Writer's Block

Short fiction

Photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash

A group of writers met up in front of a giant wall one day. They didn’t meet on purpose, of course — the concrete block just happened to be in the middle of the road.

“Well, what do we do now?” they asked each other. “And where the hell did this thing even come from?”

A lunatic in a single-engine plane flew overhead, somehow screaming down to them through a megaphone: “Just fly over it!”

One of the writers turned to a nearby friend. “You don’t know how to fly a plane, do you? Hmm, no, me either…probably isn’t likely, then…”

“Bust through it!” a crazed woman screamed as she started attacking the block with nothing more than a hammer and chisel. Others joined in. No one knew where the tools had come from, but they picked them up and put them to work. Dust clouds floated all around as bits of concrete flew into their hair and eyes.

A short, rotund man shook his head, broke away from the group, and walked to the wall's far side. “Hey, guys. Hey!” They all stopped their erratic movements – their wild flailing. “I think we can go around it over here.”

A few others followed him and peeked their heads around the corner. “He’s right!” they shouted.

“Oh, wow, how about that…” one of the writers said after meandering over. He cleaned his glasses on his shirt sleeve. Most others had broken away from the hammer and chisel brigade, taking the clearer and better route forward.

“It’s not the way! The best path forward is through!” the same woman yelled, rallying her small squadron, as she smashed the wall again and again and again.

---

Thanks for reading my silly story about writer’s block. I hope you enjoyed it!

I know writer’s block is commonly talked about in writing circles, but it isn’t something I think about often. I thankfully have never “hit the wall” so to speak. For me, it’s more about self-confidence and my current mental state. If I’m not in the right headspace to get some writing done, I push it back to a different time or try again the next day. (Sometimes this means multiple days.) I used to try to push through, but I realized the flow of words and ideas didn’t come as naturally.

There’s no real science to any of this, I suppose, and we all do what works best for us.

What does your writing process look like? Do you ever hit any walls or barriers? And if so, what do you do to work your way around them — or through them?

Have a great week, everyone. I hope the path before you doesn’t require a hammer and chisel. If it does, please wear some protective eyewear!

Take care and thanks for being here.

---

Fifties by the Fire

I’m looking forward to this week’s batch of fifties and seeing what everyone comes up with in response to the prompt. It’s been great to see some new and old faces. (By the way, know that there is never any pressure to join in. I know how incredibly busy we all are!)

This week’s thread will be posted on Friday, March 3, at 3:00 PM EST.

Prompt: Write a fifty-word story (or work of CNF, or poem) about a first. Here are some examples. A first…

• kiss

• love

• dance

• born

• marriage

• fight

• drink

• gamble

• lie

• flight

• pitch

• swing

• shot

You get the idea. Have fun! Let me know if you have a question…it’s pretty wide open! Same guidelines as always.

See you by the fire on Friday!