Beginnings are usually intimidating – in life and in the world of writing. When it comes to writing, the blankness of the screen or page can visually impress upon you that you are lacking – lacking words, lacking foresight into the nature of the outcome, lacking the gumption to even begin.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve started writing the very first piece for my new book. During this time, I have encountered every day that punishing sense of lack. How to begin? How to find a way in? The spatial concept of ‘in-ness’ seems appropriate here. It can feel to me as if I am required to penetrate through something so densely intimidating that I can only imagine it as three-dimensional. I shall imagine writer’s block as literally a block, then.
In reality, there are many ways in. And, in my case, one of my ways in involved returning to what seems like a native vocabulary for me as an artist: popular culture. This clip among others helped:
Sophia’s Picasso Story
Sophia tells a story about her affair with Pablo Picasso. She’s hilarious!
