Things That Bang

Writers have tons of excuses not to write. Some are mundane and some are quite creative.

Writer's Block: This is the age old lame excuse that has been universally used since man scratched out a symbol on the cave walls. Some consider it a sign of laziness and others a genuine clogging of the 'voice'.

Domesticity: This is applicable for those who are in relationships with all the little strings attached. Its the daily grind that exhausts the creative spirit and leave behind a limp writer who begins to treat writing as just another chore and not a pleasurable activity.

Internet: The Internet has been a source of distraction for many writers. Writers can be heard grumbling that hours would fly by chatting, playing online games or surfing and they would lose the inclination to write.

PC Games: Here is another addiction that takes writers away from writing. They sit down with the intent to write but land up playing Zuma, Prince Of Persia, Witcher or some other latest godforsaken game. And heaven help them if they cannot go beyond a certain stage. The goal then is not writing but winning the stupid game not caring whether hours or even days are spent slaving over the laptop cussing and obsessing over the damn game.

Television : Writers like to live in worlds created by others. And some get addicted to television. With shows like - Mad Men, Dexter, Swingtown and the likes of True Blood and other variety of shows available that an be recorded with TVO the little time that people can take out for writing is sucked away by these shows.

Books: Shows end, movies finish within their allotted time but reading is a habitual distraction that most writers cannot deny. Being voracious readers most writers find themselves unable to tear themselves away from words written by others especially those which appeal to their senses.

Society: No man is an island, right? A writer who is trying is best not to write will throw himself at the world with passionate abandonment. He will meet all his friends he ignored for months together, invite his least likable relatives to visit and get extra chatty on the phone. From being the lonely wolf trudging the deserted wilderness he would transform himself to the social butterfly of the materialistic world.

Withdrawal From Nasty Habits : If a writer is trying to give up an addiction whether its substance abuse (some become alcoholics, some chain smokers) or simply going on a diet the melodrama that should have been part of the writer's storyline becomes his reality till he overcomes or at least put a temporary hold over his addiction.

Some even say that going cold turkey causes the writer's block. For such writers the road to self destruction for the sake of their work is predictable.

Lack of Incentive : Art for arts sake is a noble saying. But most writers have at some point of their lives suffered from doubt, discouragement and even a energy draining sort of listlessness that took away the joy from writing.

Lack Of Sex: Lack of sexual activity made George a genius in Seinfeld but there have been those who suffering such deprivation have been unable to get it out of their mind. And when sex or lack of it becomes an obsession the result is either erotica or it simply becomes an itch that demands surmounting before normal thought process returns;)

Excuses are always there but then there are genuine reasons as well which take people away from weaving stories for the world. Death, sickness, tragedies, accidents are the curses of living that either act as obstacles or set backs or permanently deprive the world of the talented scribe.