Writer's Block Isn't Real (So Stop Complaining About It)

Think back to the first real job you ever had. You know, the one where you had to clock in for a shift, or actually hand a customer an invoice for the job you did. Maybe you flipped burgers, or waited tables, or washed cars, but whatever you did you knew when you showed up to work that you were getting paid to do a job. So you rolled up your sleeves (literally or metaphorically), and got down to business.

Now ask yourself what your supervisor's reaction would have been if they saw you weren't doing the job you were being paid to do, and your answer was, "I just don't have the inspiration to work today."

Odd, I don't feel inspired to pay you, either.

It sounds patently ridiculous, doesn't it? Yet, for some reason, people think that being a writer gives them a special dispensation to just stop working because the job gets hard. People call it writer's block, and they need to stop. Immediately.

Writer's Block Is Not Real

I'll give you another scenario. Say you want to get in shape, but you've never been an athlete, and you have no idea how to train your body. You had gym class in school, but you're pretty sure you didn't really learn what you need to know there. So you go online, you watch workout videos, read exercise blogs, and you try to get a grasp on how this whole thing works. Maybe you do a small routine on your own at home, just to see if you can get a feel for it. Before you walk into the gym and just start trying to lift something nearly as big as you are, though, you call up a friend of yours. You know, that friend who's been doing this for a while and who can show you around, give you a spot, and offer you a few pointers.

So you go to the gym, and you start lifting. You're naturally pretty strong, and you feel good about yourself. Your friend tells you that you're looking good, and shows you how to adjust your form for better results. Then when it's his turn on the bench you notice he's lifting double your weight. Not only that, but he's doing it with some ease. He's still sweating just as much as you are, but he isn't struggling. How come he can do that?

Do you even write, bro?

In this scenario your natural strength is your talent as a writer. The blogs you're reading are the advice guides written by authors who've come before you, and your friend is a mentor with more experience as a writer. The weight, in this case, is the project you're writing. The reason your mentor can rack out a short story with no problem, and even bench press a novel without slowing down, is that he's been practicing this craft. He's got his form down, his writing muscles are developed, and he has an intrinsic feel for the balance of a story because he's been doing this a lot longer than you have. Even on an off day (because we all have off days), an experienced writer will be able to put up bigger projects without losing good form.

If you just walk in off the street without any experience, throw a novel on your bar, and find you can't push the weight up it doesn't mean you have a "lifting block," it just means you need to work up to that level.

No Excuses

Writing isn't easy. You're going to have those days where you realize your plot twist is falling apart, your main character is too shallow, or that your story has a big damn hole in chapter four that you didn't notice. There will be days that you only get a few hundred words in before your brain cramps, and you have to put the weight down. Sometimes you just need to grunt, and grumble and drop the weight because you lost your form, your grip slipped, and you need a moment before you can try to pick it up again.

What matters is that you take responsibility, tug your gloves a little tighter, and go back to your project.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and all that.

Writer's block puts the onus on something else; something that isn't your fault. You have writer's block, but it's not like you can change that. It's that silly muse, not giving you your daily dose of inspiration so you can be an auteur genius and tell the story you want to tell.

You don't have writer's block. Maybe you have a story with a plot snag, or you bit off more than you can chew with your word count, but those are problems you are fully capable of fixing. So pour yourself a cup of caffeine, bust out a notepad, and if you need to, call up that friend of yours who can always knows just where to put your story Spackle. It won't be easy, and in all likelihood you're going to have to strain a muscle or two, but you are in control of your own story.

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