How Ginger Rogers Helped Me Defeat Writer’s Block

She danced into my story…

Recently, I published a photo story about my garden. And I had a ridiculously hard time writing it. I almost shelved the piece — until Ginger Rogers danced in to the rescue.

A reader might ask, “But who is Ginger Rogers?”

Ginger Rogers (1911–1995) was an American actress and dancer. Her acting career spanned three decades, and she is best remembered as Fred Astaire’s dance partner. Ginger was born Virginia Katherine McMath in Independence, Missouri.

“Good to know,” says the reader. “But what’s your connection to Miss Rogers?”

And the writer who just stopped by asks, “No, seriously, how did she help you defeat writer’s block?”

Well, the Ginger Rogers connection began with my Muse taking the day off. And with Miss R. subbing for her —

Placing one foot in front of the other…

One day (not so long ago), I fell in love — for the twentieth time — with the gingers in my garden. And I wanted to tell the world how amazingly gorgeous these plants were.

I lined up the photos, wrote half the piece — then hit a roadblock. Writer’s block.

I stared at the screen for ten minutes. Got up; brewed a cup of strong, milky tea. Crunched some banana chips. Read a Eudora Welty short story. Watched a blue jay emerge spiky-feathered from the bird bath —

And returned to my laptop feeling not one whit inspired.

I stared at the screen for five more minutes. Then I began typing. Placing one foot in front of the other.

I plodded along and finished the piece. But I could not, would not like it.

Headline needed…

This was a story about the ornamental and culinary gingers in my garden. They are lushly leafed plants. Some flowering varieties — such as the Siam Tulip in the photo above —flaunt large, colorful blooms.

Yet my article sounded neither lush, green, nor colorful. It read like a blah recitation of facts. The edifice was in place. But the emotion, the green spirit that should have animated the story, was missing.

I thought: I need a headline that captures the mood of the story. But should I go with playful? Or keep it factual?

Since my Muse was M.I.A., I had to create both kinds of headlines on my own. Here they are:

a) Fun Facts About Ornamental and Culinary gingers. (Halfway to playful — but Yawn.) b) The Gingers Growing in My Garden. (Alliterative — but Double yawn.)

“Backward and in high heels…”

The headlines had failed to add the much-needed pop and sizzle. But a quotation or three might spice things up.

Unfortunately, nobody had anything scintillating to say about the plant ginger. But I found lots of quotes by Ginger — a certain Ginger Rogers..

“I do everything a man can do,” Miss Rogers declared. “Plus, I do it backward and in heels.” *

I was hooked. I had to find out more about the woman who spoke these words.

Move over, Fred Astaire…

Growing up and living in India, I was more familiar with Bollywood than Hollywood.

I heard the name “Ginger Rogers” after moving to America some years back. But I had only a foggy idea of who she was. A singer? An old-time actress, maybe?

I looked up Miss Rogers now and found videos of her dancing with Fred Astaire. Fred Astaire, no less!

She was a superb dancer. In my not-so-expert opinion, she was every bit as good as Fred Astaire. And yet I had never heard of her.

I watched four videos, read up on her mini-bio — and then it was time to get back to work.

Channeling Miss R…

“The most important thing in anyone’s life is to be giving something. The quality I can give is fun and joy, and happiness. This is my gift.” — Ginger Rogers.

Something changed after I watched the dance videos.

While my fingers typed, my mind tap-danced. Instead of plodding, my mind leaped and twirled. It tripped the light fantastic.

I was channeling Ginger Rogers!

Or at least, I was channeling the “ fun, joy, and happiness” she poured into dance.

Suddenly, I had my story…

I threw out the boring first para and began with an anecdote.

I interspersed the photos and information about gingers with my gardening experiences.

The headline came effortlessly: A Shoutout to the Gingers Dancing in My Garden . And it scored 15 points higher on the headline analyzer than either of my previous attempts.

The ending flowed organically from the title.

I was all set.

I clicked “Submit,” and sent my story-child out into the blogosphere to seek its fortune.

Well, Fortune favored my creation — more off Medium than on. But I can’t complain. My story got its share of eyeballs.

I was happy.

As for Ginger Rogers, wherever you are in the vast, blue yonder, I salute you! Thank you for playing Muse to this writer.

Thanks for reading! 🌼

*The “backward-and-in-heels” quote has also been attributed to Bob Thaves, the creator of the comic strip “Frank and Ernest.” He is supposed to have made this comment about Ginger Rogers.

And here’s Fred Astaire with his favorite dance partner.

Thank You J.J. Pryor for publishing my story.

I would like to highlight B.R. Shenoy’s piece on the new Mental Health Hotline:

And here’s some more of my writerly stuff: