Especially as NaNoWriMo is here, we will quickly discuss Writer's Block - which is a myth.

There is no such thing as Writer's Block.

I'd like for you to remember this.

At any point in time, you can, for instance, pick up a pen, put it against a piece of paper and write a single word. Pick up your phone and tweet something. Anything, just write it. You have successfully broken Writer's Block.

Think about it that way. Take away your critical mind, tap into your subconscious and pure instinct. Just write a stream of consciousness. Write about the fact that you think you have writer's block. Write about the fact that you don't know what you can write next. Write. Just write. Tell yourself to write now. And you realize that there is no such thing as "Writer's Block". It is not actually a condition or a disease or an issue at all.

The real problems are here:

- Lack of concentration

- Lack of responsibility, serious intent

- Lack of a daily goals, schedule and quota

- Lack of confidence in skill

- Lack of confidence in instinct or the subconscious

- Lack of vision

- Lack of planning or research

- Lack of reading and reference

- Lack of fresh air?

- Lack of food?

- Lack of a warm coffee?

- Lack of _________

It has nothing to do with the actual writing, or your actual skill, or your actual content. It is all the factors surrounding it. So take heart in that at least. There is always an excuse, an external or internal factor that is causing you hesitation.

*

Here is a little "Mindbleed" I did a while ago in about 8 minutes 39 seconds, and had no idea what I wrote afterwards:

Sometimes it's just necessary to not think - sit in front of this glaring screen in strange hours in the morning, no time to even make coffee or pour a tea, and just bleed. Hemingway once said that, "just bleed". And probably a whole lot of other writers. A lot of writing for someone who's naturally inclined - maybe "talented" is something people would say to describe those writers - comes subconsciously like instinct. This is no doubt necessary, but perhaps most people don't ask why this happens. Why is it that artists are talented in one way, why are musicians talented in another, why do writers work that way?

Writing is like the art of recording the self onto paper. It's the most direct way, for the most part, there's no true need to re-interpret or reconstruct. It is just the conscious and the subconscious and the unconscious all converging like a flow of rivers into the ocean. This is the ocean of writing.

If you can write fast enough, the mind directly flows onto the page without even a single conscious thought about it, like I'm doing now. This is a remarkable and extraordinary feat if you think about it. In visual arts, you have to sit there, visualize what you're going to do with your paintbrush or your pencil or your tablet for that matter, and come up with the concept. Music is perhaps the same way, there is improvisation but the mind has to translate the feeling, the instinct, your skills, style and rhythms and so on into physical movements and operations, whether you are playing a piano, a guitar or moving your diaphragm and mouth to sing.

However, this is not the case with writing. It's possible to just bleed, at least for the first draft or a ramble like this one. But the question remains, how come it is possible for my mind, to bleed like that? It's not possible for every person, at least as instinct, and people will relate this to "talent". But fundamentally, the word for it shouldn't be talent. Talent will put labels on people and channel things into strict rigid boxes like cheap plastic packaging for action figures or metal shipment containers on a freighter. Talent takes on the connotation that it is only available to exclusive people and select groups. This is not quite true.

When it comes to bleeding, it comes from the conscious, subconscious and so on. But essentially, it is an out of body experience. You disconnect your mind with your body. While the mind resides in the body, it takes on physical mechanical functions, like as my fingers here are typing incessantly, typing up a storm, these are all like the workings of a machine. The mind might work while you close your eyes and block out the influences of the surroundings, or perhaps works better hungry or might feel sluggish when full. Maybe it's only when you have music that you can think. This is while the mind resides in the body.

Writing right now is different, my mind is not in my body no longer. I've placed it on a platter on my fingers that are doing the typing, and maybe am placing it onto the screen directly. Smearing my brains across the screen - pretty picture isn't that? But what I'm saying is, what I'm doing here, my mind is outside of me. That's how it can bleed, that's how "natural talent" comes about. When you're able to truly remove your mind and let your body simply become a conduit you do two things. First, the converging of the conscious, subconscious and unconscious happens because your mind isn't looking at itself inside a room with four walls, in the black cave of your skull, it's looking at everything from the outside with a certain aspect of objectivity. It can see all conscious, subconscious, unconscious levels of thought at the same time, while not truly thinking about it. It perceives, it sees, but doesn't think.

Thinking is what you do outside of writing. It is like I said, a mechanical process almost. You can really read up, research, reference literary greats, history, science, mythology, psychology, philosophy, all kinds of influences and inspiration that evokes in you some kind of intense passion and sudden eureka-moments, but these all have concrete substance to it. It is a conscious and hardy attempt at connecting the bridge between the mind to the greater vast landscape of the Spiritus Mundi (the land of the free World Spirit: the collective of human wisdom, spiritual or mythical realm, creative imagination, intrinsic archetypal form, metaphor and symbolism and so on). These attempts won't go very far. These provide the premise and foundations, firepower and cannon fodder, the potential energy needed for the move, but it doesn't actually move. The flow and the bridge is only half constructed. The better constructed it is, the easier it will be, but the bridge doesn't need to be fully constructed. It's when you take your mind out of your body, when it can connect naturally to this realm and things pass from one end to the other.

Of course, this isn't to say you don't need actual literary skill. The skill comes hand in hand, and becomes part of the conduit, just like your body, your fingers that type, your hand that writes, and your thought-foundation you have built as mentioned before. These things become the pipe through which the current passes. The more well-developed these elements are, the stronger the result. Our development of our body, whether it is physical training and maintaining a healthy body, or actual knowledge, skill and practice is the only thing we can focus on intentionally. But the content and the flow, yes, those are from the conscious, subconscious, unconscious in objectivity, propelled by a force from the Spiritus Mundi.

