Migraine, Not Writer’s Block

After observing for a few years how my neuro thingy (aka migraine) affects my writing, I see that I hardly have anything called writer’s block. What may seem like writer’s block to an onlooker, carefully observing my hand movements on paper as if he has all the free time in the world, is in fact an outcome of various symptoms of the neuro thingy.

Brain fog is a primary factor in my inability to have fluidity in my thoughts and therefore, writing. If you can’t think properly, can you write properly? If you can’t think at all and your mind shoots blanks, can you write at all? If thinking itself is a struggle, will you not struggle a lot in trying to write even a simple poem barely taking five minutes of your precious time?

Now, let the prose transition into verse. Let the reading become more fluid. Let there be some much-needed respite. Let’s slant back and relax and take a poetic bite:

It’s Migraine,

Not writer’s block,
Which affects my ability to write.

On one hand,
Migraines keep me away from writing often.
On the other hand,
It helped me take up writing full-time.

It’s a good thing I turned my passion into a career.
Imagine taking up writing
Without being passionate about it

Just because you are unable to perform
In a traditional job or business.
Imagine, just imagine.

Then, along with migraine symptoms,
Writer’s block will keep you from writing.
In the process, you will get frustrated,

You will end up writing nothing at all.
Only the ones passionate about writing
Can do so no matter what it takes.

Because it takes your whole being,
Every bit of your soul.
Without tapping into the deepest corners of your experiences,

You can’t become a writer,
Let alone a good writer.
Real writing comes from

Real experiences,
Real emotions,
Real pain,
Real joy,
And real suffering.

Oh, really, you ask!
Yes, really, I say!

Simply part of the process

If one takes up an ambitious project, one that requires a lot of struggle to be finished, and if it’s creative like creative writing in the form of a novel or a collection of poems on a theme, it will take time and effort as the churning in the subconscious mind takes time. This is not some finance or accounting-related task that could be done as and when a person sits down at his workstation.

That’s why there is no such thing as writer’s block. It’s part of the process. Just like the growth in babies happens in spurts instead of on a continuous basis such that it can’t be measured on a daily basis. The same goes for any skill-building exercise. The same goes for writing creatively.

If it’s just the facts to be written down, there won’t be a need for the subconscious to kick in as it does for creative writing. Sit down and do it. That’s it.

What may be misleading the naysayers must be the duration. The duration to complete writing projects may come across as a sign of writer’s block to an outsider. Only an inexperienced soul can talk about this lag of time where writing happens in the subconscious as the commonly heard phrase — writer’s block.

Is it the same for other professions?

Well, I wonder if some accountant or finance guy gets a block and is unable to do his task… There can’t be blocks for them given they have to abide by protocols. That’s why their jobs seem so boring to me and from what I have heard from the ones with first-hand experience. It’s boring for them as well. Well, to many of them.

There are always exceptions everywhere. They may not openly discuss this in public. Remember, an onion is unlayered with enthusiasm only in private scenarios.

A different way of living

The funny thing about migraines affecting my writing is that the same migraines gave me an opportunity to write a lot. Otherwise, I would be in a job or a traditional business like my peers who believe me to be living a rocking lifestyle free of any responsibilities (since I don’t have a wife and children) and headaches (no job or real business to look after). I ask them, ‘Why don’t you get a taste of it?’