• Top Story
  • Weekly
  • Latest
  • Editorial
  • Opinion
  • Interview
  • Feature
  • Sports
  • News
  • J&K
  • World
  • Education
  • Health
  • Economy
  • Culture
  • Literature
  • Lifestyle
  • Books
What's Hot

Belt and Road Initiative: How Real is ‘Debt-trap Diplomacy’?

January 8, 2025

Why Pegasus Report Must be Made Public

December 25, 2024

America’s Waning Global Position

November 4, 2024
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Trending
  • Belt and Road Initiative: How Real is ‘Debt-trap Diplomacy’?
  • Why Pegasus Report Must be Made Public
  • America’s Waning Global Position
  • Book Review—Shawls and Shawlbafs of Kashmir
  • Hundreds of Sheep Face Starvation as Forest Officials Bar Grazing
  • Photo Essay: Fire Fighting Service In Dal Lake
  • Pheran—How Kashmir’s Traditional Attire Evolved Through Centuries
  • Pheran—How Kashmir’s Traditional Attire Evolved Through Centuries
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
 Kashmir Newsline – Expression Unleashed Kashmir Newsline – Expression Unleashed
  • Weekly

    Weekly Dec 25 – Dec 31, 2022

    December 25, 2022

    Weekly Dec 05 – 11 Dec,2022

    December 7, 2022

    Weekly Nov 28 – Dec 04, 2022

    November 30, 2022

    Weekly November 21-27

    November 22, 2022

    Weekly November 14-20

    November 16, 2022
  • News
    1. India
    2. South Aisa
    3. World
    Featured
    Recent

    Belt and Road Initiative: How Real is ‘Debt-trap Diplomacy’?

    January 8, 2025

    Why Pegasus Report Must be Made Public

    December 25, 2024

    America’s Waning Global Position

    November 4, 2024
  • Feature
    1. Interview
    2. Literature
    3. Editorial
    4. Opinion
    5. Top Story
    6. Books
    7. View All

    Interview: ‘Travel, Observing and Tasting is the Best Way to Learn’

    October 2, 2023

    AS Dulat’s Kashmir Stories

    February 4, 2023

    Interview: ‘People are Deeply Pained by Mirwaiz’s Absence from Jamia Masjid’

    November 16, 2022

    ‘Abrogation of Article 370 has Made Kashmir More Dangerous than 1990s’

    October 18, 2022

    The Poet of Love—Daagh Dehlvi’s Poetry has Native Idiom and Sufi Undercurrent

    May 30, 2023

    The Breadth and Sweep of Sahir Ludhianvi’s Works

    March 8, 2023

    Memories of Gulmarg

    January 28, 2023

    ‘If This Language Lives On, Rahi Also Lives On’

    January 18, 2023

    Kashmir Needs Collective Fight against Glaring Drug Abuse

    December 27, 2022

    Healthcare Emergency

    December 7, 2022

    Traffic Mess: Who is to Blame? 

    November 30, 2022

    Give the Artists the Space They Need

    November 23, 2022

    Belt and Road Initiative: How Real is ‘Debt-trap Diplomacy’?

    January 8, 2025

    Why Pegasus Report Must be Made Public

    December 25, 2024

    America’s Waning Global Position

    November 4, 2024

    Writer’s Block What!

    October 8, 2023

    Belt and Road Initiative: How Real is ‘Debt-trap Diplomacy’?

    January 8, 2025

    Why Pegasus Report Must be Made Public

    December 25, 2024

    America’s Waning Global Position

    November 4, 2024

    Book Review—Shawls and Shawlbafs of Kashmir

    September 12, 2024

    Book Review—Shawls and Shawlbafs of Kashmir

    September 12, 2024

    Book Review: The Divine Dialect of Flowers

    October 5, 2023

    The Collision That Birthed Religion

    March 18, 2023

    Book Review: What is the Meter of the Dictionary?

    March 2, 2023

    Belt and Road Initiative: How Real is ‘Debt-trap Diplomacy’?

    January 8, 2025

    Why Pegasus Report Must be Made Public

    December 25, 2024

    America’s Waning Global Position

    November 4, 2024

    Book Review—Shawls and Shawlbafs of Kashmir

    September 12, 2024
  • J&K

    Hundreds of Sheep Face Starvation as Forest Officials Bar Grazing

    March 14, 2024

    Photo Essay: Fire Fighting Service In Dal Lake

    March 8, 2024

    Tatakooti—Challenges of Owning a Towering Peak

    October 5, 2023

    Interview: ‘Travel, Observing and Tasting is the Best Way to Learn’

    October 2, 2023

    What is Ailing the Apple Farming?

    September 16, 2023
  • Lifestyle

    Eating Together Binds Families

    November 22, 2022

    How Smartphones are Harming Children

    October 25, 2022

    Raising a Champion

    October 11, 2022

    The Reluctant ‘Urban Poor’

    August 28, 2022

    The Reluctant ‘Urban Poor’

    August 21, 2022
  • Economy

    Explained: What is a Credit Score and Why is it Important?

