Occasionally I run across people who claim to have “writer’s block” and find
themselves unable to write. Here is my simple, one-step cure: just start writing
already. Compared to many things in life, writing is ridiculously easy. Performing
open heart surgery, getting through law school, or trying to understand the
appeal of boy bands — now those are difficult. But writing? Just grab a pen
and pad or fire up your word processor and get started.
I suspect that most writer’s block is motivated by a false fear or hope that
there must be something more or less to writing than there actually is. I see
this all the time in other aspects of lives. I know quite a few people, for
example, who can describe in detail exactly what their short term goals are,
whether it’s losing weight or writing a novel or just studying harder. Unfortunately
too many of those people spend more time and energy making excuses for why they
are not accomplishing those goals than they do actually working toward them.
I have met people before who I am surprised aren’t dead because the smallest
obstacle so stymies them that they immediately go into “make an excuse mode.”
Most of these folks would be spectacular at what they do if they could focus
on the goals in front of them, but instead they usually underperform because
they are so obsessed with everything have to be a certain way before they can
accomplish anything.
Which is why “writer’s block” is such an insidious idea. Leave it to wannabe
writers to not only make excuses not to write, but then turn around and give
those excuses a clinical sounding name. Personifying your inner fears by granting
it a separate name is ill advised. It encourages the sort of negative problems
that, in another venue, cause otherwise gifted athletes to obsess so much about
their fears of making an error throwing from say catcher to pitcher that the
players go out and literally can’t make those throws (there are baseball teams
that actually retain the services of psychologists to deal with high performing
athletes who develop mental blocks where their own fears prevent them from making
routine throws.)
Look, as far as I am concerned writing sucks. I write 2,500 to 3,000 words
pretty much every day, 7 days a week, and I loathe and despise every minute
of it. I can think of about 5,000 things I would much rather do than write this
sentence. On the other hand, I have chosen to be a writer and so I keep plugging
along despite what other attractions or fears might get in my way.