Bloggers' Block

"Only a mediocre writer is always at his best." — W. Somerset Maugham

Today two of the bloggers on my Reader feed mentioned "bloggers' block", an inability to compose a post suitable for public view.

Jennifer, a graduate student in the masters of library science program at Southern Connecticut State University, is frustrated with school and looking for positive motivation and material beyond her present situation.

Cheryl, on the other hand, has a wealth of interesting experiences to draw upon for inspiration but has been busier doing things than blogging about them.

No author, amateur or professional, is exempt from the occasional "psychological inhibition preventing a writer from proceeding with a piece".

American author Ernest Hemingway stated, "There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly: sometimes it's like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges."

Some focus on beginnings: French playwright Molière confessed, "I always do the first line well, but I have trouble doing the others."

While others think the finish is what counts:
Homer: "Marge, is this a happy ending or a sad ending?"
Marge: "It's an ending. That's enough." — The Simpsons

Ideas may come slowly. Writer and adventurer Jack London warned, "You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan moaned that "Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life."

Is it worth the toil and trauma?

"What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure." -Samuel Johnson

"I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I write and I understand." -Chinese proverb