Writer’s block is BS

Writer’s Block is BS

The past couple of years I have really embraced some awesome ideas about how I want to live the rest my life.

I took these ideas and blended them with one of my passions, writing.

If you Google writer’s block, you will find literally hundreds and thousands of written articles, products, books, therapy groups, toys, forums, and workshops—and a lot of them are super fun!

The only problem I have with the majority of them is that if you look closely, you’ll see that they are cast from a perspective that you are a victim of Writer’s Block, as if it were a disease or inevitable condition that strikes writers and the creative process in general. It seems to be a great cash crop much like all the dieting and get skinny quick traps out there.

Here is my new definition of Writer’s Block:

A waste of time, a fictitious condition that one chooses to wallow in rather than engage with their craft on a higher level.

My own Cooked up experience of Writers Block

At the age of thirteen I realized how much I loved to write and I automatically accepted that this passion for writing would at some point cause me to be stricken with this highly talked about condition amongst writers.

Every writer gets it because it’s a for-sure-thing—and an honor, right?

My first Writer’s block was a lot like my first menstrual period, validating that I was no longer a child but a real woman. Not only was I now a real woman but also a real woman writer with real writer’s block and real PMS!

In my limited, puberty tight mind, this meant I was going through some sort of incredible transformation.

Surely I would come out the other side walking on flower petals just like Aphrodite, and with the uncanny ability to write worldly amazing stuff that would wow my many handsome male suitors, who would surround me in awe as I reclined on a purple velvet chaise with black satin pillows and a tall Siamese cat named Cleo, who would forever guard my writing quarters, gently purring and batting his eyes at me in approval.

Big flowery Purr . . .

Well the Goddess status quickly wore off and it became normal for these not so sure thoughts to play over and over in my head about how bad I suck because writer’s block and PMS have complete control over my life. My mentality and internal conversation for the next 28 years went like this:

Wow, I just wrote a great essay, I love writing!

Now I just have to sit around and wait for the next inspiration to hit; then I can spend another 4 to 10 hours of phenomenal writing.

I can’t wait!

Hopefully the urge will not hit me when I have PMS or I will really be screwed!

I wonder when it will happen, two years, three years, maybe ten?

What if the block is removed and the muse doesn’t show up?

What the hell is a muse anyway?

That’s Ok—I will wait. All this stuff will be revealed in time.

Writer’s block does not last forever and the very best of us get it.

This is exactly how I thought it worked, and most writers would nod in agreement if I brought up writer’s block in conversation, which made it even more acceptable and spot on.

I was resigned to being a victim of the no longer glamorous disease.

Its presence now had the weight and attributes of Lord Voldemort.

Writers Block is it REAL ?

Real life writer example and why I say writer’s block does not really exist.

The following is from an interview with Keith Davidson, an award winning screenwriter who recently won first place in the Disney/ABC writing competition:

Q: Do you write every day? How many hours per day?

Keith: I am just too lazy to write every day. But when I’m in the middle of a script I’m enthused about, I’ll often put in 5-9 hours a day.

Q: Do you ever get writer’s block? If so, how do you deal with that?

Keith: Never had writer’s block. If I’m temporarily stuck on a scene, I’ll jump to another scene—or do some research—work on another script—or watch a movie—then get back to it later.

Keith Davidson doesn’t get writer’s block and even refers to himself as lazy! I think this is amazing.

Here is the truth whether you believe it or not:

Writing is a choice. It is not about sitting around stringing pretty words together.

For your writing to be authentic and have the ability to connect with your readers, you must participate and engage in the environment outside of the physical space you may call the Author’s Corner—you know, that space with all the piles of notes and books on prompts and props and protagonists.

When you sit down to write, you are articulating the experience of that engagement.

Notice that when Keith Davidson was stuck on a scene, he didn’t call it writer’s block; he used that call to participate in writing, engaging his other senses: visual, listening, doing, tasting—it is all writing.

Another real writer example:

I have a friend who writes for a local periodical entertainment magazine. This man writes a lot, and he writes very well.

I have never asked him if he ever had a case of writer’s block, but I can pretty much guarantee you that he would say the same thing Keith said.

When my friend is not writing, he is observing, watching, participating, taking pictures, creating, and being very involved with his life.

I asked him once how he does it all, and he replied :

“It beats the alternative”

One more example of one of my favorite real writers

This young woman is the perfect example of writing in real time. Not only is she writing but she is snapping pictures from the passenger seat of a little Honda zipping through Texas at 100 miles an hour.

Just try and beat that for productivity and fun! Much more effective than staring at a blank document for hours and days.

Great writing comes from flexing the majority of your writing muscles by participating in life so that you can inspire your readers on a potent experiential level.

How can you thrill someone if you have never been thrilled yourself?

Choices

You can choose to sit in your head listening to your own BS about how you have writer’s block and resolve to wait it out—days, months, years, decades.

Or you can be in action experiencing, gathering material, feeling excitement, observing reactions, living your life, and soaking up all the content life has to offer so you can do what you love—write and share it with the rest of us.

Savvy?

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• Overcoming Writer’s Block
• WRITER’S BLOCK
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