The sun came out and all is right in this snowy end of the world. Now it's time to chip away at the wall some more. Writers have various names for writer's block. I call it the wall because that's how it feels and looks to me when I am right upon it. Hitting the wall for runners and cyclists has a bit of different meaning. I did a story on long distance runners for a national magazine a long time ago, specifically marathoners, and they loved to talk about hitting the wall when they were almost at the end of their races. Hitting the wall is apparently caused by the depletion of glycogen in the runner's body, and results in extreme fatigue and feeling absolutely spent.
Hitting the wall for this writer has nothing to do with glycogen. It's not as if I am writing feverishly for hours and then all of a sudden, I can barely move my fingers. No, hitting the wall happens right out of the starting gate. It's facing the monumental, seemingly overwhelming task of having to write something and automatically giving up. I suspect that writers could do well to adopt some of the discipline of marathoners. At least then, we could get out of our own way.
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