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Friday
Nov122010
This Ain't No Lunch Counter: How to Cure Blogular Impotence And Remember Why You're Here
Friday, November 12, 2010
Writer's block, writer's block, writer's block.
Here's a freaky picture of me working my french press:
taken with the iPhone 4 Hipstamatic app using the Salvador 84 lens, DreamCanvas film, and no flash
Actually, I'm not much of a believer in writer's block. People claim it, I claim it when it's convenient, but I don't believe in it. Maybe you can't find the words for what you want to write, or maybe you can't even find subject matter to write about, but the fact remains that you have words, and they can be written down. If you're having thoughts right now, they probably have words attached to them. Write them down.
So, that's what I'm torturing you with right now. And me.
I came away from BlissDom Canada with a spanky new mantra – SUCK LESS and BE MORE AWESOME – and then I found out that my Grace in Small Things social network was featured in Woman's Day magazine, and then I scored a couple of new writing gigs, and then I received a wedding photography inquiry, and then, and then, and then. I am not quite sure what happened, but I quickly folded in on myself, completely afraid of doing anything for fear of sucking more and being less awesome.
Right when I am receiving encouragement from the world to continue writing words and taking photos and to champion good blogging, I started questioning what I have to offer.
Oh, now I see what's happening here. I'm having a regular old case of performance anxiety. I am suffering from Blogular Impotence. After seven years blogging, it has become an old friend of mine.
Blogular Impotence is a common malady among bloggers, but it isn't one from which we have to suffer, because it is primarily caused by a problematic thought process, which is easily corrected.
Problematic viewpoint: I am performing for a specific audience and must create with the purpose of entertaining them. The problematic viewpoint turns your weblog into an on-demand lunch counter that turns your readers into customers whom you are worried about serving grilled cheese sandwiches to because they might be thinking about beef bourguignon. Social anxiety ends up divorcing you from the creative force behind your work.
Appropriate viewpoint: I share what I love to create with those who choose to share it with me. The more appropriate viewpoint is that you are a creator of cultural goods which you gladly share with people who want your brand of cultural goods. In this case, you are making stuff for yourself and your appreciative peers. Your readers become friends who stand alongside you in your creative process.
I head into this spiral of second-guessing my creative pursuits a couple of times a year whenever I feel major shifts taking place in my life, which shifts can range from a change in seasons to following new creative pursuits. As social animals, it is natural to worry how changes in our lives and, by extension, our creativity will be perceived by others, and so it is easy to lose focus on the real meat of the matter, which is this:
We create. I create. This is where the heart of it is.
I can panic about who is looking and why they are looking and what they think of what they are looking at, but the fact is that I just love making stuff, be it out of words or images or bits of code, and it is the love that I pour into the things I create that allows me to move through this life with joy and direction.
This ain't no lunch counter. You are not customers, and I am no short order cook.
I share what I love to create with those who choose to share it with me. This is where the heart of it is.
----------------------------
PS. This entry is a lesson learned: when this so-called writer's block strikes, start writing. I had no idea that I would sort out my head like this when I pasted in a picture of my french press up there.
PPS. I started an iPhoneography weblog to celebrate my replacement of my stolen iPhone 3G with an iPhone 4. I'm in deep like with my tech these days.
Here's a freaky picture of me working my french press:
taken with the iPhone 4 Hipstamatic app using the Salvador 84 lens, DreamCanvas film, and no flash
Actually, I'm not much of a believer in writer's block. People claim it, I claim it when it's convenient, but I don't believe in it. Maybe you can't find the words for what you want to write, or maybe you can't even find subject matter to write about, but the fact remains that you have words, and they can be written down. If you're having thoughts right now, they probably have words attached to them. Write them down.
So, that's what I'm torturing you with right now. And me.
I came away from BlissDom Canada with a spanky new mantra – SUCK LESS and BE MORE AWESOME – and then I found out that my Grace in Small Things social network was featured in Woman's Day magazine, and then I scored a couple of new writing gigs, and then I received a wedding photography inquiry, and then, and then, and then. I am not quite sure what happened, but I quickly folded in on myself, completely afraid of doing anything for fear of sucking more and being less awesome.
Right when I am receiving encouragement from the world to continue writing words and taking photos and to champion good blogging, I started questioning what I have to offer.
Oh, now I see what's happening here. I'm having a regular old case of performance anxiety. I am suffering from Blogular Impotence. After seven years blogging, it has become an old friend of mine.
Blogular Impotence is a common malady among bloggers, but it isn't one from which we have to suffer, because it is primarily caused by a problematic thought process, which is easily corrected.
Problematic viewpoint: I am performing for a specific audience and must create with the purpose of entertaining them. The problematic viewpoint turns your weblog into an on-demand lunch counter that turns your readers into customers whom you are worried about serving grilled cheese sandwiches to because they might be thinking about beef bourguignon. Social anxiety ends up divorcing you from the creative force behind your work.
