Norman Green

EMPTY PAGES

This business of confronting the empty page is an interesting problem. I have certainly had my troubles with writer’s block before. My longest dry spell was my first encounter with the phenomenon. I was halfway through the first draft of my first book, ‘Shooting Dr. Jack,’ and I ran dry. Suddenly I had nothing much to say. Days turned into weeks until an entire year had gone by and it was beginning to look like writing was just another one of those manic enthusiasms that grip me from time to time, and maybe it had run its course and departed. What got me out of that first one was an audiobook, ‘If You Want to Write,’ by Brenda Ueland. My wife got it for me, told me she wanted me to listen to it during my daily commute to and from work. Well, it worked, Brenda got me going, and I’ll always be grateful. Since that first time I have run into the problem again from time to time, but when it happens now I don’t get too squirrelly about it. For me, trying harder just makes things worse, but what works is imagination. I lie on my couch, close my eyes and just let my imagination roll. Actually I think it probably does that most of the time anyway, what I’m really doing is taking the time and trouble to pay attention. It seems to work for me. If you, like me, suffer from the affliction of a Puritan upbringing (what are you DOING!), it may take a little getting used to, but I know if I spend a couple afternoons on the couch I will come away with a starting point, and that is usually enough.

I am on a bit of a break from writing right now. It has been about a month. For a while I kidded myself that I was editing, but what I was really doing was admiring my own stuff, and that gets old in a hurry. The book in question is, at the moment, called ‘Benbow Street Shakedown.’ My agent has it, and I am trying not to think about what may or may not be going on there.

Also, it seems that late winter, early spring is a tough time for me to do any real writing, things get busy at my day job and I’m still trying to squeeze another ski trip in before it’s too late, although this year I might have to go a long way north to find any snow. Still, I think it’s time for me to start thinking about getting back on the horse. I think I’ll do it, block out a couple of afternoons, turn off my phones, and listen…

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