    December 27, 2022

    Rights of Special Bank Customers

    November 30, 2022

    How to be a Socially Responsible Investor

    November 23, 2022

    Stock Exchange Crimes

    November 16, 2022

    Avoid Debt Trap

    November 8, 2022
  • Culture
  • Entertainment
  • Sports

    Tatakooti—Challenges of Owning a Towering Peak

    October 5, 2023

    When Salim was in the Mood

    July 12, 2023

    Why Does Team India Fail Consistently?

    December 27, 2022

    Hail Ben Stokes and Co.

    December 7, 2022

    England Tour of Pakistan

    November 30, 2022
 Kashmir Newsline – Expression Unleashed Kashmir Newsline – Expression Unleashed
Home»Opinion»Writer’s Block What!
Opinion

Writer’s Block What!

Kashmir NewslineBy Kashmir NewslineOctober 8, 2023No Comments7 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

It is that sinister feeling that you cannot write anymore and that the end of the world is near.

Santosh Bakaya

Yes, I am a writer, who has tried her hand at everything – poetry, prose, essays, fiction, non-fiction, plays and biographies, writing with an untethered, exhilarating passion about anything that catches my fancy. And, let me confess, almost everything has caught my fancy. Be it a magical moonbeam, a sparkling sunray, a swaying sunflower, a thrush trilling, a rippling or a roaring river. Even a pup running after a paunchy man! I have always been on the lookout for an appropriate moment to pen my thoughts – in a running train, bus or taxi or even mid-air!

Some years back, I delivered a TEDx talk: The Myth of Writer’s Block. And when many of my students heard it, they vehemently shook their heads, saying: “Madam, writer’s block is definitely not a myth; it is real.”
But, no matter what my students say, I continue to subscribe to the robust belief that writer’s block is just another name for the monsters of negativity stalking one, and this basically stems from the fear of failure. The first step in the direction of removing this fear is, yes, writing.

What Exactly is Writer’s Block?

It is that sinister feeling that you cannot write anymore, and that the end of the world is near. Many allegedly suffer from a week long block, many a year, and many have an unending bout with writer’s block. What if this block never goes? Many shudder at this possibility and spend sleepless nights steering clear of writing.
Merriam Webster Dictionary defines it as a psychological inhibition preventing a writer from proceeding with a piece. Wikipedia calls it a creative slowdown.”

American author Megan Spooner says: “Writer’s block is just a fancy way of saying I don’t feel like doing any work.”

Their belief in the writer’s block unapologetically wavering, my students kept yelling:  “Madam, you cannot deny that there is something called the Blank Page Syndrome.”
Okay, if there is a blank page, go and fill it. Simple as that! “See, there is no blank page now,” I said. My rejoinder has put them on the defensive. But they have a counterargument: where is the time?
Then don’t put the blame of your inability to write at the mythical gate of writer’s block.

My very prolific writer friend, Richard Doiron, who has many books to his credit, says: “I was never intimidated by a blank page. I put the date at the top and my name at the bottom, and there I go. One thing I discovered along the line was that if I throw 12, 16, 20 random words at the top of a page, magic happens, and I have been tested with that by total strangers for years; they send me 12 or more words and something happens. I once did 12 poems in a day for total strangers.”
He further says that he started writing about 62 years ago, and forgot to stop, and he once suffered a writer’s block, which lasted exactly 20 minutes!
So, I am absolutely convinced, it is the writer alone who can remove the block – simply by writing.

Harsh criticism is something which writers are wary of, and in order to shield themselves from this, they unconsciously stop writing and tinker with what-if possibilities. That is when the so-called writer’s block raises its ugly head, trying to intimidate the writer. There is always scope for editing, honing, culling, tweaking, so why consider the piece of writing the final draft! Consider it only the first.
Some of the readers might smirk thinking that I am talking through my hat. I am merely talking through experience.

Get Over It

I have always found the writer’s block to be a myth and an excuse for procrastination. Sometimes, this so-called block also occurs because one cannot find the right word and, for this, poor vocabulary is to be blamed.

I have also realized that changing gears on the road to writing is very fruitful.
When I get bored writing poetry, I switch over to prose and when that gets on my nerves, I start working on my other manuscript, shifting gears all the time.

When I was working on Gandhi’s poetic biography, Ballad of Bapu, I was simultaneously working on my novella, A Skyful of Balloons and also a book of poems, Where are the Lilacs? Ballad of Bapu, involved a lot of research, and when the research became tiring, I would immediately change gears to my novel, where I would soon get involved in the traits of different characters and be reinvigorated.
I was able to finish all my manuscripts, not once having come across any intimidating block.
It is futile to dwell on the same scene, or try to hunt for that perfect opening line that one dreams will make the reading world sit up and notice.

