On The Luxury of Writing
In school, I always began my essays with a quote because we were taught to “grab the reader’s attention” and I thought there was no better way than to use someone else’s words to express what the piece of writing was going to be about. Sometimes, it is only through someone else’s words that we’re able to articulate what we mean. Or it is through someone else’s words that we may see things in a new light. Perhaps it’s a quote from a book we’re reading or a saying from a movie we watched, but it’s a line that lingers long after the book has been closed or the movie has ended.
It was Anthony Bourdain that said, “Writing is a privilege and a luxury. Anybody who whines about writers block should be forced to clean squid all day.”
Yes, a quote about cleaning squid has been on my mind ever since I came across it, however, it’s this exact perception that has shifted the way I view my own writing. Writer’s block has always been an issue for me, where I’m stuck staring at a blank document and the cursor just keeps blinking as if it was mocking me, knowing I would eventually close the document in defeat. I used to believe that if an idea wasn’t flowing or nothing was coming up then I should abandon it and wait until a spark of inspiration hit. And that spark of inspiration was never in a hurry. I’d wait months for something to hit me out of the blue or long for a dream that I’d wake up in the middle of the night for to write down and start the next day.
And it never came.
It was only when I sat down and forced myself to write something was I able to get into a rhythm. Nothing ever happened when I was waiting around, because writing is just like everything else, it requires effort and work. Perhaps I never actually had writer’s block but a case of extreme procrastination. This procrastination certainly stems from my awareness of how difficult it is sometimes to get a thought across in an eloquent manner. Writing is a luxury, but it also requires you to think. That is why I think it’s so fascinating – delving deep into an idea and trying to carefully construct sentences in the midst of clutter in our minds. It’s easy to blurt out anything when you’re speaking to friends, but to write clearly and expressively demands patience and several editing stages. And if I’m being honest with myself, maybe I just didn’t want to be stuck in this cycle of writing and then re-writing. However, that’s where the privilege comes into play because having the ability to write means that I have the time and energy to do so and the equipment available. Thus, complaining about writer’s block seems almost comical when I have everything in front of me to be successful and all I have to do is push myself a little. It’s something that I’ve begun to constantly remind myself of. I’m lucky to be able to explore different ideas, thoughts, worlds, through my writing. I feel like I’m continuously learning about myself.
Still, I am only human and there are days where I cannot formulate coherent sentences no matter how hard I try. All that means is that I try again tomorrow, and I don’t allow the setback from the previous day to undermine my writing for the new day. I keep going because that’s what life is all about isn’t it? To keep trying, to do all that you can with the 24 hours in front of you, without haste or fear. The next time I find myself writing, when there is no light at all outside, and no sound except for the wind – I’m going to try and remind myself how lucky I am to have this moment of expression.