Suspension can be a good thing. Or it can be a bad thing.
I’m sure the kayakers pictured would have to agree it’s a bad thing. A very bad thing. All their well-laid plans for an invigorating cruise down a scenic river have ground to a halt. How will they deal with this unexpected challenge?
How will you deal with it when your current writing project stops dead in its tracks?
Your response to this dilemma when it arises—and it will inevitably arise at some point in your career—will have an enormous impact on your long term survival as a writer.
But let’s look at “suspension” in other ways.
If you’re a writer of fiction, “suspension of belief” is good. Your readers choose to accept the story as believable, no matter how absurd it seems in places, and can get caught up in the emotion and actions of the characters. You’ve captured their imaginations and they’re willing to overlook a plot hole or two.
But if you’re looking at another kind of suspension, sometimes identified as “writer’s block,” it’s usually not a good thing. Usually? Isn’t writer’s block always a bad thing? Maybe not.
If you’re able to take advantage of the down time and repurpose your writing time slot for other activities that advance your writing career, you’re in a good place. However, you may languish for days unable to write. To outline. To revise. To research publications. To eat. In that case it’s decidedly not a good thing. You don’t need me to tell you that.
Unfortunately, for most writers, that suspension of creativity is pretty much inevitable. Sooner or later, all authors are going to face a dry patch. What you do with it is pretty much up to you. Like our kayakers, you have several choices.
You can pack it in, abandon the kayak and go home. Or decide to tough it out. Maybe use it as a makeshift shelter. Or firewood. (Or, alternatively, smash it to bits.) You can sit and wait patiently for the next good rain. Or for some kind soul passing by who will help you over the hump.
If you’re the type who prefers taking things into your own hands, you can get out of the craft, get your feet wet, and push on to the next stretch of rapidly flowing water. As an author you’ll push forward until the words start flowing again.
The choice is yours. In writing, as in real life, a temporary suspension can force you to rethink your course of action. That, I would say, is a good thing.
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