Appropriate viewpoint: I share what I love to create with those who choose to share it with me. The more appropriate viewpoint is that you are a creator of cultural goods which you gladly share with people who want your brand of cultural goods. In this case, you are making stuff for yourself and your appreciative peers. Your readers become friends who stand alongside you in your creative process.
I head into this spiral of second-guessing my creative pursuits a couple of times a year whenever I feel major shifts taking place in my life, which shifts can range from a change in seasons to following new creative pursuits. As social animals, it is natural to worry how changes in our lives and, by extension, our creativity will be perceived by others, and so it is easy to lose focus on the real meat of the matter, which is this:
We create. I create. This is where the heart of it is.
I can panic about who is looking and why they are looking and what they think of what they are looking at, but the fact is that I just love making stuff, be it out of words or images or bits of code, and it is the love that I pour into the things I create that allows me to move through this life with joy and direction.
This ain't no lunch counter. You are not customers, and I am no short order cook.
I share what I love to create with those who choose to share it with me. This is where the heart of it is.
----------------------------
PS. This entry is a lesson learned: when this so-called writer's block strikes, start writing. I had no idea that I would sort out my head like this when I pasted in a picture of my french press up there.
PPS. I started an iPhoneography weblog to celebrate my replacement of my stolen iPhone 3G with an iPhone 4. I'm in deep like with my tech these days.
Reader Comments (13)
It's like you're in my head. The pressure we put on ourselves is almost always worse than what our readers (for me, that's like, three people) give us. And your view that this ain't no lunch counter? That's exactly why I'm constantly amazed at the people who leave crappy comments on people's blogs. Nobody is forcing you to read. And chances are, nobody wants you there anyway.
Keep on writing, because you don't suck.
I absolutely LOVE this post particularly the grilled cheese vs. boeuf bourguignon comparison likely because I live in Burgundy and grilled cheese is the only thing I can cook.
I am relatively new to blogging (since July) and in that short time have been blogblocked several times. Panic sets in then I try and get hold of myself and remember that I do this for me. If other people want (or don't want) to read me rant about not being able to find sour cream in France so be it.
So lovely Schmutzie I thank you for this lovely post and funky foto. Keep going and I'll eat whatever you decide to serve me...
Bobbi
I wrote a post about blog funk today. Sometimes. I suffer from that. For a variety of reasons. I think you're such an incredible writer. You're very talented. And inspirational, too, you know.
Your love for what you do always shines brightly through whatever you create....also good lesson....you got writers block (or photo block or...or) just start from where you're at and see where it goes....
You embody awesomeness, as this post proofs, and could not possibly get less awesome. I too love the lunch counter analogy and while I recognize this is NOT one, I would in fact eat grilled cheese if that is what you were serving.
Holy crap. I needed this post so badly right now, it's not even funny. Thank you. Really. Thanks.
And btw it really is awesome.
"...the fact is that I just love making stuff, be it out of words or images or bits of code... Heh. It's all code, dahlin', data streams before the computer of the mind (grin).
I love making stuff, too. We create. When blocked, its just creativity waiting a little longer.
Damn, this is a great post. Thank you for that!
Yes. YES! It took me a while to realize this, and I was MUCH happier blogging after I realized it. This is why I took (am taking) a big break from ads - it became about hits! and money! and was totally taking away from the real reason I started blogging. So, I went back to my roots - I write what I want when I want.
Thank you for posting this!! It is brilliant.
There's nothing like comparing one's own writing, or one's own blog, to others if you want to drain away your own ambition to write and your satisfaction with your own output. Other people and other blogs are more creative, more sophisticated, more widely read, more this, more that; why am I even doing this, one then wonders about one's own blog, one's own writing. We often need to be reminded that what we each feel like writing or posting may not be what the majority of readers want to read, but that there are others out there who are looking for exactly what we, and no one else, have to offer.
How many times I've posted something I thought utterly bland and banal, and that entry has gotten more appreciation and response than something else I'd posted with the idea that it would instigate a lot of reaction.
Live and learn. But always, always, write what's on your mind and in your heart, and not what you think your readers want.
i love this. thank you for the reminder.
Thanks for this post. There's always something interesting and moving to read on your site(s). This really resonates with me. I've only been blogging since Sept. Last Monday I wrote a post about self-doubt. Up until then most of what I'd written was funny. And to be honest I feel comfortable and safe being funny. So I was scared shitless to post something more serious, worried that it was somehow selfish not to give people a laugh if that's what they were expecting. Ultimately I made myself hit the publish button. I gotta be me, right?
Have you seen me camping out here for two days? I've been camping out here for two days. You happen to make stuff I love. More please.
I like how you've tied this back to our social animal natures. It rings true that self doubt is partially the glancing around to see if we're still going in the same direction as the herd. And yes, we create because it satisfies something in us to create. What a good reason to be alive.