Like running into a wall.

The process of writing is different for every writer. What inspires one person might be a hindrance for another. Some may like quiet while others may think better with white noise. Some may be highly organized, filtering everything through an outline before constructing a draft, while others never have any real "drafts," but rather a constantly evolving work in progress until an acceptable end is achieved. (<--- me)

I think, though, there are some aspects of being a writer that all workers in the profession share. The phenomenon commonly known as "writer's block" is one of them.

Today, I came across an amusing example of how I deal with writer's block when it invades my process.

I needed to reference an old document which I no longer had saved on my computer, so I pulled out my brother's external hard drive which he so graciously lets me share. I quickly found the document, and began browsing through it. When I came to the bottom, I laughed out loud at what I found:

"Writer's block is like running into a blocked Platform 9 ¾. Like wandering into darkness. Like a strait jacket around the brain. Like a chalkboard eraser to the mind."

I could think of nothing related to the task at hand to write, so I wrote about the only thing I could think of: how I couldn't think of anything to write. I could publish volumes on that subject.

What amuses me most is not that I wrote that, but that I saved it. I usually erase things like that as soon as I type them. Maybe I subconsciously knew that a year later, on a quiet February evening, I would appreciate the laugh.