Back from the Dead

 
   Some time after starting this blog, I entered a dead zone called writer's block.  I had never given writer's block much thought before then, believing that it was something that any writer could experience and get over in a relatively easy manner. Boy, was I wrong as evidenced by the two-year drought I experienced in regard to writing anything more creative than a grocery list.

   

   During that period, nothing I tried enabled me to write.  Re-reading what I had been working on, starting a new project, writing a short story, not a single thing would awaken even a glimmer of creative urge that would get me going again.

   

   I finally gave up and succumbed without further struggle to the pit of quicksand that sucked me into a very long dry spell.

   

   When asked, by anyone, "what are you working on?"  I would candidly reply, "Nothing right now.  I have writer's block."  This response, I quickly learned, was either a conversation killer or an opening for the person asking the question to try to help fix the unfixable problem.

   

   Furthermore, I learned that the more I dwelt on writer's block, or any problem for that matter, the bigger it became, basically feeding on itself and making it more impossible to surmount.  

   

   When well-meaning people (family really) would ask, "have you been able to get back to writing?"  It wasn't till I developed a blasé, "I'm working on it," response, which really meant, "I haven't thought about in months," that I started to accept that I would write again when I could and not a second sooner.

  

   Certainly, there were times when I feared that perhaps I never would be able to write again, but even that I learned to accept.  I let go of the reins, and rather than force it, I waited till one day I suddenly had an idea and that idea was actually a good enough one to motivate me to sit down and put the words to paper (ms word actually) and submit it for publishing.

  

   Now, I wait for the editor's response, which I happily add has not kept me from writing other stories, and aren't you lucky...this latest blog installment!