“Connor’s Corner: Blocking Writer’s Block”
By Connor Danz, Creative Editor
I was originally planning to do a “Connor’s Corner” last week recapping my single Valentine’s Day, make a few jokes about it, and end on a light-hearted and optimistic note.
Sadly, though I was looking forward to writing out that idea for a “Connor’s Corner,” when I sat down to write it out, I just couldn’t. It was a bizarre feeling, I tried to start typing but it felt like there was a gear in my brain that just refused to help me write out what I wanted to say.
This would persist for about three to four days until I had finally gone on a bike ride, and I was suddenly cured! What was so special about this bike ride in comparison to others is this was the first one I was able to go on in a while because of the stupid white stuff all over New York.
I could probably write a whole “Connor’s Corner” about how much I love biking and how it recharges my batteries and is what it did for me. Instead of going through my usual city environment, I took a back route into a calm and wild environment. Enjoying Mother Nature is one of the most natural parts of being a human as it was and still is our natural environment and helps get those creative juices flowing.
As advice from someone who has to write a lot, not just for the Hudsonian, but also for my high school classes, college classes and other outside writing activities, make sure you take a break from writing every once and a while if you need to. Burnout is very easy to succumb to if you don’t give your brain a breather every once and a while.
However, taking a break isn’t always the answer to curing you of writer’s block, you can help yourself through writing as well. One thing you can do is write about something you are passionate about, even if you’re not gonna share it. Passion is one of the keys to any creative work and I always find that when I want to write and don’t know what to write about, I’ll just start typing about something I love.
The specter of writer’s block haunts the dreams of many writers, professional or hobbyist. I hope that what I laid out from my experience can help any writer reading this as these are my go-to cures for writer’s block that always work for me in helping me rejuvenate my creative side.