“… art is work… you can love what you do, but in order to perfect it, it has to be worked at.” – dimitrireyespoet.com
As a middle schooler I didn’t know how cool it was to actually BE an artist...
Teachers told me I wrote well, I had a pretty good vocabulary, and I breezed by much of my schoolwork, but I didn’t pay attention to the freedom of art. Maybe because it was sanctioned within the confines of an institution or maybe it’s because I had better ways I could spend my time— like catching Pokemon on my GameBoy Advance or “researching” music on Limewire. Regardless of the reason, I missed fully enjoying art class with a gem of a teacher that was Mr. Richardson; with him we made a mosaic of the school, learned perspectives, and even made our own cameras.
It wasn’t until I was in college with a particularly interesting job that I found out how great he actually was. My first taste of being a participant in arts organizing was being hired as a Project Liaison for a winter art installation which essentially meant that I was the go-to between the artists and the art project administrators. This included over 10 schools in the city of Newark that had arts programs that were participating, one of them including Mr. Richardson’s. Since my graduating middle school, Mr. Richardson had secured a teaching gig at the premier arts high school in my city and it was so nice to see him teach as an adult. The way he spoke about art was different than what I remembered. Suddenly I was able to see his passion for art and how he embodied it through the effortlessness of his dialogue.
Then while he and I were bouncing off questions from the students, one of them expressed their concerns of not getting their piece done because of artist block. Now, while I had a prepared “give it the good ol’ college try!” lecture ready, he had another one up his cable knit-sweatered sleeve. He began to encourage his students with some tough love. He mentioned that art is work. That you can love what you do, but in order to perfect it, it has to be worked at. And as an emerging “emerging poet” at the time, I needed to hear that, so now I’m telling you—
Writer’s block DOESN’T EXIST. It’s something that can be worked through. If you are feeling a little dry of creativity, you need to do things that will inspire you.
1) Read Poetry
2) Read Nonfiction, Fiction, Comics, How-To Books, and Anything Else That Piques Your Interest
3) Watch a Movie and Think About the Plot
4) Enjoy Existing, by Yourself or with Others
5) Talk to People and Enjoy Someone Else's Company
Also, writer’s block DOESN’T EXIST if you decide to change your mindset.
If you put yourself on a writing schedule it becomes easier to fall into a period where you’d lack inspiration. In my experience, this usually comes about when one falls out of practice.
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