The Struggle Of A Writing Slump
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CREDIT: @DARIA_KRAPLAK ON UNSPLASH
In my previous blog post, I wrote about getting out of reading slumps. For me, reading slumps are easy to avoid: not much work goes into reading. However, recently I have been struggling with a new literary issue: a writing slump. No matter what I type, the words on my screen stare back at me with an emptiness I don’t believe expresses my true potential as a writer. My writing slump isn’t an inability to type words on my laptop: it’s about the depth of what I say, about the literary choices I make. And I hope I’m not the only one who feels like this sometimes.
“THE PROJECT” BY COURTNEY SUMMERS, PUBLISHED BY WEDNESDAY BOOKS
Luckily I’ve been able to narrow it down to one main reason, which is good because knowing the cause of a problem makes finding the solution so much easier. The reason is actually reading! Whenever I read a really good book, I always end up comparing whatever I’m working on at the time to what I’ve read. The Project by Courtney Summers (here’s the link to the book’s Goodreads page!) is what I have read most recently. It’s an absolutely amazing book about cults, and everything is pieced perfectly together like a puzzle. The plot is thorough and complex, yet it all works perfectly together without leaving any plot holes behind. The writing itself is also so well done: it’s as if every individual word was picked out carefully and deliberately. Each “and” seems like it was chosen for a reason beyond the word’s actual purpose.
I could say this for dozens of other books. Every book on my shelf, probably. There is always something I’m comparing my writing to, which takes away the motivation to actually write. And even though deep down I know that every writer is different, it doesn’t stop the struggle to meaningfully put words on a page. The only method I’ve found to be helpful is avoiding reading altogether, and though that can help temporarily, I doubt I’d survive the process of writing an entire novel without reading at some point. For now, my only solution has been to push through the struggle. It gets words on a page, but it definitely takes away from the fun that I usually have when writing.
Now, has writing this article pulled me out of my writing slump? Not really. But maybe it can serve as a reflection on the issue at hand and make figuring it out easier than it would have been if I hadn’t taken the time to think about it. Perhaps other writers who are reading this post have found it beneficial to curing their own writing slump. Whatever happens, at least I know one thing: I need to stop getting stuck in slumps.
Emily Aalders
Emily Aalders is a Professional Writing student at Algonquin College. When she’s not writing, Emily can be found reading and spending all of her money on overpriced coffee. After she graduates from Algonquin College, Emily hopes to be an author.
