Creator’s Block
I’ve had a wicked case of creator’s block for the last week or so. It’s not the same as writer’s block; I know what I want to write, and it affects me writing code as well as prose. I just can’t get it out of my head and onto paper (or into type). I’ve had a half dozen blog entries rattling around in my head for the past week, I’m pretty sure I’ve figured out a solution to a coding issue I’ve been banging my head against for a week, and I’ve got aanother project I haven’t touched in a week. I just can’t get any of it out of my head and into the computer.
It’s a bit like procratination, as I just can’t seem to get started; but it not the same- I want to get started. If I do get started, I just can’t concentrate. As soon as I do, I suddenly get sidetracked by questions, ideas, or problems I hadn’t considered before. They often aren’t even important, but I’ll end up funnelling all my time and focus into them.
I think it has something to do with how much time an idea or problem spends in my head. I’m normally a great subliminal thinker… if I can’t figure out something (like a coding problem) in a short period of time, my best bet is to ignore it. My subconcious mind will work it out, and the answer will occur to me. I then have no problem coding it. But if the process takes to long, the rules seem to change. The longer it takes to figure something out, the harder it seems to be to implement once I’ve worked it out. I just can’t focus.
It’s similar with writing prose. I usualy start with an outline which I’ve worked out in my head. As I write, I flesh out detail and evolve the idea into a completed thought. But if the outline sits too long before I try to write about it, I have trouble figuring out the detail, or I get sidetracked by the details themselves. This is especially true for blogging. If I have an idea for an entry, but I save it to blog later, it’s always harder to get started writing it “later”. That’s one reason I haven’t written anything all week… too many ideas I’ve held onto for too long, and I can’t get started.
That’s also why I’m posting this now. I was thinking about some topics I’d like to blog, and the fact that I haven’t posted much at all for a week. I came to the recognition of how I work (or don’t… the notion of creator’s block) and decided I’d better write it down before it sits too long. I just hope this will help me to get unstuck on some other things.