Writer’s Block

By Allison Johnson
Blog Content Contributor

I feel blessed to have received a position for the spring semester to blog for KTSW. In case you didn’t know, KTSW is one of the top ten college radio stations in the nation. Even some of the best fall short of inspiration sometimes. I know we all deal with different struggles fulfilling our duties here at the station, but I’m sure every department here can agree that we’ve all struggled from writer’s block. It happens, but for some reason this week it is at an all-time high. It’s most likely because this is save your GPA month. There’s final projects, papers, finals, and don’t forget the exam you have to take before the final. It’s an understatement to say that this is an overwhelming time of the semester, but I still have duties to fulfill as a Blog Content Contributor at KTSW.

It’s kind of funny that I’m writing about the struggle of not knowing what to write about, but I could honestly talk about this for a while. I experience writer’s block when I doubt my knowledge on a subject especially. One good thing that came out of me acknowledging that specific reason for abandoning a topic led me to the idea that I could interview more people. If there’s a topic or event that can relate to the Texas State community it’s my duty to write about it, so why not get the Texas State or San Marcos community involved with the development of the blog. It also led me back to the time when I used to feel much more educated on certain subjects. In my AP English class in high school, my teacher assigned weekly readings to us. He asked for us to look up every word we didn’t know in the readings and to define it. There were times when I had to define 100 words. It made me learn though. At first, I thought you know I think I’d rather just hear Jon Stewart talk about this tonight at 10, or watch a short bipartisan video about it on YouTube, but you get so much more out of reading. Reading is a powerful tool to learn, and when you know a lot, it’s so much easier to write.

Another weakness of mine is comparing my work to others. Not only do I blog, but I screenwrite sometimes. When picking a location for a scene I completely hate what I wrote and think well what would Scorsese do, or Tarantino. Well it’s not my job to emulate all their ideas. Screenwriting is so exciting to me, and I learned I just have to be myself with it. I randomly just get ideas at 2am and have to write it down. I might grab a piece of paper from my nightstand, write a note on my phone or continue writing on my laptop. Living life is the best tool to screenwriting. If a screenplay isn’t adapted from a book, or someone’s biography, someone’s personal experiences had a lot to do with their inspiration. Luckily there’s a lot of living to do as a college student in San Marcos. I’m trying to soak as much in these last few semesters. Flannery O’Conner said, “Nothing needs to happen to a writer’s life after they are twenty, by then they’ve experienced more than enough to last their creative life.” I hope she’s right. I turn 20 in four months, so maybe I’ll be free of writer’s block forever by August 16th.

The thing writers benefit from having writer’s block is that once you acknowledge your weaknesses to writing, you eventually overcome them and become a more powerful, and just better writer. I hope to keep overcoming them, and to implement strategies to be the best. If I can spend the rest of my life writing, I know I did something right in life.

Featured image courtesy of Allison Johnson.