250 Words on Writer's Block
“Only amateurs get writer's block,” said cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. “Professionals can't afford it.”
That was surprisingly uncharitable of Schulz. Still, he hit seven deadlines a week for nearly 50 years. Respect. I’ve had jobs in which I had to write so many column-inches per day to stay employed, and always managed to do it. It wasn’t necessarily creative writing, but regardless: there’s no waiting for the muse when a paycheck is on the line.
Still, writer’s block is real, and many authors more celebrated and successful than I am have suffered from it. I haven’t. Yet. Oh, I’ve gotten stuck and stalled, but I don’t consider that a block. It’s just a problem I haven’t solved yet, and I’ve written professionally long enough to be confident I will. Somehow. Usually within a few days, when the solution seems so obvious and easy I feel stupid for having missed it. Meanwhile, I have plenty else to do.
I think most writer’s block is actually fear of imperfection. Once you set an idea down, it’s no longer the flawless notion that was in your head. My suggestion: give yourself permission to fail.
Just start, knowing it’s going to be terrible. Simply going through the motions lubricates the creative process, and it’s always easier to revise something that exists, even if it’s bad, than create something from scratch.
If, at the end of the day, your work still stinks, throw it away and begin again tomorrow. Nothing is ever wasted, especially failure.
I have never had writer's block. Fran Lebowitz has permanent writer's block which is a great loss because her stuff was so good. I agree with Schulz that, barring psychological issue like hers, you can't afford writer's block.
However, I've stalled a few times in my newsroom days. I learned to take a five-minute walk, either back to the empty pressroom or around the block, which is the equivalent of turning it off and then turning it on again. And think about something else while you walk -- that bird, that tree, what you'll fix for dinner tonight, whatever. All you usually need is a reset.
The real cure though is to write the first paragraph, even if it sucks, so you can write the second one. Can't tell you how many times I wrote the whole thing and then went back and deleted that first paragraph because it still sucked. The rest was fine.
I appreciate your take on writer's block.
A lot of authors have told me that writer's block isn't real, only for me to see them having it, later. To date, just one of them has come back to me and shared a "Yeah, I get it now."
Thankfully, he was able to work through it and get back to writing.
Thanks, and I look forward to reading you next Tuesday!
Roland