Writer’s Block and Inspiration

As an academic writer myself, one of my main professional goals is to produce and publish academic papers based on my research in languages and linguistics. In my daily professional/academic life, I do a lot of reading, which forms a major part in my fact-finding mission and a major source of my academic inspiration. Indeed, for all that I love active forms of working, I fully recognise that passive modes of studying take precedence over active ones, since there can be no active manipulation of knowledge if one does not already possess the knowledge (obvs), and the only way to gain the necessary knowledge for one’s research and intellectual endeavours is to read, read, and read. It is not always easy to feel inspired, however, and it is impossible to always feel inspired, and we must have all faced what is commonly known as Writer’s Block, namely times when we feel totally uninspired and utterly bereft of ideas. This is indeed a terrible feeling, the desperate state of intellectual thirst and hunger in which we feel helplessly in need of intellectual nourishment and may even end up contemplating intellectual suicide i.e. give up on one’s work altogether. One would wish that there was some kind of magic potion that one could take in order to keep one’s ideas flowing infinitely, like the way drugadicts take drugs to fulfil their need for ecstasy and pleasure, but alas such potion does not exist, as far as I know. I know of no secret for conquering Writer’s Blocks, but in my experience of doing research, I have discovered that ideas often come to me unexpectedly, especially good ones. Intellectual activities are confined to the limits of one’s mind, and the passive mode of research, namely reading and bibliographical searches, is meant to expand the limits of one’s knowledge in one’s quest of doing original and innovative work. It is hence essential and necessary to go beyond what one already knows, though this is easier said than done since what is beyond one’s knowledge is clearly unknown. There is no way, no matter how intelligent and creative one is, to be able to anticipate and foresee what one does not know, and it is necessary to explore beyond one’s comfort zone (i.e. one’s familiar territory which exists within the bounds of one’s knowledge) and venture into the unknown. This, in my humble opinion, is the main problem to one’s life as a researcher, namely dealing with one’s fear of delving into unknown territory and moving forward even when there is so much uncertainty and one does not already know all the answers. The key, therefore, is to keep going, however slowly and arduously, and the passive mode of doing research can often (always) yield pleasant surprises, especially when you least expect them. Don’t give up.