Bombarded by Words :Hypergraphia

           We now know that 'writing makes you smart' , but there is a dark side to writing called Hypergraphia too which writers sometimes knowingly exploit to get their job done.

                Hypergraphia , the unstoppable and overpowering desire to write , is commonly known as 'The Midnight Disease' , as this itch to put pen to paper becomes unbearable when sleep hormone melatonin starts pumping , post midnight.(I've personally woken up at 2 AM and have started writing at times !)

      Words nag hypergraphics till they reluctantly get out of bed and compulsively jot down the phrases or sentences that are waiting
 to be written and if this urge is ignored , then the words taunt their victimised host and the person can forget about a sound sleep.

            While on one hand , hypergraphia can be a tormenting condition , on the other , aspiring writers take drugs to induce hypergraphia , but this does not always succeed because the fact is , hypergraphia does not promise talent.Not all hypergraphic writers are skilled and some produce senseless volumes like one word or sentence written over and over again , indicating an abnormal repetition of thoughts.

                      There are many criteria that have to be considered before calling someone hypergrhaic , but if you feel the unstoppable urge to jot down a well-framed phrase as soon as you hear it , if you underline and make countless notes in novels you read , if you write in margins and if at any time , a bag check reveals bits of paper on which you have scribbled words that are more precious than the money in your wallet(Guilty :)  ) , then you just might be a hypergraphic.Another fact is that hypergrahic writers never edit
(Phew ! what a relief !  I edit a lot !)
They write and are unable to part with even those lines and words that they , themselves
 agree are unimportant or unnecessary.This yearning to preserve every literary piece of work that 
one has ever produced is a symptom of 'Manic Writing'.

Writer's Block

                The much talked about and often romanticised Writer's Block is the polar opposite of hypergraphia.The block is loosely correlated anxiety and its span varies along a continuum ranging from a few hours to several decades !This could account for author-typicality's like gaps between one book and the next or mysteriously giving up writing altogether.However the prevalence of the block is overestimated due to the desire of people to come across as 'talented but on a tentative creative low' .So , don't miss the difference between blocked and talentless writers.Also , if an individual hates his assignment topic and thus cannot produce anything worth reading , it not indicate a block , because there is a possibility of words flowing if he's given a topic he likes .

The Muse Theory

                The muse theory purports that an artist is at his creative best only when allowed to select his own topic.Thus every dip in creativity is not necessarily an indication of the block  and could in fact , signal lack of talent or a need to change in topic.

Some additional facts.

1)Some hypergraphics write because they do not trust their memory and feel like important facts are slipping away.

2)Both hypergraphia and Writer's Block , by virtue of being linked with creativity , are allied with brain wiring and hormonal regulation .Both conditions are known to arise from abnormalities in the basic biological drive to communicate and hypergraphia in particular is coupled with alterations in the frontal lobe , temporal lobe and the limbic system.

3)Artists who hover on the brink of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) tend to be blocked only during certain months of the year.

4) Famous hypergrahics include R.L.Stevenson , Isaac Asimov , Van Gogh , Leonardo Da Vin ci , Henry Miller and sometimes even me !

5)Remedial measures include cognitive behavioural therapy and contemporary treatment involving 'attention  deficit ' areas of the brain.

But on the other hand , both these conditions are also looked upon cynically and there exist people who feel terms like 'Hypergraphia' and 'Writer's Block' just serve to intellectualise and categorise phenomena that might be harmless and transient non-issues faced by anyone liked with writing as a hobby or vocation.