Writer’s Block – Is it real?
I have been writing for over 25 years and have to say, I don’t get writer’s block. I’m lucky because I started my writing career working for newspapers and there are no writer’s blocks in newsrooms. Newspapers have deadlines. If you’re given an assignment and told to write four or six or 12 inches by 6:00 PM, you do it. Believe me if you can’t make deadlines, there are a lot of bright young writers lined up to take your job.
I don’t have deadlines anymore, well other than the ones that are self-imposed but I still don’t get blocked. Oh, I may run out of steam on one project or get bored with it, but then I just shift to another piece and work on that for a while. Because I freelanced for so long, I always have multiple projects going. Right now I’m working on and alternating between: a memoir, an article for an anthology and three novels. That’s not much I know, but I’m semi-retired, I’ve been writing for a long time and I’m getting lazy.
I guess I don’t understand writer’s block. I mean, do plumbers get blocked? Do teachers get blocked? Have you ever heard an accountant say, "I couldn’t go to work today. I’m blocked. I simply cannot add another number." I’m afraid that poor accountant would starve to death pretty fast. So like the plumber or teacher or accountant, you show up at the page every day and just write. Don’t worry about writer’s block, it doesn’t exsist.
Here’s a quote from comedienne and author Steve Martin about writer’s block that I love: "Writer’s block is a fancy term made up by whiners so they can have an excuse to drink alcolol."
Tags: Add new tag, multiple projects, writer block