Daily Musing: Writer’s Block

Morning.

Despite my attempts to shake it off, I am sitting in a puddle of writer’s block this morning. Maybe it isn’t block, so much as an overflow of ideas and I can’t decide which ones make sense and which ones don’t. It’s an interesting thing to be writing about it though, oh irony.

I think perhaps a simple stream of consciousness might be good to free something like this up. Y’know, I used to do this exercise that my girlfriend recommended from a book she was reading, where I’d just write three pages with a pencil in a notebook, first thing each day. To get the creative juices flowing, to get out all the gunk and garbage floating around in my mind first thing in a crummy day. It was helpful for a while, and then I stopped, but perhaps I’ll do that again soon.

That’s kind of what I’m doing here. Just writing, not a super clear direction, but putting words on the virtual page. Getting something out there. Trying to be public and social. I’m surprised if you’re still with me this far. I guess it’s been coherent, just lacking focus. It feels like I can say hundreds of things, without really saying anything at all.

I don’t like to do that. I learned in college how to write really concise research papers, and it was terrific. Finally I had a teacher who would accept 2 pages of well written content over 20 pages of mediocre writing. So it’s been hard trying to unlearn that a little so that I can write a bit more, or more often, and try to say things.

I think this is a case of the Monday’s, and I usually write fairly coherently with a fair focus. I do get off track sometimes, but that’s part of why it’s interesting.

I’d like to try something at the end of the post, don’t let me forget.

I was trying before to think of a new Dungeons and Dragons subclass, or homebrew class I could write. I’ve got a few that I like the sound of, and have cool fantasies, but it seems there’s a decent homebrew out there for most things as it is. I don’t want to step on any toes, but at the same time, I should write and get my stuff out there.

I’ve been living in my current apartment two years now, and it feels strange to have been here for so long and done so little with it, but then again, it’s not a home, it’s not land, we can’t make big changes here, and I suppose we’re too poor or too afraid to try something vastly different.

I bet I could survive if I had to. I mean, I think I’d hope I could. That’s been really on my mind lately, the weight of my survival. I’d like to try it out I think, but perhaps since I’ve been focused on something like this so much, I haven’t really been focused on other stuff.

I feel a bit of serious flow developing, within my headspace, I’m zoned into the writing, and I can churn it out, and keep my ideas together. I’m gonna go write some rpg content, but before I do, I’ve been wondering if I should try to bring back choose-your-own-adventure stories, and wanted to try something here.

One of your window shutters snapping open wakes you suddenly, and a thin shaft of morning light shoots through your window, as you sharply exhale, you can ever so faintly see your breath in the cool mid-autumn air. You shuffle off the blankets and rise to close the shutter. You look around. You live in a small cabin you found in some thinned and cut forest to the north of the human capital. You forget why you came out here, to escape perhaps, but from what? You don’t remember, it feels like you’ve been asleep a long time.

Looking around your cabin, the stone fireplace on the north wall is only small embers glowing in the morning dim. You’re standing before your bed, on the south wall. To the west, is the shutter you just closed, to the east is the door to your cabin. At the foot of your bed is your washbasin. You splash cold water on your face to wake you up, and after a minute allowing the water to come to a rest, you take a look at yourself…

What do you see?

a) A male human, short shaggy brown hair, just beginning to sprout a few chin hairs.

b) A female elf, long unkempt dark brown hair, tied into a messy knot.

c) A male dwarf, long orange beard, and long orange hair, all braided in one way or another.

d) A female halfling, short black hair, piercing blue eyes.

Comment to pick a choice and I’ll post another paragraph or two with the most popular choice. Or don’t, and I won’t keep doing this, I just want to see if there’s any interest at all in CYOA anymore.