Well, this is awkward...

It is awkward. It's that awkward second post, but it's not like I wasn't expecting this. Writing is awkward. A few friends of mine have tried their hand at journals, short stories and the like, and they all say the same thing - that they have started, blazed out a few paragraphs, and then hit a wall. The mind goes blank, that initial well of ideas suddenly seems bone dry and what they have written is deleted or thrown away. Maybe you can relate, I know I can, and right now I am at my wall. My blog-wall, or 'blall' in internet-speak (or at least it should be).

Benjamin Franklin once said, "There is nothing to fear but fear itself." Well, (and this may be quite a dubious link, but bear with me) there nothing better for getting over The Wall than writing about The Wall itself (links don't come much more dubious but as repeatedly mentioned I am at The Wall so cut me some slack).

There is no easy way around The Wall, and The Wall can't be climbed. It has to be broken through. It is often said that near the end of a marathon, runners will hit The Wall. Just they have to try to forget their physical pain and keep on running, a would-be writer has to just swallow their pride and keep on writing. And this is just what I am doing, though I feel more like Simon Pegg's character in Run Fatboy Run than a Kenyan world champion.

That notion of 'swallowing your pride' raises another issue for wannabe writers. When you write something, you have an audience in mind. It's not difficult to keep a diary or a journal just for yourself to look back on, but when you begin to write, for instance, a blog, you intend it to be read. That is a whole other thing. It's hard to put yourself out there. No matter how much you might tell yourself you are impervious to criticism, if your words are meant to be read, the opinions of the people who read them matter. Especially if you have a direct intended audience (which, thankfully, I don't).

Now, I'm not asking whoever reads this to go easy on me. I like to think I can take the majority of anything thrown at me on the chin. But if for most writers the sudden dearth of ideas make up The Wall, then crippling insecurites are most certainly the foundations. I imagine the feeling just before hitting enter and putting up a blog post is something similar to a singer-songwriter just about to test a new song on an audience. Here goes nothing.