Blocked or Unmotivated?

For writers, like myself, whom typically can spit out anything and call it a day; the feeling of being extremely unmotivated feels like what others deem to be “writer’s block.” However, that is in fact not the case. We have a different way of going about the writing process and when the process we know and love so well doesn’t operate on it’s normal axes, we feel “stuck.” “Stuck” my friends, is what I was for the past few weeks. I just wasn’t motivated to write about anything. With classes, assignments, and work; I just wasn’t moved to write. Each time I sat down, I just stared at the screen. I had a clue as to what I wanted to write about, I just couldn’t write.

If you use Google, writer’s block is described to be “the condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing.” Yet, being unmotivated is the lack of enthusiasm for something. To put that in writing terms, writer’s block is having no topic, while being unmotivated is having a topic with no energy to write it. In other words, writer’s block is like having pencil and paper, with no words. While lack of motivation is like having pencil, paper, and words, with an addition of paralysis.

Not only does the idea of writing when you don’t want to write affects your ability to write, so does having guidelines. For writers, like myself, our writing process consist of write whatever comes to mind. Simple! You add details, subtract gaps, and exaggerate. Simple! However, when we have “x + y = x – y” we look at it and go the other way because we are writers, not mathematicians. Yet, when the equation we avoid is an assignment, we wait. The waiting game I speak of is what others call procrastination. Procrastination to lack of motivation is like fuel to a flame. I know it’s cliché, but it’s the truth; one only makes the other worse. I’m not going to get into the procrastination ordeal, that’s a rant waiting to happen. However, I can say that procrastinating can be a bit helpful. In advance, I’m not saying you should procrastinate. Merely stating that it can be a bit beneficial. For myself, the pressure of beating the deadline does motivate me to get started. It’s like time forces you to squeeze the little bit of energy you have out, but replaces it with enough energy to finish. I say “enough” because after I finish a piece that I’ve procrastinated on, I head straight to bed. Well, I have my bed in mind. In most cases, whenever I finish I have to do another assignment, go to class, or work.

I may be so tired once finished with a piece because I do this thing where I do everything that I have in mind first. For instance, if I have a song stuck in my head, I decide to dance or sing to it. I pretty much get anything that I find interesting out of the way before I sit down so I won’t think about it. In most cases, whatever I have on my mind tend to drive the piece I write. For example, there was a song stuck in my head, so I used its chorus as core for a poem. However, sometimes that still doesn’t help the lack of motivation. This is where I stare at my laptop, lay on the floor, and walk around my room. Then I force myself to start typing again, usually nonsense. However, somehow I will write something that gets the juices flowing. Depending on what I’ve typed I’ll scrap half, remove everything but one line, or just continue to write. It’s very unconventional, but that’s how I get through being unmotivated.