my work is rejected? What will I do then? Such are the questions that we put forth.
But the many answers we can come up with do not involve writing. They involve everything BUT writing.
Some creative people who have suffered from this most uncreative of afflictions are Charles Schultz, Adele, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Joseph Mitchell. The latter was a writer and New Yorker, and was known for not contributing a single article of significance to the New Yorker magazine, 30 years prior to his death. He wrote about writer's block in one of his novellas. He also wrote a story about a writer who suffers from writer's block.
Herman Melville, author of “Moby Dick,” also knew this malady well, quitting writing altogether a few years after his classic was published.
Blank page syndrome was even written about by British novelist George Orwell, author of the book about a dystopian future, “1984.” In it, his protagonist struggles with a lengthy poem. In the end the poem wins.
So, a lot has been written about this affliction, this scourge, calamity, kiss of death, misfortune, sorrow, torment, woe, tribulation, trial, vexation, difficulty, ill fortune, misfortune, anguish, dolor...need I say more?
So much has been written about this that all those blank pieces of paper, were they made into books, would be no match for the advice on how to avoid writer's block.
What has it cost us in hard revenue, in U.S. dollars, in lost paychecks? We will leave it to some company that is obsessed with figures to find out.
In the meantime we can all rest assured that bouts of barrenness, and uncreativity affect us all.
Richard Ruffin writes from Curitiba, Brazil. Write to rick.ruffin@gmail.com.