JOIN USCan’t write? Why not climb a tree? This byte of gyaan in red, positioned on the top of a Sunday Herald page, caught my eye.
It said, “Writers have dealt with writer’s block and the knotty problem of inspiration in all sorts of weird ways and British writer D H Lawrence is one of them. He liked to climb mulberry trees in the nude to stimulate his imagination.”
Hmmm… interesting, very interesting because I am also going through a period of prolonged creative drought. I am trying to find the reason for it, if not a solution.
Climbing mulberry trees in the nude is a well nigh impossible solution for me because —
There are no mulberry trees in the vicinity of our house.
I climbed my last tree at the age of 7. To attempt the same at the age of 77…well, not exactly what my rheumatologist would prescribe.
I know clothes do hamper while climbing trees, more so if they happen to be thorny. But to do it in ‘full Monty’ as the venerable author does, is a tall order.
Moreover, with hardly anything left for imagination, I have to consider my husband’s standing among the neighbours. So, a blind emulation of Mr Lawrence is out of the question.
After all, this is not my first ‘block’. After publishing two articles in Deccan Herald, I had undergone a period of total blank. One fine day after 22 long years, the flood gates of creativity burst suddenly and the deluge of creativity carried me to places where I had never imagined to be; newspapers, magazines, e-mags all seemed to discover the writer in me. In this sea of literary production, even a self-published novel evolved.
After six years of literary glory, it stopped all of a sudden. My ‘middles’ were found to be no more interesting to the editors. Responses to my writing became perfunctory and routine. My sense of humour was also ebbing out. I, who found funny stories in everyday life, was becoming totally devoid of inspiration.
The fact that a puppy had got trapped in the drain under the newly-laid granite slabs was no matter to joke about without antagonising SPCA. My NRI son’s visit with family, though thoroughly enjoyable, did not provide any grist for a humorous blog. Well, as for the recent non-fatal heart attack of my son-in law, tch, tch… hardly a matter for a spoof.
Thus my ‘blocked’ mind not only did not find inspiration or topics, it even lacked the mood, the urge and the motivation to write.
Such being the case, do you think any of my readers would recommend Lawrence’s method for me to overcome my block? They would rather ‘let sleeping dogs sleep’ and wish me a long hibernation.
My method of engaging this ‘blank’ period is to read a lot. I should concentrate more on the input rather than lament lack of output. Even at the risk of committing the crime of plagiarising (numbering my reasons is one), I hope my voracious reading (newspaper supplements, magazines, novels, kindle etc) would result in restoring my muse.
BTW, how did this article come about?