Now, as all of you have probably observed, my posts have been growing further and further apart as the bane of the education system saps me of creativity and vivid thinking.

In less dramatic terms, Year 10 sucks, Social Sciences are the next bunch of subjects I’m going to throw a party for when I say goodbye and English teachers need to stop saying “there are no wrong answers” when my practice papers say otherwise…

Be that as it will, something strange did happen. After failing a Geography exam, I spent two whole seconds grieving the non-existent loss of cartographic talent then proceeded to scream in utter joy and hysterically laugh, the realisation that this was one of the last Social Sciences exams I’ll ever fail hitting me in full force.

T-minus 7 months…the year’s going so quickly again!

Anyways, back to the point. I’m rambling.

So, after being utterly stripped off my imaginative mind as I attempted to memorise monetary policies(if the economy’s failing, that’s meant to be the government’s problem, is it not? Why must I do this when my career interests lie in medicine…), I was struck with a recurrent idea, one I did write about when I was 10, young, unscarred and free.

You know that moment when you sit down, ready to unleash your inner literary genius and your brain just…farts. It goes, “Nope, not today. Good luck out there, my role is in fact to make your life harder than it already is”. Instead, you get regaled with tales of talking meteors and T-Rexes covering themselves in mud and wonder why you’re writing a script on drug addiction for the purpose of a Year 7 audience…

Then you start thinking about the fact that Cookie Run Kingdom should’ve been downloaded on your laptop by now and that you have two days until you’ve got to complete an entire planning sheet for Commerce.

So, you’re stuck in this vacuum of internalised panic and that idea that might’ve been lurking somewhere in the depths of your cookie-riddled mind just whooshes away.

See, it can start with hope- perhaps a flash of inspiration during the Math class you’re definitely paying attention in(I see you, people doodling in notebooks and laughing at parabolas, or reading Webtoons…). You think, “this is it! I’m going to win a Pulitzer Prize now!”, and then you grab your laptop, journal, abused Math book(phone…? Off and Away, y’all), and that idea, once again, disappears into the oblivion of the blank screen.

The blank screen.

The…

Blank…

Screen…

I was half contemplating filling a whole two pages with those three words.

It’s funny how I have the inspiration to write about writer’s block but not be unblocked myself…

Anyways!

Suddenly, that half-finished jigsaw puzzle, the teacup you found in the bathroom and even doing Math HW seems far more appealing then addressing that void of creativity.

Worst part? When inspiration finally strikes, it’s at midnight, during a shower, or in the middle of an English test where you look at your writing and go, “Oh, wait, this actually sounds cool…”. You scribble it down on your arm, a piece of paper, or mentally store it away, but then the next day you’re up and you go “What bananas? Swords and bananas and that bunch of bananas I was supposed to be buying from Coles under the guise of a healthy diet but ended up bringing a 3L tub of mousse instead? WHAT BANANAS?” No more Pulitzer Prize, you deranged madwoman.

Take a break?

Leads to procrastination.

Listen to music?

Karaoke sessions which mainly involve screaming with Em.

Journal?

ARE YOU CRAZY THAT’S LITERALLY WHAT I CANNOT SEEM TO DO.

Or one that’s definitely worked is stare at that bowl of ramen, look back at your laptop, and choose the ramen instead.

These techniques may be helpful for other people out there, but definitely not the average person sitting in front of that taunting screen, wishing on a shooting star for a single bolt of inspiration.

Or like me, you just end up writing about writer’s block instead. It’s oddly cathartic and your frustration MIGHT just turn into creative genius.

So, what d’you say? I’ve been utterly unhelpful for the entirety of this post, because truth be told, I have NO idea on the ways in which you could possibly conquer this demon.

Maybe you could give me suggestions?

And we reclaim our creativity one messy draft at a time…

Or go for that ramen. I say ramen.

Signing off…