PROCEEDINGS & PAPERS
“Harley Quinn’s Tattoos and Other Stories of Women with Ink”, Wales and the World workshop (following ‘Harley Quinn’s Tattoos and Other Stories of Women with Ink‘ lecture by Dr. Sarah Gamble), Swansea University, Wales, UK, 2021.
“The Blank Page as Alien: Overcoming Writer’s Block, the Psyche Monster in the House, to Cultivate Writing Flow,” presented at College of Arts and Humanities 2020 Research Conference, Swansea University, Wales, UK, 2020.
COAH Postgraduate Research Conference 2020
Taliesin, Swansea University: 17 – 18 September 2020
The Blank Page as Alien: Overcoming Writer’s Block, the Psyche Monster in the House, to Cultivate Writing Flow
Abstract: Writer’s block is commonly described as a fear of the blank page, which leads to procrastination and even project abandonment. In contrast, this paper postulates that actual blank page dread – a phobia of paper with nothing written upon it – is comparatively rare. I propose that writing resistance is a primitive instinctive reaction to what narrative structure theorist Blake Snyder, author of Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need (2005), defined as the Monster in the House (MITH). The MITH is the horrific villain, often a creature, in many science fiction or horror films. What the writer with resistance to writing is facing is an inner or Metaphorical Monster in the House (M-MITH). This debilitating M-MITH must be integrated into the self akin to C. G. Jung’s access and integration of shadow into consciousness by the ego. Unresolved creative crises, including perfectionism, or material that the artistic personality is not in touch with, can inhibit writerly voice and self-expression. This paper explores the relationship between writing resistance and writing flow, arguing that literary individuation requires a union of the paralyzing and generative psyche opposites. Practice-based self-inquiry tools, I submit, can be used to identify personal M-MITH writer’s blocks vis-a-vis the blank page and, combined with techniques to Access | Process | Release (APR) the shadow material, facilitate a return to the highly pleasurable writing flow state. Relevant quotations and images from the MITH science fiction film Aliens (1986), directed by James Cameron, illustrate these psychological and writerly concepts.
Keywords: writing flow, writer’s block, creative practice, creative blocks, psyche, creativity
“Mars or Bust: How Science Fiction Films Will Promote Mars Colonization Reality,” presented at Mars & the Space Revolution: The 21st Annual International Mars Society Convention, Pasadena, CA, 17-20 October 2018.
“Total Recall and the Heroine’s Journey: Accessing Memory to Rewrite Personal Narrative and Cultivate Creative Voice,” presented at the College of Arts and Humanities 2018 Research Conference, Swansea University, Wales, UK, 2018.
INVITED LECTURES & PRESENTATIONS
Screenwriting, FUSION City & County of Swansea, Dylan Thomas Centre & Swansea University, 2019-2020
Screenwriting from Both Sides of the Brain, Scriptwriter’s Network, CBS Radford Lot, Los Angeles, CA, 2006
Break through Writer’s Block, CSE 4, Los Angeles, CA, 2005
Alternative Story Development for Screenwriters, CSE 4, Los Angeles, CA, 2005
Writing Scripts from Both Sides of the Brain, CSE 4, Los Angeles, CA, 2005
Whole Brain Story Development, CSE 4, Los Angeles, CA, 2005
Release Writer’s Block and Access a Flow Writing State, CSE 3, Los Angeles, CA, 2004
Cosmic Mission of the Screenwriter, (with Hollywood Coach David Brownstein) CSE 3, Los Angeles, CA, 2004
Los Angeles, 2005