Bricks.

That's what this writing block is built of, I think. Not granite. Let's give it a go then, shall we?

I miss going to my writing group, which folded a couple of weeks ago. It was quite a motivation to get out a sentence or two, though to be fair, it's hard on someone who's not inclined to be a morning person; and I've looked for other groups that might fit my schedule, without much luck.

I read something a few days ago that went something like 'one listens only to be able to respond,' which sounded, frankly, a bit pejorative; like the listener's only motive is to talk about (ech, the pronoun's a plural!) their view on what they've heard.

While there are times that all you need is a friendly ear, the feedback the writing group members were able to give and receive was the best benefit, I think. Comparing my own work to the work of others I admire can only give so much insight into what works and what is flawed, into what is reflective of my own personality and what shows too much of another's influence. There are writing communities aplenty online, but I find that being physically present is more informative; reading between the lines on a block of text online is one thing, but watching someone's reaction to a work, experiencing the physical effect that the work has, is more telling than words on a page.

In relation to voiceover, it's always good practice reading things out loud, and doing so in a more public space helps build up a tolerance to stage fright. (Need to start small? Find a small group.) Also, listening to and reading the work of others can be a good exercise in script analysis; your feedback would help the author improve, and you can gauge the accuracy of your interpretation of the text from the author's responses.

Writing about this actually brings to mind something I read a few years ago on a fanfiction website, about the role of the fan reader's review in the fan author's work. I think I'll explore that next time. Till then.