Tackling the Dreaded Block

Writer’s block can have a devastating effect on those of us who write for a career, and those who write for pleasure, finding it a release from the daily grind of modern life. Like many of us, I have several stories gestating in my head at any given moment, so selecting a character from the many chatting amongst themselves, awaiting selection, should see to it that I’m never short of inspiration – right? Well, not really. At least, not all of the time, for there are occasions when creative motivation withers … when the river runs dry and there’s nothing among the debris left behind that stirs my imagination into producing anything other than a few scraps of material that rarely fit the bill.

If you’re currently suffering the same fate, please don’t think that you’re alone, for virtually every writer – professionally or otherwise – who I’ve spoken to about this has experienced the soul-crushing reality of being unable to find the right words from the uninspiring rubble on offer at that time. We sit behind the wheel of that bloody car we thought we knew so well, but it suddenly feels alien to us, and when turning the ignition, it splutters into some sort of action, only to stall moments later, stubbornly refusing to burst into life and take us to where we want to go. And it may continue to sit in the driveway for far longer than we could possibly have imagined.

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When a frustration becomes a solution

Everyone has their ‘thing’.

It’s that frustration when you know how something should be done, but you see people doing it wrong. Why don’t they get it? What’s stopping them from understanding where they’re going off track?

When I worked in marketing many years ago, my bugbear used to be seeing businesses advertising the things their customers didn’t really care about, and neglecting what they did. My husband grew used to me muttering to myself as we walked past our corner cafe. This had a sign outside pronouncing their ‘hot and cold food’ offering, rather than their friendly service and delicious pies. 

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Why Our Stories Need to be Written

The wonderful writer Philip Pullman once said, ‘After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.’ I believe he’s right. There’s a primal urge deep inside each of us to express all that we have seen, done, felt and been. In other words, to tell our stories.

Writing a memoir isn’t something we do because we think we’re important or that the life we have led has any special significance, or even because it’s something we fancy doing for fun. It’s something we do because we must.

Another great writer, Maya Angelou, put it this way: ‘There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.’ A memoir is more than a creative work, a legacy or a form of expression. It’s a tangible affirmation that says, ‘I have been here, and this was my experience.’

Once it is written, others may make of it what they will. The wonder of a book is that it conveys something different to each of us, and we can never know what it will mean to someone else. But whatever others make of it once it is out in the world, for the author the memoir is infinitely precious.

The imperative to express ourselves through the written word doesn’t mean that writing a memoir is easy. Far from it; for most people it’s quite the opposite. Writing a book involves not just the discipline of regular application and the challenge of getting the words down in a sequence that makes sense, but the effort of remembering all that we want to say.

Memory works in strange ways.

It can be choosy and selective. It can jump around between years, events, people and places and it can play games with us. We hang onto some recollections and forget others. We imbue some with huge significance and downplay others. We remember an event in detail and are surprised when someone else who was there remembers it quite differently.

For all these reasons, writing a memoir is an extraordinary, complicated, often very emotional, experience. It can be cathartic, enriching and hugely satisfying. It can bring resolution and peace of mind. But it can also be like trying to tie down a butterfly; each time you think you have got to the heart of the story there is more, often seemingly just beyond reach.

This is where working with a ghostwriter helps. As you delve to rediscover the detail of the joyous, the painful, the mundane and the extraordinary, we gently prod and encourage, asking the questions that encourage you to examine and to dig deep through layers of recollection, while smoothing out inconsistencies and turning a wealth of assorted and disparate memories into a coherent, flowing whole.

Memory can be like a length of fabric that has been stored away for a long time. Some sections are intact and robust; others are frail and full of holes. The challenge is how to gently repair the fragmented sections and to connect all the parts to create a patchwork which is a thing of beauty that brings joy.