Tag Archives: writers block

Past me⤴

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Thank You

Sitting, pen in hand, with blank paper in front of me, I chastise my past self.
I shout at her for being lazy, for not writing more, so that I would need to write less.
But my past self was not ready to write: she didn’t know what I know now.
Her thoughts had not crystallised, she had not read what I had read.
I need to stop blaming past-me for what she did not do
And start thanking her for what she did.

“Thank You” flickr photo by Orin Zebest shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license

Writer’s Block⤴

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I’ve stalled. With just under five months till I submit my completed thesis I have run out of steam. I have no time to waste, and so I waste time. I know all of the advice – I have given it many times, but still I pause. My bookshelves are tidied, my yarn is sorted, my fridge is clean.

I still feel that I need to give myself permission to write. I’m framing my thesis as an auto-ethnography because that feels right – it feels authentic – but I still struggle to justify my approach. Maybe I worry that it is not rigorous enough – maybe my background in anglo-analytic philosophy has trained me to privilege an argumentative style over the explanatory … Maybe I need to channel my inner philosopher (note to self: do not channel your inner Deleuze).

Whatever, the time has come. I remind myself of one of my favourite quotes:

“Fool,” said my muse to me. “Look in thy heart and write.”

Wish me luck …