Up Against the Writing Wall

Supposedly when asked about writing, Ernest Hemingway described it as the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. Even if Hemingway did not say it, this kind of pragmatic approach to what he was arguably one of the best at in all of literature, certainly captured his philosphy. Sit down and do it even if what you write is not very good. I have been thinking about this quote since my recent blog entry on writer's block. To me, there is blunt wisdom in such an attitude. Words do not write themselves. Articles, books, etc. of any merit will never happen unless one forces themself to sit down and begin tranposing their thoughts into words.

For well over a year, by my modest standards, I have enjoyed a good run at writing. I have had two books published, had a third accepted by a publisher, compiled a fourth that I am currentlyh shopping around, written over one hundred blog entires, penned multiple speeches, and composed countless emails, notes, text messages, etc. But now as 2012 draws to a close, I find myself up against a writing wall. Specifically, I am at a loss as to what to write. Even more specifically,  I know the topics but I am struggling with what words to use to address them. Am I frustrated? Very much so. It is this current state that brings me back to the description of writing attributed to Hemingway.

For now, I am following his advice. Each day I sit and bang out words in the attempt of being creative, provocative, stimulating and original. At this point, even being one of those things would be great. Still, there is a big part of me that realizes that good writing often comes from failed attempts and\messy drafts. This is where I am at present. I am oh-so hopeful my struggles will suddenly ignite a return to the kind of writing rhythm that makes it an act of such great joy - when it is not being an act of great pain. The pay-off to all of this is I feel as if I have successfully communicated something to others.