I have been writing for Odyssey for almost three years now. Throughout my time being here, I've been a content creator and community president, which has now been revamped into "community representative". During my time in a leadership role, I always tried to inspire the Creators in my community to step out of their comfort zone and, when the time inevitably came, to confront writer's block head-on.
Stepping out of their comfort zones never seemed to be an issue because at one point, each of them had expressed that becoming a better writer was one of many reasons they had decided to give Odyssey a chance. However, I never quite understood why some of them struggled with writer's block so much. I had the mentality that inspiration was all around you and whatever piqued your interest is what you would write about. At this point, I believe I can safely say that I understand what my creators struggle with. It's not the lack of inspiration, maybe not even the lack of motivation in some cases, but not knowing how to convey the message in a way that meets one's expectations.
When I write, I always have high expectations for myself. Aside from constantly trying to set a good example and be a good co-leader for my community, I want to grow. I want to explore new ways that I can approach topics, expand my portfolio, and enhance my voice through what I write. I always strive for improvement but I've learned over time that you can't truly achieve growth if you don't experience some bumps in the road and make mistakes along the way.
In my position, I've grown accustomed to being prepared and having all the answers, or others having that underlying expectation of me. Thus, when the creators in my community seem to struggle with writer's block or run out of ideas, I always have a list for them to choose from or I can talk them through it at the very least. However, I never seem to anticipate the inevitable in regards to myself.
I, for one, rarely experience writer's block. Though when I do, it tortures me incessantly. Pulling topics out of nowhere has become my specialty, though the irony is that I can never manage to do so for myself. Just recently, I went days trying to piece another article together and finally came to the conclusion that, perhaps, I'm not supposed to write it yet. I was overthinking the topic, overcomplicating the ways to overcome my writer's block, and trying to force something that I mentally and physically couldn't express. Instead, here we are.
Thus, I'll provide a little piece of advice for all the writers out there, my Creators, my Co-Rep, and myself:
Taking a step back is the best thing one can do when experiencing writer's block in any degree.
For freelance writers, it's easier to bounce back. For career writers, it's almost debilitating. Regardless of if you're one or the other, or somewhere in the middle, taking a step back is always the answer. If you distance yourself from the problem and set some time aside to analyze the situation, the likelihood of figuring out why (or where) you're struggling is high. Maybe along the way, your struggle can be the inspiration for another piece. After all, that's how this article came to be.
