Making Snowman Drawings In Paint Helped Me Overcome Writer’s Block And Become A More Confident Person

Inspiration From An Unexpected Source

Made by the author. A snowman inviting you in.

What’s the worst thing about writer’s block?

For the longest time, I used to think the answer to this question was obvious — it was simply not being able to write. The blank page remaining blank, ideas remaining unexpressed, all those words forever lost to time.

But the older I got, the more I realized how quickly failure as a writer can start to feel like failure as a person — there had to be something wrong in my life just because I didn’t hit a word count goal or found myself incapable to complete a set number of pages.

That is — I discovered that at least for me, writer’s block had very little to do with writing and everything to do with letting expectations control my life. Control my life and ruin it if I fell short of them.

Made by the author. A snowman taking a break, enjoying a lovely cup of coffee.

What were those expectations I had allowed to take control over my life? It’s not easy to answer, and trying to find the one true solution that is applicable to every situation might actually be part of the problem.

But what has helped me was no longer trying to solve the problem, no longer trying to understand what was wrong with me. Instead, I embraced my inner weirdo. I just had fun. I just made snowman drawings in Paint.

Made by the author. A snowman walking towards the door, preparing to leave. I think they call this “foreshadowing” …

As has probably become apparent from the few examples of P.L. Goaway originals I posted here, I’m not a particularly talented artist. But that’s beside the point. I said to myself, “You’re making snowman drawings in Paint. There’s no way life could be improved right now.” And then I did a little dance and pulled some sort of muscle because I’m in my 30s and shouldn’t do impromptu dances without stretching for half an hour.

But I digress.

Made by the author. A snowman doing a little dance.

I’m honestly not sure if there’s any sort of moral of the story here or if I just wanted to brag about my snowman drawings.

But either way, I haven’t had this much fun writing in weeks.

Enjoy!

Made by the author. A snowman leaving, waving goodbye.

Please let me know in the comments if you would like to see more snowman drawings. ;)

Also, feel free to use them as writing prompts. I would love to read your stories!