Now bleeding from the out of body mind considered as "natural talent" is an important element, but when one and two come together, that is a masterpiece. The power of truly mastering the self by flowing through the pipe you've so carefully constructed and developed. And then by having knobs and switches on which you can control the throttle and the pressure of each nozzle, organizing subconscious things in an utterly conscious way. When the land of the Collective Spirit and the physical world, the mind-talent and the physical body meet, it's not purely bleeding nor is it purely academic, not pure talent nor pure skill, not pure imagination nor pure arithmetic, but it becomes creative intellectual work, which is the highest form of human capability and intelligence. Through this collision, you will achieve the greatest exhilaration and triumph, the greatest sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

*

These are the things I usually say to mentor writers and students.

1. Find your self. Writing is self-discovery, discovering what are your deepest convictions, your inner message, your values, your passions, your fears, all of which, even when it's not conscious to you, will come out subconsciously in your writing.

2. Read, study, research a lot. Expand your intellectual capacity and knowledge. A wide girth of material. Oscar Wilde once asked his teacher why he had books about economy and so on on his table. Anything that pertains to humanity and human beings relates to literature. I study literature and the major in fact is a cumulative experience of all of history, different schools of philosophical thought, movement of the arts, social commentary, the look into the human condition and the development of the intellectual mind.... and onwards. Everything is interconnected. Literature is the pinnacle of the world. It is the language that we speak, the language we think in, a language entire societies and civilizations are built on. Read and research and study not only fiction, but non-fiction of all subjects. Expand your horizons and material from which you draw

3. Find solitude and quiet. Some place that inspires you or calms you. Some place comfortable. Everyone has their own places. Meditate on your own soul, your own self. Empty your mind and seek an inner peace and relaxation.

4. Consciously think alot. Plan your work, while you're not writing or needing meditation. Live your work, and think through the frame of your project, so that all interactions in life, and every moment of your daily life begins to take on new meaning and a new perspective. Your observation skills and small details will begin to stick out and relate themselves intricately with your work.

5. Before writing, examine, meditate on and study your favourite author or the author that is closest to your style. I read a few pages of Murakami to soak in his words, his mood, and so on. It sets me into the mood of writing and being in the moment, and also because his style is so close to mine, and his style is a more refined version of mine, it's something I aspire to as well, it is like being in harmony with myself.

6. When you write, don't think. All that you've researched, meditated on, thought of and planned consciously, is the foundation and the pool from which you draw. Let it bleed subconsciously when you write. Everything comes into play and will converge into powerful words through your finger tips.

7. Treat it as your full time job and just write. There are no such things as writer's blocks. There are moments of down time and lack of motivation or inspiration, but it is just that. There are many factors that might cause a lapse. Physical fatigue, stress from other responsibilities, emotional tension with other people, being in one place or indoors for too long, or having exhausted your mind too much already, etc, there are all kinds of factors. Every aspect of life relates. But it's exactly that! It has nothing to do with your ability to write, your skills, your inspiration or not. There are things that just drain you or takes away from your creative spirit. That's fine, everyone goes through that. But as such, I've never had an issue with writing. I sit down and focus, push aside everything else, and force myself to write. Write a word, a few sentences, eventually a paragraph, eventually thousands of words. I set a goal, and had a quota of at least 1000 words per day and often surpassed that, because I concentrated and made it happen. Conscious perseverance and determination. It doesn't need to be great words as you can edit after. Force yourself to produce, as if you have an editor waiting for your piece. It is your duty and your responsibility

8. But writers need "greening" too. If need be, switch gears. You are not bound to one project. Many times there may be many ideas but no way to express it coherently. I've personally started countless stories most of which reaching 20,000 words still have never been finished. This happens and is entirely normal. Try changing the form, perhaps short stories, poetry, or even a blog post may help keep the writing muscles intact and flowing. Perhaps "greening" in the form of a walk in the park for fresh air, looking out a window during a rain storm, perhaps listening music to get your blood pumping, or classical music to engage the subconscious and the metaphysical or spiritual. Maybe you need a quite murmurs of a coffee shop, or an old grand library, or a bus ride around town. Often, I realizeed I produce the most in the quiet lethargic contemplative season of winter, and am most physically active and restless in the summer. What are the times of the day where you are most inspired and in tune with your inner world? Create an environment in which you can "green" or grow and nurture your writing spirit.

9. Develop your skills outside of your writing time. Why we worry about not creating quality writing or being in the zone is because we lack confidence in our base skill. We should work towards the point where no matter what state we are in, how tired, how unmotivated, etc, any crude improvisation that we write is still good. I think through years of practice and close observation and study, my writing has grown to the point where I am somewhat confident. No matter what state I am, when I force myself to write, it will be alright. In fact, I would now weave multiple layers of meaning and depth automatically, instinctively, without blinking an eye. You can always edit after anyway. But yes, the training doesn't happen only when you really want to write. It needs to come from all the aspects I've mentioned above, and your writing skill should be improved to that point, and then when you need to write, it is a subconscious act where you aren't held back. It's like singing. Vocal techniques should be good enough that the singer can perform well at any time of the day, with a large enough vocal range that there is no issue, even if they're unwell or slightly ill, even if they are full or starving, on hot days and on cold days, when the room acoustics are horrible or there are no monitors to hear themselves, when the instruments are too loud and when its too quiet. I am a singer so I realize there's so many factors that we must overcome. We must aim to be beyond these factors, so that in the worst situation we perform well enough to be professional.

10. Writing like all art, is more than a scientific act. It is about the self, seeking the optimum and highest potential of our capability and being in tune with the self, and the entire process and journey of life.

More to come.