Some might retort that not everyone is working on many manuscripts simultaneously. My answer to that is: but one is definitely working on many ideas, simultaneously. The mind is always meandering. Don’t allow it to stick to just one lane. Keep changing lanes, for that infusion of greater gusto.

Let me cite another instance. Some years back, I started writing a poem on social media in installments. This became an award- winning 100 page spooky, and surreal poem, Oh Hark! During its writing, not once did I suffer from the writer’s block and I believe it was my intense passion that kept me going.
I often tell my students not to think of being perfect.  Perfection is as much a myth as writer’s Block. I beseech you, do not allow the fingers to travel away from the keyboard for long, but don’t let writing become stressful.
At times, we procrastinate, and then the stress of not having written for a long time becomes so overwhelming that we tend to panic.

Yes, I also remember saying something which triggered a lot of laughter. Everyone has a favorite singer, but it is no harm experimenting and switching loyalties. If you are listening to Cliff Richard, don’t just listen to Congratulations and Celebration, or Bachelor Boy or Please don’t tease me.  Keep shifting – changing gears.
You don’t need to shift loyalties. But you need to shift.  On second thought, Cliff Richard won’t mind if you shift to Frank Sinatra! Or Muhammad Rafi won’t mind if you shift to Kishore Kumar or Manna Dey.
Moreover, throughout the day, ideas keep popping in the mind. We need to jot down those ideas, so that they are not lost.

It was Maya Angelou who once remarked tongue-in-cheek: “What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks, ‘that the cat sat on the mat, not a rat.’ It might be just the most boring and awful stuff … I just write. And then as if the muse is convinced that I am serious, it says okay. okay, I’ll come.”
Let me speak from experience again. The secret lies in passion not in a lackadaisical approach, short cuts, or half- hearted attempts. If there is no round- eyed excitement, no adrenaline rush, no impatient tingling in the fingers, all sorts of blocks might attack you not just the writer’s block. Annie Dillard says that the sensation of writing is “handed to you, but only if you look for it. You search, you break your heart, your back, your brain and then – and only then- it is handed to you.” So, “the answer, my friend is blowin’ in the wind.”
Pick that pen and go haywire. Your untethered passion will remove all the blocks.
Listen to James Thurber – ‘don’t get it right. just write’.
Give full rein to the horses of imagination; let them gallop and canter; initially, they might whinny rebelliously, but will eventually listen to your cajoling words, and, hey, presto! All the so-called blocks will tumble down, and blank pages will be filled. Just give it a try!

Santosh Bakaya is an internationally acclaimed poet and author.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Kashmir Newsline
  • Website

Related Posts

Belt and Road Initiative: How Real is ‘Debt-trap Diplomacy’?

January 8, 2025

Why Pegasus Report Must be Made Public

December 25, 2024

America’s Waning Global Position

November 4, 2024

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Top Posts

Team India’s Next Big Thing

July 6, 202227,463 Views

Why This Alpine Lake Trek Stands Out

July 6, 202225,423 Views

India’s Majoritarian Politics and the Role of Media

July 6, 202224,120 Views

Fragile Media Economies and Lack of Opportunities in Kashmir

July 6, 202223,225 Views
Don't Miss
Top Story

Belt and Road Initiative: How Real is ‘Debt-trap Diplomacy’?

By Kashmir NewslineJanuary 8, 20250

BRI’s transformative potential extends beyond economic development. It has the power to reshape global trade…

Why Pegasus Report Must be Made Public

December 25, 2024

America’s Waning Global Position

November 4, 2024

Book Review—Shawls and Shawlbafs of Kashmir

September 12, 2024
Stay In Touch
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Vimeo

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from SmartMag about art & design.

Based out of Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir) and brought out in print as a weekly with online presence as well, Kashmir Newsline is solely committed to ethical, fearless journalism. We at Kashmir Newsline cover politics, geopolitics, international relations, social issues, health, sports and almost everything else as objectively as humanly possible. Kashmir Newsline carries detailed reports and in-depth analysis on multiple developments happening in Kashmir and around the world.

Facebook X (Twitter)
Our Picks

Belt and Road Initiative: How Real is ‘Debt-trap Diplomacy’?

January 8, 2025

Why Pegasus Report Must be Made Public

December 25, 2024

America’s Waning Global Position

November 4, 2024
Most Popular

Team India’s Next Big Thing

July 6, 202227,463 Views

Why This Alpine Lake Trek Stands Out

July 6, 202225,423 Views

India’s Majoritarian Politics and the Role of Media

July 6, 202224,120 Views
Facebook X (Twitter)
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Politics
  • J&K
  • E-Paper
  • Contact Us
© 2025 Kashmir Newsline. Designed by NexG IT Solutions.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

Go to mobile version