WRITER'S BLOCK: CURIOSITY

It seems that I am coming to a new place in my writing as a result of the passing my Nell.   Nor did I seek it out.  It just "happened."

Specifically, I find myself wanting to talk to you about the role of curiosity in writing.  Of course all of us who write, or want to write, know that we are often driven by psychological factors.  For example, we may feel we have something we are compelled to say, or we feel that we must write for some emotional reason, or we get paid to write (our choice of careers) and must therefore write to deadline.

In this blog whose focus is on writer's block, it seems valuable at this point, to point to the possible role of curiosity, which is a positive motivation.  The author of Curious?: Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life
, Todd Kashdan, frequently focuses on guiding people to pay attention to what energizes them as a way to deal with negative emotion, in particular anxiety.

Is there any doubt that we experience writer's block as a negative experience?  Don't we frequently talk about overcoming it?  But, Todd Kashdan suggests going where the energy is positive and let the anxiety go up and down as it will.  And, he says that typically what fuels us are our values.

When I recommend, as I often do, "just write," I'm presupposing that you will become interested in the process of writing.  This comes from years of my own experience as well as my experience of coaching writers and wannabe writers.

Now, I'd like to suggest that we enter into our writing — whatever we write — with an attitude of curiosity about what we will find there.  And further, that we look for the "gems" in our writing.  No one but ourselves needs to see or believe in the gems.  A gem is simply anything that we value about what we write.

For today, my gem is that I have discovered the concept a a gem in our writing and that I've shared with you what I perceive as the wonder of curiosity.  I hope you embrace it in your writing.