At the beginning of summer ’22 I realized it had been more than a decade since I’d taken any real time off from writing. So, I pledged to put writing aside for a bit and focus on living life.
You know, family, travel, food, laughter…the good stuff!
I also chose that time to give up coffee. If I wasn’t writing, there was no real need to jump-start my brain in the morning. I would let it take the slow road to wakefullness.
At the end of summer I got out my computer, found a nice place to sit, and…nothing. My mind was a complete blank.
I’ve experienced writer’s block before, but this was something else. Something bigger.
In the past, when I was hit with writer’s block, I was still be able to catch a glimmer of ideas flitting about in my head. Sure, it was rather like playing hide-and-seek with ghost flies. I could hear them, I could feel them, but I couldn’t quite grab hold of them. Still, I knew if I kept at it, I’d eventually catch those elusive ideas as they got comfortable and tried to giggle their way into another part of my brain.
But not this time. Days, weeks, and even months went by, and I’d barely begun my newest screenplay. I tried doing rewrites on a few novels I’m working on as a way to get things going, but I couldn’t get past the first page on any of them.
I was stuck. Well, and truly, stuck.
Until, in a moment of weakness, I made a cup of coffee before I sat down in front of my computer. I took a sip as I opened the empty page that was supposed to be my beat sheet. I must have either had an out-of-body experience or been abducted by aliens, because the next thing I knew I had mapped out three quarters of my story!
It was magic.
Unfortunately, it was the magic of coffee.
So, now I have a new plan. I’ll allow coffee back into my life, for a bit. Just long enough to get me back to my normal writing routine. Then, coffee and I are going to have a long talk.
I have no intention of being held hostage by that little cup of magic we call Joe.