Brain Freeze

Pen poised in hand. Clean paper waiting. Brain empty.


This is the predicament so many writers find themselves in on a near daily basis. Harris Green was facing his worst dilemma ever. He had finally been awarded the book deal of a lifetime and he was required to start putting together his ideas into a format that could be marketed. The problem was, here he was sitting in front his fresh sheet of paper, a ream waiting next to it and he could not muster the strength to write down a single word.


Writing had always come so simply to him. His stories seemed to flow like water from a tap without having a care in the world. Then he realized what the problem was. He has always written for him. There was no pressure. Now, he was required to get down at least 150 pages to turn in to the editor in the next three months. He was locked up with fear.


He walked around the room and lit a cigarette. What he needed was inspiration. What he needed was something to knock everything loose. Just then it hit him. He called up his friend Doug who was also a writer. His brown eyes bore into the phone as the number was dialed, and he waited with bated breath until Doug Answered.


"Hello", Doug Breathed into the phone in that familiar way.


"Doug", Harris started with anticipation, "I have hit a wall and I need some help. Do you have any suggestions as to how to get out of writer's block?"


A sigh and then silence.


"Hello?" Harris was worried the line had disconnected. He even glanced at the phone.


"Just write something." Was the reply that finally came filled with a lithesome tone.


Confused, Harris replied, "But, that is the problem. I can't. I don't know what to write! Help!"


"Just write words down on a piece of paper. Any words! Write a freaking grocery list if that is all you can come up with. The idea is to just write. It doesn't have to be good, but you gotta exercise that muscle, bro. Look I gotta go. Good luck and all."


With that the line went dead, and Harris returned to the paper. It still looked intimidating with the pen laying on top of it. Slowly, he sat down at the desk and picked up the pen. He wrote random words at first and then the words formed into something that made sense. He wrote for ten solid minutes before he gave any thought to what was happening.


He was free and he could not wait to get started on the actual project. Excited he grabbed another piece of paper and laid it down in place of the old one. He shook his head, leaned forward and put the pen to the paper and his brain emptied. Again!

Returning to the Classics

Stories these days are all about twists and unexpected endings. They do not take the long-winded approach that they used to. This is partly because of the short attention span that many have these days. They do not want to deal with a long story because it means they will need to make a huge time investment. The bad part about this is the more of a time investment you make in something, the more you get out of it.


Take for example when you read a really long story like Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens. Now, most people just do not have the patience for Charles Dickens and his windy approach to literature anyways. Then you take into account all of the forgotten references or local slang and you have a book which is difficult to read. However, once you get about 500 – 600 pages into the story you are completely invested. You are now a part of that world and you are in tune with the characters. The only bad part about reading a really long story like that is that after a week or a month, depending on your reading speed, you are left feeling lost and wishing there was more.


The bulk of modern fiction published today as novels is between 300 – 500 pages. This allows readers to easily finish books in a few days rather than a few weeks. While it may feel satisfying to have a stack of books that you have read on your nightstand, consider nourishing your sole instead. Feed your imagination by allowing yourself to become engrossed in a story that is well crafted. While yo will still be able to enjoy the works of modern fiction authors, you are likely to find yourself yearning for the classic style of the longer works.


The blog is an even further truncated version of what is happening in the modern world of fiction. However, the great thing about blogs is that they allow you to become engrossed in a world that seems to go on and on. Tune in every day and there is a new chapter that you can read. You can return days later and have many postings that you can read all at once. The modern blog is a broken up version of what the classic novel stylings used to embrace. So, check in often and let's see where this rabbit hole takes you.