Writers, dental blocks and spotted owlets

A writer’s block can be the most perfect thing in the world. It isn’t a melody that went out of tune. Neither a slip of a brushstroke nor an itch on a sculptor’s wrist. A writer’s block is a difficult conversation you have with a lover. It isn’t a foreboding discussion about the future. The longevity of the relationship is not under threat. It’s just that the limitation of love itself seems noticeable at a particular moment.

Somehow you have to work it out because there’s too much to lose. There is also a chance you may claw your way out of it – a more resilient writer.

If you are still unable to put words to paper, just move on. Pick up a toothpick. Clean the nooks and corners of your teeth because dental hygiene is often overlooked. And think. Scourge your soul for questions. Never mind the answers. There aren’t any such things. We are too caught up in our own phoniness to even figure out what haircuts best suit us in summer.

Find out why you aren’t able to write. You have enough stories to share. You have lived and loved, both in some capacity. What is the problem? Is there an unresolved issue? Try spilling it out on the world instead. It may not help fix your problem but at least you will have something honest to write about. A writer’s block is after all is a scream to resolve internal conflict.

If you still can’t remove the block, go outside for a stroll. You don’t have to leave your country to find the peace of mind to write. You can stay put in the city. Just walk outside on your street. Look around for stories. You don’t have to meet people or watch them afar. You don’t even need shadows. Discover yourself in everything you observe along the way.

A misplaced signboard. The pack of stray dogs. A car parked askew. Rows of trees with branches stretched out, like prisoners waiting for the rain. Look at the skies above. Half-eaten trails of vanilla clouds. Silhouettes of birds.

The view is always beautiful. At any given moment, the world can wreck us with its magnificence. All we need to do is look out our windows. There is enough love going around for us to chronicle its movement, as writers. And plenty more having gone wrong for us to challenge its existence.

But the simplest way to get over the block is to simply write. And then write some more. Persistence is your best offense. You will eventually break on through to the other side.

“A serious writer is not to be confounded with a solemn writer. A serious writer may be a hawk or a buzzard or even a popinjay, but a solemn writer is always a bloody owl”

– Ernest Hemmingway

(Photographs: Chennai, Kanchipuram)