As a member of the Gestalt Media team I’ve been asked to write about a common problem that writers face, the dreaded Writer’s Block.

            Being ever the compliant team member, I am eager to offer my sage advice.

            So, off we go.

            That’s right.

            How I, David Allen Voyles, deal with that huge monster, one that’s challenged everyone from Homer to Hemingway, the blank page.

            Yep. Ready to start.

            Diving in.

            Right now.

            I got nothing.

            In all fairness, I don’t think I’ve ever suffered from a true case of writer’s block.

            Not because I’m so good. It’s probably because I’ve only been writing “seriously” since…well, what time is it? And when you don’t HAVE to write, the thoughts come much more easily.

            I’m guessing that the pressure of absolutely having to come up with something on a strict deadline day after day, week after week, year after year could be really daunting. And when the well temporarily goes dry, there’s no one to crack the whip and tell you to get back to work. On top of that, a whole universe of welcome distractions–memes, news, videos–is just a click away.

            But there is one thing I’ve done over the years (thirty years, to be precise, my teaching career) that has helped me with at least always having something to write about when I am ready to write. And that is to write down those weird story ideas that seem to come out of nowhere as soon as they hit you. Write ’em on anything handy–a napkin, a memo, that kid’s homework.

            Don’t worry about having the perfect, leather-bound notebook to record them in. I can’t tell you how many of those really cool writing journals I have, and you can open each of them to find nothing but blank pages. They’re just too intimidating to write in. I evaluate every possible entry to determine if it’s worthy enough for the journal and end up discarding it. Who knows how many great ideas I’ve lost for that reason!

            And if I did actually put my disjointed, odd snippets of thoughts into such a journal, what would future scholars think years after my death, if while searching my records for lost masterpieces–stop snickering, it could happen–they find a beautifully bound book, open it, and read, “Humorous discussion (w/Mary? about Mary?) about breasts.”

            That’s an actual quote I just found written on a page torn from a notepad, no telling how many years ago, shoved into one of my covered journals. I have no idea about the context or what the story idea was. Apparently something about an autistic man named Robert who lived with his elderly parents and interacted most often with a pair of abandoned bear cubs.

            Don’t ask me. I don’t know.

            But back to the point. I never would have even made the entry if I had had to enter it into a beautifully bound book. Just record thoughts on anything and put them in a place with other ideas so you can review them when you do sit down to write. Over time, you will have some incredible ideas, wonderful surprises, that you’ve totally forgotten about.

            Well, as you can tell I likely have hundreds—thousands–of strategies to beat writer’s block. But as usual I digress, and I’ve written too much, so you’ll just have to settle for this one. I’m sure the other GM writers will take up my slack and offer some actual, helpful tips.

            Besides, I’ve got to get back to this tale about Robert and the bears and remember that funny story about breasts.