by Zoe MillerOctober 27, 20081:44 am

Could It Be Writer’s Block?

Hypergraphia is the overwhelming urge to write.

According to neurosurgeon Alice Flaherty, author of The Midnight Disease, this urge is triggered by changes in brainwave activity in the temporal lobe.

Writers such as Dostoevsky and Lewis Carroll are said to have been effected by hypergraphia. (Lewis Carroll wrote over 9,800 letters in his lifetime.)

Lately, I find myself sitting down wanting to write a poem…and I can’t finish. I am unable to connect any of the words, pieces, ideas, or fragments together. The words are fighting with one another. Nothing feels natural, and yet I have the overwhelming urge to write new poems for the poetry workshop I am currently in.

Am I having writer’s block?

Should I even use the term writer’s block?

Does writer’s block really exist?

What do we do as writers when we can’t produce material we feel a strong connection to?

“You don’t know what it is to stay a whole day with your head in your hands trying to squeeze your unfortunate brain so as to find a word.” —Gustave Flaubert

4Comments

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1

Luis Jaramill on October 29, 2008 at 9:01 am

My friend Shelley once pointed out to me that while Flaubert wrote he shoved handfuls of fatty foods into his mouth. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I’ve used the anecdote as a lesson–run into trouble writing? Eat a cookie.
2

Samuel Clover on October 28, 2008 at 11:00 am

I find writer’s block, which I’m afflicted with at the beginning of every writing project–I mean EVERY one!–stems from my own fears and expectations. Sometimes, for some ungodly reason, I think writing’s going to be easy, and it almost never is. I picture a copy of David Foster Wallace’s “Infinite Jest” in my head and think, “Damn, it had to be easy for him.” I’m sure it wasn’t. Then there’s the often paralyzing fear that my stuff’s gonna suck, and my professors and colleagues are going hand me a copy of Strunk & White and run me out of town. At such moments, I often think of two quotes:

(1) “Writing is hell.” —William Styron
(2) “Writing is an ass-in-the-chair proposition.” —Lee Stringer

Then, after making a snack, walking around the block, checking my e-mail and cleaning my bathroom with a toothbrush, I sit down and start typing. Eventually, something comes, and it’s almost never as bad as I thought. Then I yell at myself for waiting so long to get started because I need more time to flesh out my thoughts. Oh, well. We all have our process. Good luck!
3

Anna Utevsky on October 27, 2008 at 10:51 am

What an acutely painful post this was to read as it is too familiar a feeling. The desire to access something that lies within us, yet remains elusive- the feeling of being betrayed by your own self can be excruciating.

What I do in times such as those, is turn away from words and writing, and look outside my window, or turn on music, or head to a museum, to try and stimulate my brain from an alternative direction. I cut myself a little a slack and trust that the words will come eventually.

That being said, I also believe there is much to learn from pushing yourself to write anyway, write through the blockage and not be afraid to then trash what you have written. I work hard to remember and trust that I can always write more tomorrow, or edit what was written today. I submerge myself in the writing I find subpar, and learn from struggling my way out of it. Imagine the bad writing a maze and finding a pathway out a rewarding game.

Lastly, I take comfort in knowing that I am far from alone in having this problem- perhaps that helps most of all.
-anna

** what a truly fantastic quote!
4

Joel Miller on October 27, 2008 at 9:29 am

I’d comment, but I don’t know what to say.

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