Writing is like staring into the blank screen of a television. You know that if you can figure out how to turn on the television, sounds and images will fill the screen. First, you have to locate an outlet, or an idea. This has been the most excruciating step for me to take in writing this essay.
I searched and searched, but found nothing but blank, empty, dull walls that meant nothing to me. I sat in my apartment and looked around the room in vain for some source of inspiration. This resulted in nothing but frustration and anger at my inability to write. My eyes traveled time and time again back to the huge, blank TV screen, which is useless, considering I don't have cable. Finally, it hit me. This was the perfect way to describe my difficulty in writing.
Now that I had found my outlet, I needed to find the missing cord: what connects this television metaphor to my writing. I began to map the way a television works onto the way my writing process works. Once I connected these two very different topics, I had turned on my idea. The idea came to life immediately. .
I began thinking about how we often take things, or people, for granted until we lose them. For instance, I got dirty playing outside once when I was little. When I returned home, I was told that our pipes were frozen. I cried because I was cold and dirty. The thought that I wouldn't be able to wash up when I got home never crossed my mind. Not being able to write is much like this situation in the sense that your mind freezes up. Relief is great when that block of ice finally thaws.
I guess that television isn't as useless as it seemed, for it acted as a torch to fire up my brain and melt the ice that served as my writer's block. Now I"m flipping through the channels of my mind, conjuring up images, phrases, sounds, and feelings. The drama that was acted out throughout this past week was horrendous. .
An inability to write is a true tragedy.
