Advanced Poets Society Forum Writer's block

Writer's block

13 Years Ago

I know you will probably think I’m joking, but it has been a long time, since I have experienced writer’s block. Why? Because I am fascinated by many subjects. For example, I looked at a picture of Eads Bridge, in St. Louis. I read about the history of how it was built in the late 1800s, how many workers died as the result of working inside the pneumatic caissons that were filled with compressed air. When they emerged from work, they experienced an equivalent of “the bends” that scuba divers feel. When I thought about the Bridge it seemed like a place where four friends from different parts of the country would meet on Christmas Eve to drink a bottle of champagne. From that seed, grew the novel RAILS, which is about four people who are ending their careers as hobos, which began around the 1930s for each. The resulting book was 230 pages. I have been in the process of creating a book about each of the four, from their births till the mid 1950s. The second book is called Crossings, about the RAILS character Lina. I’m working on Wheels, which will be about the character Augustus who was born in Munich Germany in 1900. Two more will follow. To get out of writer’s block you need to come up with a simple idea that will illustrate the world, and the thoughts and perceptions about the way it works. This is one idea to get the mind clicking in a creative direction.